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Here are some tips for the beginner minesweeper to help you get un-stuck when you are stuck.
If I use number notation, I'm talking about the number that appears on the boxes. If I spell out the number, it is a quantity.
1. The "Included 2 Rule"
Whenever two 1's surround a 2, the two blocks adjacent to the 1's are bombs.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut1.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut2.png)
2. More than 1 Possibility
Whenever there are more than 1 possible placements for a mine, find the spots that are not mines in both combinations.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut3.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut4.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut5.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut6.png)
3. Double 2 Sandwich
Whenever there are two simultaneous 2's, surrounded by 1's, the flags are adjacent to the two 2's.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut7.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut8.png)
4. Testing
When you are testing a flag (place one flag in the corner and then question mark all those that wouldn't be mines), and you create an impossible combination, then the first flag isn't a mine.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut9.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut10.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut11.png)
In this case, the 4 is not satisfied (I started working from top to bottom), so the top flag cannot be a mine.
5. Flip a Coin
Whenever this happens, flip a coin.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut12.png)
6. 2-3 Sandwich
If two 2's surround a 3, and the entire other side isn't mines, then all 3 blocks touching the 3 are mines. This is expandable to however many 3's you have in the sandwich.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut13.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut14.png)
7. Corner 4 with the Adjacent 1
If a 4 is at a corner, and there is an adjacent 1, then all the boxes touching the 4 but not the 1 are mines.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut15.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut16.png)
8. Something Like This
Whenever something like this happens, test it.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut17.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut18.png)
9. Chain of 2's
Chain of 2's will follow this pattern. To solve it, first find one that MUST be a mine, and then the others can be easily flagged.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut19.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut20.png)
10. Chain of 1's
Chain of 1's will follow this pattern. Find one that must be a mine, and then everything else...
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut22.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut21.png)
11. A 1 Surrounded by Higher Numbers
I used 2's in this example, but the same can apply to higher numbers. This only applies if AND ONLY IF the blocks adjacent to the 1 are NOT corners.
![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut23.png) ![[image loading]](http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/evil5partan/tut24.png)
12. Cancelling to Apply Other Rules
On December 24 2011 07:19 dcemuser wrote:Another tip you don't mention is mentally subtracting from existing numbers so that you can apply some of the other rules. Example situation: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ViHHk.png) Subtract existing mine from numbers: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/f27Dq.png) Apply 1-2-2-1 rule: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oSdqu.png)
That's all I got for now, will update with more.
Sorry for the bad Photoshop jobs. ^_^
Beginner Time: 7
Expert Time: 141
Never bothered to do intermediate ;P
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Thanks for the tips! I did not know about #11. My best expert time is 210. I play minesweeper to practice mouse precision and APM clicking 
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On December 24 2011 06:56 julianto wrote:Thanks for the tips! I did not know about #11. My best expert time is 210. I play minesweeper to practice mouse precision and APM clicking
Lol I play it when I'm too depressed to ladder ^_^
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Playing this in computer class ftw?
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Ooh, this is surprisingly not halfassed! 5/5 will read again 
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United States12607 Posts
5 is a terrible tip! Flipping a coin will add several seconds to your time.
+ Show Spoiler + Cool little post here ^^
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@8:
The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines .
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On December 24 2011 07:08 sirkyan wrote:@8: The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines .
I have the same thought as you initially, but its possible that the 3 at the bottom right is not a corner, just where he cropped the picture!
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On December 24 2011 07:15 Raysalis wrote:Show nested quote +On December 24 2011 07:08 sirkyan wrote:@8: The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines . I have the same thought as you initially, but its possible that the 3 at the bottom right is not a corner, just where he cropped the picture!
If you look at #5, I used the same game for that one
Left, mid-bottom 
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My expert time is 120 seconds. There are some real gosus out there however that can do it under 45 seconds :O
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97% of my games end in the "flip a coin" situation -.-
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Another tip you don't mention is mentally subtracting from existing numbers so that you can apply some of the other rules.
