How Minesweeper works
The expert board runs 22 by 16 with 80 mines, a density around 23 percent. At that concentration cascades are rare, most of the board is worked one square at a time, and you will face several positions with no logical answer.
Efficiency is what separates good expert players from slow ones. Flagging every mine you identify is far too slow at this size; flag only where a flag unlocks a counting rule and leave everything else covered. Working multiple fronts in parallel rather than exhausting one region also saves substantial time.
Five to twelve minutes is typical. Losing roughly a third of expert boards to a forced guess is normal even for strong players, because at this density the endgame frequently comes down to a genuine coin flip.
Expert Minesweeper at a glance
| Expert Minesweeper | |
|---|---|
| Grid | 22 × 16 |
| Mines | 80 |
| Density | 23% |
| Typical time | 5 – 12 minutes |
Frequently asked questions
How big is the expert Minesweeper board?
22 × 16 with 80 mines, a density of about 23%.
What is a good expert Minesweeper time?
Around 5 – 12 minutes is typical for this board. Consistently beating the lower end of that range means your pattern recognition is doing the work rather than counting.
Will I be forced to guess on expert?
Sometimes, yes. At this mine density the endgame can present two squares with identical information, and no amount of logic separates them.