Figure 1 is a picture of Minesweeper - Intermediate level. The playing field is a grid, or matrix of squares or cells. Beneath these squares there are a series of mines placed at random by the computer. How many mines? Table 1 details the number of mines for each level of Minesweeper.

Figure 1
Minesweeper Intermediate Level

As you can see, the Beginner and Intermediate levels have the exact same level of difficulty. Roughly 15.6% of the squares in the grid have mines beneath them. Expert level turns the heat up a notch, with more than 20% of the squares hiding mines. (*The Windows XP version of Minesweeper has a Beginner level field that is 9 by 9 cells, making it easier than Beginner level in Windows 95, 98, 2000 and ME.)

Use the left mouse button "clear" a square. The word "clear" in this handbook will be used to describe squares that have been "uncovered", but will also be used to describe something else later. But for now, "clearing" will be will mean "uncovering" squares to find out what's underneath them.

So if you haven't already, open up Minesweeper and start clearing squares at random! Do this five or six times, and you find that a number of events occur. Sometime after the first click (Minesweeper spots you your first attempt…from then on you're on your own) you may step on a mine! Figure 2 shows what stepping on a mine looks like.

Figure 2
Stepped on a Mine

When the game is over, Minesweeper highlights the mine you stepped on, and also displays the location of the other mines in the field. The happy face button at the top of the grid turns ugly. Press the face button to begin a new game.

At other times, when a square is cleared, a number will be revealed. These numbers are very important, as they provide information about the minefield that you can use to navigate around the mines. Here's how it works.

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