How to Play
Expert is the full-size field: 30 columns by 16 rows, 480 cells, and 99 mines, so roughly one cell in five is dangerous. The rules don't change — open safe cells, read the numbers, flag mines, chord numbers whose flags are complete — but the density means fewer free openings and far more places where two or three numbers have to be read together.
On a phone held upright, the board turns to 16 columns by 30 rows and opens zoomed in to comfortable cells: drag with one finger to move around, pinch to zoom, or use the zoom button to see the whole board at once. Hold a cell or use the Flag button to mark mines, and tap numbers to chord. On a computer, the right mouse button flags.
Rules
- New Game: mines are laid after your first click, which always opens an empty area.
- Daily Challenge: a board the solver has cleared from its marked start cell without a single guess. One try per day, ranked by time.
- A number counts the mines in its eight neighbors. The counter shows mines left minus flags placed.
- There is no undo; opening a mine ends the game at once.
Tips & Strategy
Combine neighboring numbers
At this density, single numbers rarely settle anything alone. Compare two numbers that share cells: whatever one covers that the other doesn't holds exactly the difference in their counts.
Keep the mine count in view
In the last stretch the counter often decides it. When the mines left exactly fill the closed cells, or when none remain, the final area solves itself.
Clear the edges early
Edge and corner cells have fewer neighbors, so their numbers are easier to resolve. Securing them early stops a long game from ending in a squeezed corner.
Pace yourself
An Expert game takes minutes. A steady rhythm of read, flag, chord beats bursts of speed followed by a careless click.
FAQ
How long does a good Expert game take?
Strong players clear a 30x16 board in about a minute or two; the fastest in the world manage it in well under 40 seconds. Most people take several minutes at first.
Why does the board turn on my phone?
Thirty cells across a phone's width would be tiny. Turned to 16 across and 30 down, the board fits the screen better, and zooming in makes each cell big enough to tap. It is the same board either way.
What counts as too fast?
The server compares your time with the board's 3BV, the fewest clicks that could clear it, and rejects clears faster than the best speeds ever recorded on this size.