The goal of each level
Every active tile on a Molesweeper board is either safe or hiding a mole. Your job is to uncover all safe tiles. You do not have to flag every mole to finish: flags are working notes that help you keep track of locations supported by the clues. As soon as every non-mole tile is open, the level clears and any remaining hidden moles are marked automatically.
Boards are not always rectangles. Pale gaps are outside the garden and do not count as tiles, neighbors, or possible mole positions. The shape matters because a number on a narrow edge may touch only three or four active tiles, while a number in the middle can touch as many as eight.
How number clues work
A revealed number counts hidden moles in the active tiles immediately around it. The count includes horizontal, vertical, and diagonal neighbors. It never counts distant tiles, blank space outside the shaped board, or the numbered tile itself.
| Clue | Meaning | Useful next question |
|---|---|---|
| 0 or blank | No adjacent active tile contains a mole. | Which connected safe area opens automatically? |
| 1 | Exactly one adjacent tile contains a mole. | Is only one covered neighbor left? |
| 2 | Exactly two adjacent tiles contain moles. | Are two covered neighbors the only candidates? |
| 3+ | The displayed number of adjacent tiles contain moles. | How many nearby moles are already flagged? |
Read clues together, not in isolation. A “1” touching three covered tiles may not identify the mole by itself. A neighboring “2” can remove one of those candidates or prove that a shared tile is dangerous. Most useful moves come from comparing overlapping neighborhoods.
Dig, flag, and open around a clue
Dig mode
Dig is selected when a level starts. Choose any covered tile to reveal it. If the tile has no neighboring moles, the game expands through connected blank tiles and opens the numbered boundary around that area. Keyboard users can tab to a tile and press Enter or Space.
Flag mode
Switch to Flag and choose a covered tile when the clues indicate a mole. On desktop, right-clicking a tile toggles a flag without changing modes. On touch devices, a press held for roughly half a second does the same. Selecting a flagged tile again removes the flag.
Open around a completed clue
If a revealed “2” already touches two flags, select that number again. Molesweeper opens its other covered neighbors in one action. This shortcut is fast, but it trusts your flags. A wrongly placed flag can make the shortcut reveal a mole, so use it only after checking the count.
Your first dig is protected
Moles are placed only after your first dig. The chosen tile and every active neighbor around it are excluded from placement whenever the board has enough remaining space. This creates a useful opening instead of an immediate penalty. Because placement is based on the first selected position, choosing a different opening tile can produce a different arrangement on the same level shape.
A central opening usually exposes more information because it has more neighbors, while an edge opening is easier to count because fewer tiles touch each clue. Neither is always best. If you are learning, try a tile near the middle of the active shape and study the numbered edge created by the expanding blank area.
Four deduction patterns to look for
All candidates are moles
If a clue still needs two moles and exactly two unflagged covered neighbors remain, both neighbors must be moles.
All other neighbors are safe
If the number of adjacent flags equals the clue, every other covered neighbor can be dug safely.
Subtract a shared group
If one clue’s covered neighbors are contained within another clue’s neighborhood, compare the remaining count and remaining tiles.
Use the shaped edge
Ignore spaces outside the active board. A corner clue may have fewer candidates than its visual grid position first suggests.
Suppose a “2” touches one flag and two other covered tiles. Exactly one of those two tiles is a mole, but you cannot yet choose which one. Do not spend a heart by guessing. Check whether another nearby clue touches only one of those candidates. If no visible clue breaks the tie, continue elsewhere or use a hint.
Hearts, mistakes, and hints
Each level starts with three hearts. Digging a mole reveals it and removes one heart. The level stays active while at least one heart remains, which gives beginners room to learn from a misread clue. When the third heart is gone, all moles appear and the retry panel opens.
You also receive three hints per level. A hint selects a safe unrevealed tile, preferring a blank area when one is available, and opens the connected safe region. Hints do not place flags or explain a full solution; they create new clues so you can resume the deduction yourself.
Clearing and unlocking levels
A level ends successfully when every safe tile is revealed. The next level unlocks immediately, and your highest unlock plus selected level are stored in this browser. Open the level title above the board to revisit any unlocked shape. Restarting a level creates a fresh hidden arrangement after the next first dig; resetting all progress removes the unlocks and settings stored by the game.
There are twenty levels. Level 1 contains 24 active tiles and 3 moles. Later shapes add more active tiles, narrower branches, and larger mole counts, ending with 63 active tiles and 14 moles on Level 20. The rules remain the same, so improvement comes from reading overlapping clues more efficiently.
Play Molesweeper now Continue to strategy tips
Source
This guide describes the controls and level rules in the current playable Molesweeper build, updated August 3, 2026.