Minesweeper Worlds Online

Minesweeper Patterns: The Shapes That Solve Boards

A Minesweeper pattern is a small group of numbers that always means the same thing, so you can mark mines and open cells without recounting. This guide covers the patterns worth memorizing, each with a diagram that shows which cells are mines, which are safe, and why.

How to read the diagrams

A digit is an opened cell, # is a covered cell the numbers cannot settle yet, F is a flag, m is a mine the numbers prove, and s is a cell they prove safe. The m and s marks are the answer; in the game those cells would still be covered. Each digit counts the mines among its up to eight neighbors. If that still takes effort, read what the numbers mean first.

Unless a caption says otherwise, the left, right and bottom edges of a picture are walls: nothing hides beyond them. Classic boards have real walls. Minesweeper Worlds Online has no outer wall because the map is infinite, but a straight border of opened cells works the same way, since no mine can sit in an opened cell. So these shapes can show up along the edge of any area you have cleared.

Each pattern is a comparison between two or three numbers. If you forget one, rebuild it from the reasoning in its caption instead of memorizing it.

1-1: the corner rule

Start with the smallest pattern. Two 1s sit side by side in a wall corner. The left 1 touches only two covered cells, so exactly one of those two is a mine.

A 1-1 in a corner. The left 1 touches two covered cells, the top-left and top-middle, and one of them is a mine. The right 1 touches those same two cells plus the top-right and bottom-right cells. Its one mine is already inside the first pair, so the top-right and bottom-right cells are safe. Which cell of the first pair holds the mine stays open until another number speaks.

The rule underneath is wider than the corner. When one number's covered cells all sit inside a second number's covered cells, and both numbers are equal, every extra cell the second number touches is safe. A 1-1 is the usual case, but 2-2 and 3-3 work the same way.

1-2: the extra cell is a mine

Put a 2 beside the 1 and the comparison flips. The 2 touches every covered cell the 1 touches, plus one more. The 1 already accounts for one mine, so the 2 needs exactly one more, and the only place for it is the extra cell.

A 1 and two 2s in a corner. The 1 touches the top-left and top-middle cells, so one mine sits in that pair. The first 2 touches those two and the top-right cell, so the top-right cell is a mine. The last 2, against the right wall, touches only the top-middle and top-right cells, so both are mines. That settles the 1: its mine is the top-middle cell, and the top-left cell is safe.

The general form: when the smaller number's covered cells all sit inside the larger number's, and the larger minus the smaller equals the count of extra covered cells, every extra cell is a mine. The 1-1 rule is the same comparison with a difference of zero.

1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1: mines go where the big numbers point

1-2-1

Three numbers in a row along a straight border, reading 1, 2, 1, are one of the most reliable patterns. The mines sit above the two 1s, and the cell above the 2 is safe.

A 1-2-1 along the bottom wall (the three middle digits), with an opened 1 at each end. Suppose the cell above the 2 were a mine. Both neighboring 1s touch it, so each would be satisfied, which would make the second and fourth cells in the top row safe, and the 2 would count one mine instead of two. That is a contradiction, so the cell above the 2 is safe, and the 2's mines are the second and fourth cells. The 1 on each side of the 2 already has its mine, so the first and fifth cells are safe.

1-2-2-1

Stretch the idea by one more number and the mines move under the middle: the cells above the two 2s are mines, and the cells above the two 1s are safe. In open ground, the covered cell just outside each 1 is safe too.

A 1-2-2-1 between two walls. The first 1 and the first 2 form a 1-2: the 2 touches the 1's two cells plus the third cell, so the third cell is a mine. The last 1 touches the third and fourth cells, so the fourth is safe. The second 2 touches the second, third and fourth cells, so it needs the second cell as its other mine. The first 1 now has its mine, so the first cell is safe.

Chains: one safe cell feeds the next number

Patterns rarely finish a row alone. The habit that clears boards is to take the one cell you can prove, then re-read every number that touches it.

A 1-1-2-1 between two walls. The first two 1s are the corner 1-1, so the third cell in the top row is safe. The last 1 touches only the third and fourth cells, and the third is safe, so the fourth is a mine. The 2 touches the second, third and fourth cells; the third is safe, so the second and fourth are its two mines. The first 1 now has its mine, so the first cell is safe.

Not every row of 1s chains. Three 1s in open ground, with covered cells 1 to 5 above them and the 1s under cells 2, 3 and 4, fit three layouts: one mine in cell 3, mines in cells 2 and 5, or mines in cells 1 and 4. Treat that as unsettled and look for a number elsewhere that touches only some of those cells.

Reduction: subtract the mines you already know

Most real boards do not show clean patterns. A number looks too big because it is counting mines you have already found. Subtract those mines, whether flagged or proven, and the number shrinks into a smaller pattern you recognize.

A flag in the top-left corner and the row 1, 2, 1, 1. The first 1 touches the flag, so it is satisfied and the second cell in the top row is safe. The 2 touches the flag, the second cell and the third cell. Subtract the flag and it is a 1 over those two cells; the second is safe, so the third cell is a mine. The next 1 touches that mine, so the fourth cell is safe.

Make this a habit before comparing any two numbers: subtract known mines from each, then look for 1-1, 1-2 or 1-2-1 in what is left. Flags make the subtraction visible on screen, so see flags and chording for when placing them pays off.

Holes and gaps

A covered cell with no covered neighbors is a mine. Every opened cell around it is a number, since a zero would have opened it, and the hole is the only covered cell any of those numbers can count.

A single covered cell ringed by eight 1s, inside a larger cleared area. Each 1 touches exactly one covered cell, the center, and needs one mine, so the center cell is a mine. Any one of the eight proves it.

A gap is a hole stretched into a short row. Start at the ends, where a number touches only one covered cell, then spend the middle numbers on what the ends have shown you.

A three-cell gap inside a cleared area. The 1 at the far left of the middle row touches only the left gap cell, so that cell is a mine, and the 1 at the far right makes the right gap cell a mine. The top-middle 2 touches all three gap cells and already has its two mines, so the middle gap cell is safe.

Practice patterns on the infinite map

Patterns stick when you meet them on live boards. In Minesweeper Worlds Online, every area you clear leaves borders of numbers to read. A good routine:

  1. Open the game from the play page, zoom in until you can see single cells, and pick one border of opened cells.
  2. Find a row of numbers along it and name the pattern: 1-1, 1-2, 1-2-1. Check it by counting each number's neighbors before you act.
  3. Flag the mines you proved. On a mouse, right-click or hold the left button; on touch, long-press, or switch to Flag mode with the button in the top bar.
  4. Tap or left-click a number whose flags match its value to chord the rest of its neighbors open. A misplaced flag opens a hidden mine, so chord only when you are sure.

A misread costs you one area, not the world. When you hit a mine, only that area locks, and you can restore it with a free restore when one is available, or by watching a short ad in the app. In the Shared World, cells that other players open appear on your map too, and they work like any opened cells in your patterns.

When no pattern applies and the numbers run out, that is a different problem. Read how to avoid guessing for what to do then.

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