Watch The Mines

Probability Level 2

In the game of Minesweeper, you must locate the mines by paying attention to the number displayed on each mine-less tile. Another rule is that the first tile you tap will never have a mine on it. If you tap a mine, you lose. If you successfully tap all of the tiles without mines on them, you win.

  • Now let us suppose we have a 10 x 10 grid, with 99 bombs on it. Only 1 tile is mine-less. Now, what are the odds that you will win?
  • Bonus: What are the odds that you will win on the same 10 x 10 grid, but with 1 mine?
50% 1% 100% 25% 0%

Antimatter Bee by Antimatter Bee , 16, USA

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5 solutions

Antimatter Bee
Oct 25, 2020

For those of you who got it incorrect, did you read the question carefully? "Another rule is that the first tile you tap will never have a mine on it." Thus, your probability of tapping on the mine-less tile is 100%, because the rules make it so the first tile you hit is mine-less! If you don't believe me and want to see it for yourself, go to http://minesweeperonline.com/, make a custom grid, and set it to 10 x 10 with 99 mines.

17 Helpful 8 Interesting 16 Brilliant 2 Confused

lol, this was a real trick question.

Half pass3 - 7 months, 2 weeks ago

Cool problem

Julie K - 7 months, 2 weeks ago

Yes, the first tile you click never has a mine on it. Its a basic Minesweeper rule, because the player needs to know atleast a little info to be able to make predictions.

A Former Brilliant Member - 7 months, 2 weeks ago

Really Tricky!!

Prabhat Singh - 5 months, 1 week ago

yeah, watch the mines!!

Muhammad Ihsan - 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Robert Booth
Dec 5, 2020

The question is not about the game Minesweeper. It may say it is about Minesweeper but is it actually about a fake Minesweeper game. More than 50% of the many thousands of games of Minesweeper I have played have been lost in the first play. Boom!

2 Helpful 3 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused
Yohan Gross
Oct 30, 2020

About the bonus question is it possible that the answer would be 99!/100! = 1 % Seems very low, but that's what the maths says ...

2 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

The minesweeper I play, it'd be 100% as is the 99 bombs.

Saya Suka - 4 months ago
Adam Zaim
Nov 24, 2020

The way how I got the answer is the same as everyone else. But imo, the answer for the bonus question is also 100%. If you click on a tile that has no bombs near it, it will automatically clears the other tiles for you until a number shows up (indicating there's a bomb nearby).

1 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused
Frisk Dreemurr
Nov 3, 2020

"The game was rigged! But nothing bad for us, it just made this game of Minesweeper easier" :)

Another rule is that the first tile you tap will never have a mine on it.

So it is a 100 % 100\% that we will win if only one tile doesn't have a mine

1 Helpful 1 Interesting 1 Brilliant 0 Confused

For the bonus, we are a 100 % 100\% sure to win, if it were to be a standard minesweeper game

Frisk Dreemurr - 7 months, 1 week ago

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Yes, because everything would just be an empty square except the 3/5/8 squares around the mine which will all have a one on it.

A Former Brilliant Member - 6 months, 3 weeks ago

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