Minesweeper - Classic Puzzle Game
Clear the board and you can share it as a link — whoever opens it sees the board exactly as you left it.
See a shared linkWidth: 9
Height: 9
Mines: 10
Rules
The board is divided into cells, with mines randomly distributed. To win, you need to open all the cells. The number on a cell shows the number of mines adjacent to it. Using this information, you can determine cells that are safe, and cells that contain mines. Cells suspected of being mines can be marked with a flag check the 'Place a flag'.
To start a new game, you can click on the Reset button at the top of the board. The remaining number of mines is displayed in the left corner, and the game timer is displayed in the right corner.
Clear the board and your time appears below it, along with 3BV — a number for how hard the board was. The share button copies a link that shows your result to whoever opens it. 3BV is explained in the next section.
3BV — how hard the board is
3BV, short for Bechtel's Board Benchmark Value, is the smallest number of left clicks that would clear the board. Opening one empty cell cascades through every empty cell it touches, so a whole connected area counts as a single click; a number that borders no empty area has to be clicked on its own. The value comes from the layout alone — flags and chords do not change it.
Time on its own does not say much, because an easy board clears faster than a hard one. Dividing 3BV by your time gives 3BV/s, which is how fast you solve regardless of the board you were dealt. It is the figure competitive players compare.
Over 2000 random boards per level, the median 3BV was 15 on Beginner, 65 on Intermediate and 173 on Expert. Ranking sites discard boards below 5, 30 and 100 respectively. A low 3BV only means fewer clicks. When mines sit close together a single click opens a large empty area, which lowers the 3BV but also leaves fewer numbered cells to work out where the mines are.