Fast Minesweeper players don't think — they recognize. The same patterns appear in game after game. Once you've seen them enough times, your hands move before you've consciously processed why.
Here are the five patterns worth memorizing first.
Two adjacent 1s along a border of unrevealed cells. The mine is under one of the two cells directly in front of them — and both cells on the outside edges are safe.
Specifically: if the two 1s share all but one of their unrevealed neighbours, the unshared cell of one 1 is the mine, and the unshared cell of the other is safe. This requires counting carefully, but the payoff is a guaranteed safe click and a guaranteed flag.
Three numbers in a row: 1, 2, 1, along a border. The mines are always under the two cells at the outer edges (touching only the 1s, not the 2). The three cells touching the 2 but not the outer 1s are all safe.
Similar to 1-2-1 but with four numbers. The mines are on the outer flanks, and the inner cells are safe. Once you've internalized 1-2-1, this follows immediately.
When a "1" is in a corner position with only one unrevealed neighbour, that neighbour is the mine — guaranteed. No counting needed. Flag it immediately and check which numbers that flag satisfies.
Not a visual pattern but a behavioral one. When you flag a mine, immediately check every number touching that flag. If any of them are now "satisfied" (flags equal the number), click every other unrevealed cell touching them. This cascade is how you clear large sections in seconds rather than clicking cell by cell.
Play Easy mode until 1-1 and 1-2-1 are completely automatic. Then move to Medium and focus specifically on finding these patterns before doing anything else. Speed comes from recognition, not from clicking faster.
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