Example situation:
Subtract existing mine from numbers:
Apply 1-2-2-1 rule:
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My expert record is 77. I have 22966 games play total on expert level. 1183 of those I have won (5%).
I probably win around 20% of my games now, and the losses are mainly due to the "impossible calculation layout" of some minesweeper rounds and also because I usually play other games at the same time (fx in the early game of sc2).
Personally, I don't think anymore when I play minesweeper. I can have a conversation or (almost) watch a stream and still do minesweeper perfectly.
It's fun.. Play it :D
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On December 24 2011 07:19 dcemuser wrote:
Another tip you don't mention is mentally subtracting from existing numbers so that you can apply some of the other rules.
Posting an example in a sec.
Yes, example 4 is basically the equivalent of example 1. Example 1 is better explained by pointing out that, when there is a 1 next to a 2, there must be a mine adjacent to the 2 that isn't adjacent to the 1. For example:
__x
12
So example 4 can be solved likeso:
|2
|3x
|4x
|2
=
|1
|1
|2
|1
->
|1
x|1
|2
x|1
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i dont understand a damn thing lol, must have to be university for this game.
edit: i just click and lose or get lucky and win, i thought that was minesweeper, didnt know why there was numbers until this post though.
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Another tip is to do canceling with mines to get any of the other tips.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9V1Cs.png)
the first image gets canceled out to be
1 1 2 2 1, which with hint 3, you know the mines are above the 2s
Fastest time 91 seconds.
edit: looks like I was a bit slow
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On December 24 2011 07:23 MonkeyMaan wrote:
My expert record is 77. I have 22966 games play total on expert level. 1183 of those I have won (5%).
I probably win around 20% of my games now, and the losses are mainly due to the "impossible calculation layout" of some minesweeper rounds and also because I usually play other games at the same time (fx in the early game of sc2).
Personally, I don't think anymore when I play minesweeper. I can have a conversation or (almost) watch a stream and still do minesweeper perfectly.
It's fun.. Play it :D
w-t-f. o.0
i applaud your dedication bro. wow.
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I just click the corners first then random ones after that
Works surprisingly well
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Hey, 17 begginner/500 expert here.
This is crazy, I think everyone knows the coin flip counter to a 50-50 situation hasn't been viable since 5.1.
Also if you meta game is correct, you should never get into a sandwhich situation. The problem is with you macro, not your micro. Clearly the solition here is to use a square build and get your APM up, much more viable than the squiggly line opener.
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If this were a blog it would get an auto 5 stars :D
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On December 24 2011 07:08 sirkyan wrote:@8: The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines .
you are wrong, there are mines under those flags
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This is definitely interesting read, hopefully it helps someone.
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sad how coin flippin happen 4 out of every 5 games and it happens more than once each game :-/....
A note when u get urself in coin flipping situation is to solve it right away else you gona waste the next few minutes trying to solve a solution that you have the same percentage in winning and losing.
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Juicebox, your rule 2 doesn't really make sense. Are you saying the red spot should or shouldn't be a mine? It should be a mine, but the way you solved it seems really unintuitive. It is much easier to solve it by looking at either the top two or bottom two on that section of the wall. This point might be invalid if you simply cut off the tiles above the 1 and it isn't the top, though.
Why did you make the 2-3 sandwich rule? You should just call it the 3 wall rule, since its always true if a 3 is on a single wall.
The most important thing to learn is that leaving question marks enabled will only slow you down, and that using both clicks at once on a revealed tile will reveal all other tiles around it except the flagged ones.
On December 24 2011 07:08 sirkyan wrote:@8: The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines .
Im under the impression Juicebox cut out some important tiles in these screenshots on accident, Im guessing you looked at the 3 in the bottom corner and thought that all 3 around it should be marked?
