Guides
No-guess boards in Minesweeper
Some Minesweeper boards force you to guess. A no-guess board never does.
A no-guess board is one that can be fully solved by logical deduction from the first opened area, with no cell that has to be opened on a chance. Random boards often are not. This game places mines at random after your first click and does not promise a guess-free board.
How guesses arise
- Two covered cells with exactly one mine between them, and no number that tells them apart, are a 50/50.
- Isolated pockets of cells may show no certain move.
- At the end, the remaining mine count can sometimes break a tie, but not always.
How a no-guess board is made
A generator places mines, then runs a logical solver from the starting area. If the solver can clear the whole board using only certain deductions, the board is no-guess. If it gets stuck, the generator moves mines and tries again. A fair implementation has to prove the result with such a solver.
What this game does
- The first click is always safe, and its neighbors are clear, so it always opens an area.
- After that the mines are placed uniformly at random, so some boards require a guess.
- The daily board is the same for everyone, and some days it may need a guess.
When you do need a guess, see the probability guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does this game have a no-guess mode?
No. Boards are random, apart from the guaranteed safe first click. We prefer to say so than to label a mode we have not proven.