Minesweeper patterns: 1-1, 1-2-1, 1-2-2, and overlap difference
Four patterns take almost all guessing out of Minesweeper. Each one below is explained as a rule you can check on the board — and every practice board in Minesweeper Pattern Academy is verified to be solvable with these rules alone. New to the game? Start with the how-to-play guide.
1-1
Two clues of 1 sharing the same two covered cells
The second 1 already points at the same mine candidates as the first, so the covered cell it does not share with the first 1 must be safe.
1-2-1
A 1, then a 2, then a 1 in a straight row
The 2 needs two mines but each 1 restricts its own side, so the mines sit under the two 1s and the cell under the 2 is safe — three cells settled at once.
1-2-2
A 1, then two 2s, working together along an edge
The 1 fixes one mine on one side; each 2 then forces its second mine to the outer side of the row, clearing the middle cells.
Overlap difference
Two clues whose candidate sets overlap
Subtract the smaller clue’s candidate count from the larger clue’s share of the overlap: the difference tells you mines sit in the non-overlapping part, and the overlap itself may be safe.
Check it yourself
In the Academy, select a lesson board for any pattern and click the cells in the order the rule suggests. The explanation panel confirms each step — or shows the exact clue that says otherwise, so a wrong reading is corrected immediately rather than punished.
- Lesson 1, Read a clue — a satisfied clue makes its neighbors safe.
- Lesson 2, The 1-1 edge — the pattern above, proven on the board.
- Lesson 3, The 1-2-1 pattern.
- Lesson 4, The 1-2-2 pattern.
- Lesson 5, Overlap differences — the safe difference and the mine difference side by side.