The game consists of locating a number of bombs or mines in a field, without "stepping" on them. The field is represented as a grid of square cells; each cell is either safe or hides a bomb. The bombs have been placed at random by the program and at the start all cells are "covered", i.e. you do not know anything. You make a move by clicking on a cell.
If the cell contains a bomb, you lose.
If not, the program uncovers the cell and the cell shows a number that tells you how many bombs are located in the adjoining cells. This is the only information you will get. Since each cell has 8 neighbours (except the cells at the edges) the number of bombs in the adjoining cells can be between 0 and 8.
Your task is to locate all the bombs by planting a flag on their cells. You plant a flag by option-clicking (or some other key combination depending on your OS). The program remains a passive accountant of your moves but does not take any action. You win when all bombs have been located correctly and all other cells have been uncovered.
We see here a version of the game that has a grid of 13x8 cells. We are to locate 20 bombs.
This version also allows you some extra "lives" so that the game does not end immediately after you step on a bomb, but this is irrelevant for any strategy.
