Minesweeper

Minesweeper is pure logic dressed up as a game of chance. Hidden mines lie beneath the grid, and every uncovered cell tells you with a number how many mines lurk in its eight neighbours. From those numbers you deduce, step by step, where it is safe and where it is not. No luck needed if you reason cleanly - only at the very start are there moments where you have to guess.

So the first click does not blow you up instantly, the starting cell is always safe. Mines are only distributed after your first click, and in such a way that a safe 3x3 area remains around it. From there you work outward: where a 0 is uncovered, all adjacent empty cells open automatically, so whole regions are cleared with a single click.

Three difficulty levels cover everything from a relaxed evening to real tension. Beginner plays on a 9x9 field with 10 mines, ideal to get into it. Intermediate gives you a 16x16 field with 40 mines. Expert goes to 16x30 with 99 mines - here chance separates from skill, and a clean time is real work.

The controls are as old as the game itself and just as good. Left-click uncovers a cell, right-click plants a flag on a cell where you are sure a mine sits. Flags help you keep track and stop you mistaking a safe cell for a dangerous one. A counter shows how many mines are still left.

A timer runs from the first click, because Minesweeper has always been a race against the clock too. If you win by uncovering every mine-free cell, your time is set. If you hit a mine, the round is over - but a new game is one click away and the field is freshly shuffled.

Everything runs in your browser, with no signup and no data transfer. The minefield is generated locally on your device, your clicks stay with you. It works offline, on a desktop with the mouse and on a phone by tapping.