Mine Dash Strategy: How to Win

A mine costs far more than a careful look. A 5 second freeze is several safe squares a good player would have opened in that time, and under Out it ends your race.

So never tap a square you have not worked out. Every board here has a safe move somewhere, and finding it is always faster than a coin flip that fails.

The board starts open in a patch. Everything you need is on the border of that patch, where numbers meet covered squares.

Work around that border instead of jumping across the board. Each square you open adds new numbers right where you are looking.

Almost every move on Easy, and most on Hard, come from these two. Look for 1s in corners first: a 1 with only one covered neighbor tells you exactly where its mine is.

• A number that already touches that many known mines is done: every other covered square around it is safe.
• A number with exactly that many covered squares left around it: every one of them is a mine.

Each one is a straight row of numbers with covered squares along one side only. They come from comparing two numbers next to each other: what one number needs, minus what the other already covers. When the simple rules run dry, look for two neighbors whose covered squares overlap.

• 1-1 starting at a corner: the first 1’s mine is in one of the two squares the second 1 also touches, so the second 1’s third square is safe.
• 1-2: the 2 has a mine on its far side, in the square the 1 does not touch.
• 1-2-1: the mines sit across from the two 1s, and the square across from the 2 is safe.
• 1-2-2-1: the mines sit across from the two 2s, and the squares across from the 1s are safe.

Flags do not count toward clearing the board. Only uncovered squares do, and every mine is flagged for you when you clear it.

So a flag is only worth the hold when it helps you. Flag a mine when you are about to use it: to open around a number, or to keep track of it while you work out its neighbors. A mine off on its own, with nothing left to open around it, can stay covered.

Once a number’s mines are flagged, one tap on the number opens all its other neighbors. On a long wall of numbers that is much faster than tapping each square.

Be sure of your flags first. A wrong flag means that tap sets a mine off.

• Glance at the strip now and then, not all the time. Your own board is where the race is won.
• If someone is far ahead, do not rush. A freeze costs you more than a careful second does.
• Under Out, play it safe from the first square. Clearing at all beats a fast board that stops halfway.
• Near the time limit, uncover the squares you are sure of first. A player who does not clear is ranked by how much they uncovered.

Bots never guess either, and they never lose their place on the board. An easy bot is slow and slips now and then. A hard bot moves about once a second and rarely slips, so it takes steady play with no freezes to beat it.

Where people beat bots is the patterns: a player who spots a 1-2-1 at a glance opens three squares while a bot works one.

Your best time for each size is kept on your device. Play Easy until you clear it without a freeze every time, then move up. The patterns are the same on every size; Hard just has more of them.

What is the best strategy for Mine Dash?

Never tap a square you have not worked out, since a mine costs seconds or the whole race. Work along the edge of the opening, use the two basic rules on every number, and learn the 1-1 and 1-2-1 patterns by sight.

Should I flag every mine?

No. Flags do not count toward clearing the board. Flag a mine only when it helps, like before opening around a number.

Do I ever have to guess in Mine Dash?

No. Every board is checked before it is dealt, so there is always a safe square you can work out from the numbers.

How do I beat the hard bots?

Play without freezes and spot patterns at a glance. A hard bot moves about once a second and rarely slips, so every mine you hit hands it the race.