Mines is a simple gambling game: a 5x5 board of 25 tiles hides a number of mines you choose, you reveal tiles one at a time, and each safe tile raises your multiplier until you either cash out or hit a mine and lose the stake. The mine count you pick sets the risk of every click, and the multiplier on offer is priced from that risk minus a house edge.
This guide covers the moving parts. The probability tables and multiplier guide go deeper into the numbers.
The board
The standard board is a square grid of 5 rows and 5 columns. Before the round starts, the game places mines on some of those tiles. You can't see where. Every other tile is safe.
Most games let you pick anywhere from 1 to 24 mines. With 1 mine there are 24 safe tiles; with 24 mines there is just 1.
A round, step by step
A round follows the same pattern every time:
- Choose your stake. This is the amount at risk for the round.
- Choose the number of mines. This fixes the board for the round.
- Reveal a tile. If it's safe, your multiplier goes up. If it's a mine, the round ends and the stake is lost.
- Decide again. After each safe tile you can reveal another or press cash out.
- Cash out. You receive stake × current multiplier, and the round ends.
There's no skill involved in choosing which tile to reveal. Every hidden tile has the same chance of being a mine, because the positions are random and you have no information about them.
How the mine count sets the risk
The chance that your first pick is safe is simply the number of safe tiles divided by the number of hidden tiles. With 3 mines that's 22 out of 25.
| Mines | Safe tiles | Chance first pick is safe |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 96.00% |
| 3 | 22 | 88.00% |
| 5 | 20 | 80.00% |
| 10 | 15 | 60.00% |
| 24 | 1 | 4.00% |
Each later pick is a little riskier, because a safe tile has been removed but all the mines are still there.
Worked example: three picks with 3 mines (fictional)
The round below is a made-up example to show the arithmetic.
Sam (a fictional player) stakes 1 unit, picks 3 mines, and plans to reveal three tiles before cashing out.
| Pick | Hidden tiles | Safe tiles left | Chance this pick is safe | Chance of reaching this point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 22 | 22/25 = 88.00% | 88.00% |
| 2 | 24 | 21 | 21/24 = 87.50% | 77.00% |
| 3 | 23 | 20 | 20/23 = 86.96% | 66.96% |
So Sam has a 66.96% chance of getting three safe tiles in a row. Put the other way: about one round in three ends in a mine before the third reveal.
A fair price for that 66.96% chance would be 1 ÷ 0.6696 = ×1.4935. A game with a 1% house edge would offer about ×1.4786 instead. The gap is the house edge, and it exists on every pick count. We break this down in fair vs house-edge multipliers.
How multipliers grow
Multipliers grow faster the more mines you choose, because each pick is less likely to be safe. Here is the fair multiplier (no edge) for a few combinations:
| Picks | 1 mine | 3 mines | 5 mines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ×1.0417 | ×1.1364 | ×1.2500 |
| 2 | ×1.0870 | ×1.2987 | ×1.5789 |
| 3 | ×1.1364 | ×1.4935 | ×2.0175 |
| 5 | ×1.2500 | ×2.0175 | ×3.4269 |
Notice that 3 picks with 5 mines has the same fair multiplier as 5 picks with 3 mines (×2.0175). Both have a 49.57% chance of success. Different routes, same odds, same price.
Cash out: what it really does
The cash-out button doesn't change the odds of anything. It just ends the round at a point you've chosen. Cashing out early means a small multiplier with a high chance of getting it; cashing out late means a big multiplier with a low chance. Every choice along that line has the same expected value once the house edge is applied — less than the stake.
That's why no particular "cash out after N picks" plan makes the game profitable. Our expected value guide runs simulations to show it.
Before-you-play checklist
- I know how many mines I've chosen and what the chance of each pick is.
- I've set a money limit for the session and I'll stop when it's gone.
- I've set a round limit or time limit, because rounds are very fast.
- I understand the house edge applies to every pick count.
- I know where to check fairness if the game claims to be provably fair (see myths and provably fair mines).
- I'm 18 or over and gambling is legal where I live.
Key terms
- Mine count (m): the number of mines placed on the 25 tiles.
- Pick / reveal: clicking a hidden tile.
- Multiplier: what your stake is multiplied by if you cash out now.
- Fair multiplier: 1 divided by the chance of surviving all your picks so far.
- House edge: the share the game keeps on average; a 1% edge means multipliers are 99% of fair.
- Cash out: ending the round and collecting stake × multiplier.
Summary
Mines looks like a game of nerve, but it's a fixed probability problem. The mine count decides the chance of each pick, the multiplier is priced from that chance, and the house edge trims every price a little. Nothing about which tile you click or when you cash out changes that.
FAQ
How many tiles are on a mines board?
The common version uses a 5x5 grid, so 25 tiles. Some games offer other sizes; the maths in our guides assumes 25 tiles unless we say otherwise.
Does the board change after I start picking?
In a properly built game, no. The mine positions are fixed before your first pick and stay fixed for the whole round. Provably fair games let you check this after the round.
Is it better to choose more mines or fewer?
Neither is better in value terms. More mines means bigger multipliers but a lower chance of surviving each pick. With a house edge, every combination returns the same expected amount, which is less than you stake.
What happens if I hit a mine?
The round ends and the stake for that round is lost. Any multiplier you had built up is gone unless you cashed out before the pick.