Minesweeper: win with logic, not luck
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First pass: open the edge, not the middle
The opening click is usually free, but from there play the frontier of what’s revealed. A “1” touching exactly one hidden cell tells you where the mine is without thinking: flag it. A “1” with two hidden neighbours is worth nothing yet: solve the numbers that resolve on their own first and the board unlocks itself. Golden rule: never guess what you can deduce.
The patterns that repeat: 1-2-1 and 1-2-2
Along a straight cleared edge, almost everything falls to two sequences. In an alternating “1-2-1”, the mines sit under the two ones. In a “1-2-2”, the first 2 has a mine beneath it and the second is clean. Don’t memorise them like spells: ask how many mines fit each option and check it against the number next door. Once you get the why, you deduce new patterns yourself.
Flags are notes, not decorations
Every flag you place should be explainable in one sentence: “it’s this 1’s only gap”. If you flag on instinct, the mine counter lies to you and you lose the main tool: the counter says how many mines remain, and subtracting what you already know is half the strategy. Doubt a flag? Remove it: an unmarked cell is information; a wrongly marked one is a trap.
The final 50/50: postpone it and choose well
When two cells and one mine remain, it’s not pure luck: the counter and neighbouring numbers still decide. First, check whether one cell touches TWO number groups: if solving it unlocks another area, that’s the move even while the 50/50 stands. Second, if the board has several ambiguous zones, resolve every one you can before flipping the coin: sometimes the global counter proves one zone can’t hold a mine. And if it really is a coin flip, accept it: not even the best player in the world escapes every board.
