---
license: mit
pretty_name: "Minesweeper Solver Benchmark (win-rate by difficulty)"
language:
  - en
tags:
  - minesweeper
  - solver
  - constraint-satisfaction
  - probability
  - benchmark
  - csp
task_categories:
  - other
size_categories:
  - n<1K
configs:
  - config_name: winrate
    data_files: data/minesweeper-benchmark.json
---

# Minesweeper Solver Benchmark — Win-Rate by Difficulty

By **[LK Forge](https://lkforge.com)**: privacy-first browser tools & games, nothing to install, nothing uploaded.

Full-game win-rate for the [LK Forge Minesweeper Solver](https://lkforge.com/tools/puzzles/minesweeper-solver/)
across the three standard difficulties. The shipped engine turns every revealed number into
a constraint and applies **counting → the subset rule → exact enumeration of all valid mine
arrangements**; when logic is exhausted it opens the hidden cell with the lowest computed mine
probability. 1,000 seeded games per difficulty. **Rules:** classic board sizes, the first click is
guaranteed safe (a single non-mine cell in the centre — not a guaranteed large opening), and a game
counts as a win only when every non-mine cell is cleared.

- **How the solver works:** https://lkforge.com/tools/puzzles/minesweeper-solver/how-the-minesweeper-solver-works.html
- **Try it:** https://lkforge.com/tools/puzzles/minesweeper-solver/
- **Producer:** [LK Forge](https://lkforge.com) — client-side AI games, solvers, and tools.

## Headline numbers (1,000 games each)

| Difficulty | Board | Mines | Win rate | Solved with **no guess** | Avg guesses/game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 9×9 | 10 | **95.5%** | 78.5% | 0.30 |
| Intermediate | 16×16 | 40 | **85.6%** | 52.4% | 0.89 |
| Expert | 30×16 | 99 | **36.2%** | 3.8% | 3.82 |

Expert Minesweeper is famously hard even for optimal play — under this **safe-first-click** rule the
best-known solvers land in the **~34–40%** range on classic 30×16 Expert, so 36.2% is squarely in the
expert-solver band. Win rates quoted **above** this band (e.g. ~54%) generally use the easier
**guaranteed-opening** rule, where the first click always reveals a large zero-region; that is a
different rule, not a stronger solver. The steep drop from Beginner to Expert is driven by how often a
position **cannot be resolved by logic and forces a guess**: 78.5% of Beginner games need no guess at
all, versus 3.8% of Expert games.

## Files

- `data/minesweeper-benchmark.json` — per difficulty: `winPct`, `solvedNoGuessPct`, `avgGuessesPerGame`.

## Method

- **Engine:** the shipped `minesweeper-engine.js` (`LKMines`), used unmodified as the decision-maker.
- **Play policy:** flag proven mines, open proven-safe cells; when none exist, open the hidden
  cell with the minimum exact mine probability.
- **Reproducible:** seeded RNG for mine placement; center first click (guaranteed safe).

## Reproduce

```bash
node scripts/benchmark-minesweeper.mjs
```

## Citation

> LK Forge (2026). *Minesweeper Solver Benchmark — Win-Rate by Difficulty.*
> https://lkforge.com/tools/puzzles/minesweeper-solver/

Everything runs client-side, no login, no tracking.