Once the player determines exactly where a mine is located, he is advised to mark it so as to avoid playing on that square by accident. He marks the square by clicking on it from the right-hand side of the mouse. If a player has marked a square as holding a mine by mistake, he may unmark the square by clicking twice.

The player wins the game when he opens all of the squares which do not contain mines. Therefore, at the beginner''s level, which has an 9x9 grid of 81 squares and contains 10 mines, in order to win the player must open all 71 squares which do not contain a mine.

There are three pre-determined levels of Minesweeper. The Beginner''s level has 81 squares on an 9x9 grid and contains 10 mines. The intermediate level has 256 squares on a 16x16 grid and contains 40 mines. The advanced level has 480 squares on a 16x30 grid and contains 99 mines.

The player can also custom create a grid of any size with any number of miners. However, the maximum size grid which the computer will allow is 720 squares of 24 x 30. There can be as many mines or as few mines as the player wants on this grid, up to a maximum of 667 mines.

Minesweeper also has a timer, which times the game up until 999 seconds, which is 16 minutes and 39 seconds. Once a player learns how to win at Minesweeper regularly, the test becomes whether he or she can improves his or her best times. Whenever a player has beaten the previous best time, the computer prompts the player to enter his or her name.

When the player first learns Minesweeper, he or she will have great difficulty successfully completing even one game at the beginners level. However, after time, with constant play and practice, the player should be able to win almost all of the time at the Beginner''s level. Then the test becomes to reduce the timings. With practice, the player should be able to solve the Beginner''s level in less than 30 seconds. Any time of less than 20 seconds is excellent. To get a time as low as 12 seconds requires either great reflexes or a great bit of luck. There is a report of somebody who has solved Minesweeper in just four seconds, but this appears to have been just a lucky guess combined with an exceptionally fortunate arrangement of the mines.

The advanced level of Minesweeper is much more difficult. It will require many hours of play just to win the first game. Having achieved that milestone, winning in faster than 1000 seconds becomes a severe test. Once the player can complete the advanced level in 1000 seconds even occasionally, he can already consider himself or herself to be an expert at this game.

The new player should try clicking the mouse on various points on the screen. There is a smiling yellow face at the top of the screen. When a mine is hit, that smile turns to a frown. By clicking on the face, the player can start a new game.