How to Play Minesweeper Plus

Want to learn Minesweeper Plus quickly? This guide will teach you How to Play Minesweeper Plus step by step, based on the in‑game "How to Play" tutorial and rewritten in a shorter, beginner‑friendly way while keeping every screenshot matched to the correct screen.

If you'd like to try the game first or view the browser version, visit Minesweeper Plus Online. To improve your win rate, read the Minesweeper Plus Strategy Guide which includes pattern recognition and a weekly practice plan.

1. Minesweeper Plus main menu

Main menu

When you launch How to Play Minesweeper Plus, you'll see the main menu with these buttons:

• SETTINGS — Configure game options
• BEGIN — Start a new game
• STATISTICS — View your stats
• HOW TO PLAY — Open the in‑game tutorial
• CREDITS — View credits
• RESET DATA — Reset your progress

If this is your first time learning how to play minesweeper, the simplest path is: click BEGIN and start a game immediately.

Tutorial

If you click HOW TO PLAY, this window appears:

• Click Basic Gameplay to learn the classic Minesweeper rules
• Click Special Rules to see what How to Play Minesweeper Plus adds (health, coins, sonar, modes, etc.)

(For Adventure mode resource planning see: Minesweeper Plus Adventure Guide.)

Anytime you forget how to play minesweeper or how something works, you can come back here and re‑read it.

2. Minesweeper Plus basic gameplay

Goal

Your true objective in How to Play Minesweeper Plus is:
open every tile that does NOT contain a mine.

When learning how to play minesweeper, remember that you do not have to flag every mine to win — flags are just a helper tool.

Mine counter & timer

The number in the top‑left is the mine counter — how many mines are on the board in How to Play Minesweeper Plus.

The number in the top‑right is the timer — how many seconds have passed from the start of the game.

Left‑click & numbers

• Left‑click any tile to start How to Play Minesweeper Plus and open that tile
• If you see a number: it tells you how many mines are in the 8 surrounding tiles
• If you open an empty tile: the game automatically opens a whole area around it to reveal more info

Always remember when learning how to play minesweeper: number = count of mines in the 8 adjacent tiles — that's the core of all logic.

Flags

When you’re almost certain a tile is a mine:

• Right‑click the tile to place a flag and mark it as a mine in How to Play Minesweeper Plus
• Flagged tiles can't be opened by accident
• The mine counter in the top‑left decreases when you place flags
• Right‑click again to remove a flag

Flags help you remember and prevent mis‑clicks when learning how to play minesweeper — they are not required to win.

Chording

If you see a revealed number (for example “3”) and you’ve already placed 3 flags around it, you can:

• Click that number tile (this is called chording in How to Play Minesweeper Plus)
• The game will automatically open all unflagged, unopened neighbors around that number

Warning:
If any of your flags are wrong while learning how to play minesweeper, chording will also open real mines — so only use it when you're very confident your flags are correct.

Win and loss

There are two ways a game can end in How to Play Minesweeper Plus:

• You click a mine → game over, you lose
• You open every non‑mine tile → you win

The tutorial explicitly says:
flagging every mine is optional — you just need to open all safe tiles to win.

Pause menu

The smiley face at the top center is the Captain:

• Click the smiley to pause How to Play Minesweeper Plus and open the pause menu
• From there you can restart the current board or exit the game
• Click the smiley again to close the menu and continue

Make it a habit: when you want to pause or restart, click the Captain instead of randomly clicking tiles.

3. Minesweeper Plus special rules

The following comes from the Special Rules section (Screens 10–17); each image matches the in‑game tutorial screen.

Minecoins

After clearing a board in How to Play Minesweeper Plus, you earn Minecoins:

• Every completed game gives you coins
• Harder levels reward more Minecoins

You can later spend these coins on sonar uses, and they're a key resource in Adventure mode. Understanding Minecoins is essential when learning how to play minesweeper effectively.

Health gauge

Unlike classic Minesweeper where one mistake = instant game over:

• In How to Play Minesweeper Plus, you can step on up to 3 mines before losing
• The gauge shows your current health
• When the dial is in the red, you only have one strike left

This shifts the game toward puzzle‑solving instead of having a whole run ruined by a single slip, making it easier to learn how to play minesweeper without frustration.

Sonar

You can spend Minecoins to activate sonar in How to Play Minesweeper Plus:

• First use in a level costs 50 Minecoins
• Each additional use in the same level costs 50 more (50 → 100 → 150 → …)
• How to turn it on:
  • Toggle the ON/OFF switch on the UI, or
  • Press Z on the keyboard
• While sonar is active, click any tile to see what's under it for 3 seconds, then it hides again
• Sonar auto‑turns off after one use; you can also turn it off without using it

Sonar won’t solve the game for you, but it can save you from brutal 50/50 guesses when used carefully.

Master Mode

If you want something close to pure classic Minesweeper:

• On the game select screen, click the face icon to toggle Master Mode in How to Play Minesweeper Plus
• In Master Mode:
  • No mistakes allowed (any mine ends the game)
  • No sonar
  • You earn more Minecoins for winning

This is the mode for hardcore players, and great for recording high‑difficulty challenge runs.

Free Play & Practice

The tutorial explains two extra modes:

• Free Play in How to Play Minesweeper Plus:
  • Create your own custom boards (size and mine count)
  • Play as much as you want with no restrictions
• Practice Mode (toggled inside Free Play):
  • Clicking mines doesn't kill you
  • Sonar is free
  • But you don't earn Minecoins for clearing

Practice mode is perfect for learning how to play minesweeper, read boards, and test ideas without worrying about losing.

Adventure mode

In Minesweeper Adventure mode of How to Play Minesweeper Plus:

• You must clear 8 levels in a row
• You start with 100 Minecoins
• Your health does not reset between levels
• If you fail a level and have enough Minecoins, you can pay to continue from that level's start
• Whatever Minecoins you have left at the end are added to your total

• You can save and quit any time; the game creates a quick save
• On the select screen, click CONTINUE to resume your current Adventure run
• Starting a new Adventure overwrites the existing Adventure data
• At the end, you get a rank based on how well you performed

To practice resource and sonar decisions in Adventure runs, see the Adventure guide: Minesweeper Plus Adventure Guide.

Zoom & Episode 2

For large boards, you can zoom and move the camera to see better:

• Mouse wheel: zoom in / zoom out
• Hold the middle mouse button while zoomed: pan the view
• Or use arrow keys / WASD to move the camera

The tutorial also notes what changes in Episode 2:

• It’s harder than Episode 1
• Sonar costs are slightly reduced
• You can obtain shields, which are spent instead of health when you make a mistake

4. Minesweeper Plus quick recap

If you just want a minimal checklist for how to play minesweeper, remember:

1. On the main menu, click BEGIN to start
2. Left‑click your first tile to begin the board
3. Numbers = how many mines are in the 8 surrounding tiles
4. Right‑click to flag mines and avoid mis‑clicks
5. Use chording only when your flags definitely match the numbers
6. In non‑Master modes, you have a health gauge and sonar to help when things get rough

Ready to try it yourself? 👉 Play Minesweeper Plus in your browser now. After playing, read the Strategy Guide for tips; for downloadable builds visit Minesweeper Plus Download.