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On December 24 2011 08:05 Doppelpanda wrote:Juicebox, your rule 2 doesn't really make sense. Are you saying the red spot should or shouldn't be a mine? It should be a mine, but the way you solved it seems really unintuitive. It is much easier to solve it by looking at either the top two or bottom two on that section of the wall. This point might be invalid if you simply cut off the tiles above the 1 and it isn't the top, though. Why did you make the 2-3 sandwich rule? You should just call it the 3 wall rule, since its always true if a 3 is on a single wall. The most important thing to learn is that leaving question marks enabled will only slow you down, and that using both clicks at once on a revealed tile will reveal all other tiles around it except the flagged ones. Show nested quote +On December 24 2011 07:08 sirkyan wrote:@8: The ones you've marked aren't all bombs, or well, mines . Im under the impression Juicebox cut out some important tiles in these screenshots on accident, Im guessing you looked at the 3 in the bottom corner and thought that all 3 around it should be marked?
Indeed. I didn't think he would cut out the important part of a picture .
Anyway! I didn't say it before, it's a cool guide! Well-written!
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cool post, i just hope to god you didn't work all that out yourself and have picked it up from various internet sources..... i would never have worked out half that stuff on my own lol
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Minesweeper is so awesome. For that reason alone I had to delete it from this computer (work com).
Beg.: 1s
Int: 14s (cheat way, not my fault) actual time I think is 18s
Exp: 86s
Goal is to get the sum under 100s...
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Katowice25012 Posts
This is super badass. I moved it to Sports & Games where it fits better.
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Nice post!
But seriously, don't use the Windows version of Minesweeper, it is absolutely terrible. Get Minesweeper X or Minesweeper Clone instead. And try intermediate sometime, it is my favourite because there isn't as much guessing involved as there is in expert and it allows a great amount of gambling to get a good time.
For those people that really like minesweeper, check out this site: http://www.minesweeper.info/
PS: I quit minesweeper some time ago because my mouse-handling is fucking terrible, now I'm encountering the same problem with Starcraft -.-
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Holy shit, this is nice! I don't think this will improve my times but it will definitely limit the amount of times I have to guess. Thanks!
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On December 24 2011 07:23 MonkeyMaan wrote:
My expert record is 77. I have 22966 games play total on expert level. 1183 of those I have won (5%).
I probably win around 20% of my games now, and the losses are mainly due to the "impossible calculation layout" of some minesweeper rounds and also because I usually play other games at the same time (fx in the early game of sc2).
Personally, I don't think anymore when I play minesweeper. I can have a conversation or (almost) watch a stream and still do minesweeper perfectly.
It's fun.. Play it :D
You play minesweeper and SC2 at the same time? :o
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On December 24 2011 08:38 emythrel wrote:
cool post, i just hope to god you didn't work all that out yourself and have picked it up from various internet sources..... i would never have worked out half that stuff on my own lol
I figured it all out myself lol
I was at school one day and I started playing Minesweeper, and didn't stop...
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haha, now we can all be pros at minesweeper during our leisure time! thanks!
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On December 24 2011 07:19 Altsa wrote:
97% of my games end in the "flip a coin" situation -.-
This...used to love minesweeper as a kid when i had no idea how to play it on expert...but now its easy enough till you get to 'the coin flip' situation in nearly every game.
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I'm at a 22% (now 23%!) win percentage with close to 13k games played. The coin-flip scenarios are mostly annoying, though I've increased my chance of guessing correctly in maybe 5% of them. Such an enjoyable time sink in many ways.
My fastest expert time on Window's version is 84 secs.
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Lalalaland34498 Posts
A while ago I got into playing without flagging and now I become muuuuch slower when I deliberately try to flag some stuff. I mainly sweep while I'm watching a movie without concentrating on it so I screw up a lot. I prefer to do intermediate, non-flagging highscore is around 25 seconds. Never managed to complete an expert before screwing up somewhere though.
edit: I don't think Minesweeper Arbiter keeps track of every single game you play but I'd be surprised if I get a 5% completion rate lol. At some point most people stop caring about getting it right every single time and more about just beating their top scores, even if it involves some guessing. Unfortunately my hand coordination isn't the best either.
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I am using Minesweeper X instead of Windows minesweeper. Its more "professional" and can save replays among other things. Also, its impossible to produce fake times in it.
Expert: 67.02 sec
Intermediate: 28.23 sec (done under 15 on another computer)
Beginner: 5.90 sec
Also, win percentage is nothing, speed is the real indicator of skill. (Anyone can get 50% winrate on expert with practice, but not much more)
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EPT
