Play Linden Meadow Minesweeper

How to play Linden Meadow Minesweeper

Classic minesweeper in a late-summer hay meadow: dig the clear patches, flag the bumblebee nests, at Beginner, Intermediate, Expert or a custom size, with no-guess boards by default.

1. Pick a size and press Play: Beginner (9 by 9, 10 nests), Intermediate (16 by 16, 40 nests), Expert (30 by 16, 99 nests) or Custom. Or play today's meadow, the same 16 by 16 board for everyone today.
2. Dig any patch to begin. The first dig is always clear, and so are the patches around it, so it opens a stretch of meadow.
3. Each dug patch shows a number: how many nests are in the eight patches touching it, diagonals included. A dug patch with no number has no nests around it, and its neighbors open on their own.
4. Use the numbers to work out where the nests are. Flag a patch you are sure holds a nest. The counter on the sign shows the nests left: the total minus your flags.
5. Dig a number whose flags are all in place (as many flags around it as its number) to dig every other patch around it at once. This is chording. If one of those flags is wrong, a nest is dug.
6. Dig every patch without a nest to survey the meadow. Digging a nest ends the game; you can try the same board again from your first dig, or start a new one.

Controls

• Mouse: click to dig, right-click to place or lift a flag, and click a number (or middle-click it) to chord. When the board is larger than the meadow, drag to move it; Ctrl and the scroll wheel, or a trackpad pinch, zooms.
• Touch: tap to dig and press and hold to flag (a ring fills, then the flag goes down). The Dig and Flag switch on the shelf swaps the two, so a tap flags and a long press digs. Tap a number to chord. Drag with one finger to move a large board, pinch to zoom, and use Fit or Zoom on the shelf.
• Keyboard: the arrow keys move a visible cursor, Space or Enter digs (or flags in Flag mode, and chords on a number), D digs, F flags, T switches Dig and Flag, H shows a hint, plus and minus zoom and 0 fits the board.
• Menu starts a new meadow, opens today's meadow, retries a lost board, and has Settings (size, custom size, no guessing, what a tap does, the clock), Statistics and the rules. The toolbar has pause, help, optional sound, fullscreen and restart, which starts a new meadow.