Sportsgrid Staff
Host · Writer - Last Updated: 10/26/25
Minesweeper was one of the classics that I loved to play on our family computer back in the day. So when I learned of the Stake Mines game available on Stake.us, I knew I had to try it out.
In this article, I’ll explain the mechanics of the game, the unique features they’ve included, and why I like it so much. I’ll also provide a few quick tips and do a deep dive into their auto play feature.
In short, the Stake Mines game presents you with a 5×5 tiled grid. Under each tile, there’s either a gem or a bomb – the number of each depends on the settings you’ve chosen – I’ll go through this in more depth below. You play by choosing a tile to reveal – if it’s a gem, you increase the multiplier and get the option to redeem your prizes and start a new round. But if the tile you’ve chosen has a bomb behind it, the round is over. Stake.us says it was inspired by Minesweeper and I’m sure you’ll immediately see the similarities.
As with the vast majority of social casinos and sweepstakes sites in the US, there are two virtual currencies available, Gold Coins and Stake Cash. Both can be used to play Stake Mines and switching between them is quick and easy. Although no purchase is necessary, you can purchase Gold Coins and you’ll receive free Stake Cash as a bonus. You’ll be able to redeem cash prizes with winnings in Stake Cash. If you’re playing outside the US, on stake.com, you’ll find a variety of different currency options.
A quick tip: considering that it has it is designed for fun, using Gold Coins is a great way to demo Stake Mines for free. I used it to test out my strategies and get to grips with not just Stake Mines but all of the other games that the site offers.
Stake Mines is a fast-paced, action-packed game. Depending on how you set it up, it’s a high or low stakes, bomb game and can be played as quickly or as slowly as you want. It’s got slick visuals and a modern feel. If you’re more into the classic casino-style visuals, check out their Stake Slots but I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with this easy-to-digest and quick-to-understand game.
In manual mode, the settings are fairly straightforward with your only options being the number of bombs and the amount you’re playing with. The site has useful UI features like a play amount doubler and divider so you can quickly increase or decrease your play amount without having to manually edit the actual amount. Manual mode will be perfect for you if you want more of an active play style.
Once you’ve got the game fully figured out and you’re ready to try out your strategies, you can use the auto play feature that Stake.us has included. They’ve essentially given you a Stake Mines bot to play around with. If you’re looking to kick back and watch your strategy performance over time, then using this feature will suit you perfectly. I’ll explain the settings below:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Amount and which virtual currency you’re using | The amount you’re staking per round |
| Mines | The number of mines in the 5×5 grid. The number of mines and the amount you’re playing with determine the risk and reward. |
| Number of games | How many rounds the game will run through before stopping – there’s also a setting here to keep playing indefinitely so if your strategy is working out, but always remember to take a break. |
| On win / on loss | You’re able to configure exactly how you would like your play amount to change based directly on the results of your last game. |
| Stop on profit / stop on loss | Used to stop the playing automatically before the number of plays you set above is reached based on your total net position, either positive or negative. |
It’s important to note that you can’t get the game to select different tiles within the same round, so if you’d rather build up that multiplier in a single round, it might be better to keep it in manual mode.
They’ve also included a handy chart for Stake Mines so you can keep track of your progress, winnings, and losses in an easy-to-understand way. This is the sort of feature that makes stake.us stand out from the others. It’s a subtle but powerful tool that will aid the more statistically minded and analytical player.
It gives you a breakdown of your:
It updates in real time, so you can get an immediate and dynamic representation of the performance of your strategy. This is especially useful if you’re sitting back and making the most of the social features on the site. If you’re making tweaks on the fly, you’ll also quickly be able to see how it’s changing your performance. It’s also a good way to visualize the performance of a couple of different strategies quickly, almost acting like a Stake Mines predictor or calculator.
Another quick tip: there are plenty of Stake Mines calculators online so you can work out exactly how the number of mines will affect your prize on a successful play.
A lot of social sweepstakes or casino-style sites make claims about social interaction and community engagement but the live chat feature immediately sets this site apart from the rest. You can open the chat window at the top of the site regardless of what game you’re playing on the site. If you’re enjoying the dynamic and high-energy style of Stake Mines, you should definitely try out some of their other games like Crash Stake or the Stake Chickens game. For a full rundown, make sure to check out our Stake.us review. The live chat gives you the ability to actively engage with other people playing the Stake Mines at the same time as you.
There are some other neat social features that the site offers. You can see a live stream of all the games being played on Stake Mines. It’s exciting to see how other people are doing and it really gives you that classic casino-style feel of playing around other people. Coupled with the live chat, you might even be able to get a few tips and tricks from those who you can see are doing well. It’s nice also to be able to see other people’s profiles and see their stats, like how much they’ve played and how they’re doing in the races – for the privacy-oriented, you can choose to hide these from your profile.
The site also offers competitions on the fly. For the more competitive among us, it makes Stake Mines even more fun. These competitions, called races, are a big part of how the brand stays active and connected to its community and user base. Races are time-based leaderboard contests. You compete by earning points each time you play and at the end of the race period, the top-ranking players win prizes. The top prize for the current Stake Mines race is valued at $25,000!
Even if you prefer a more casual approach to playing, you can still earn free bonuses and prizes for playing how you want to. Often, these races, especially if they are game-specific, are coupled with multipliers and boosts. If you notice one for a different game on the site, it might be an opportunity to try out the other two games I recommended earlier.
When you’re choosing which game to play, whether it’s Stake Mines or another, like Crash Stake, you’ll be able to see the number of people currently playing online. Right now, there’s over 100,000 people playing so it’s no surprise that the live chat is extremely active and the tone of the chat is friendly and supportive.
Using the bonus code SPORTSGRID, you’ll be able to get 560k Gold Coins, 56 Stake Cash, and a 5% rakeback. This rakeback means you’ll get 5% of the amount you’re playing with back regardless of whether you win or lose.
The other great thing about this site is that you’ll get a daily bonus of 10k Gold Coins and 1 Stake Cash every day when you log on.
I totally get the hype and appeal of Stake Mines. The rounds can be short, just a couple of seconds, and you can redeem prizes quickly. Or, if you’re settling in for a marathon session, you can set the auto play up, talk in the chat, see how the competitions are coming along or even relax and sit back.
It’s an ingeniously simple game, but still has the depth to really get your hands dirty with strategy and allows you to get totally stuck in. It comes with a load of features to help you formulate a strategy that works for you and has the welcome bonus of having a real personal and social side to it. Not many other sites can claim an active and engaging player base like stake.us.
No, there aren’t any actual apps or bits of software that will accurately predict which tiles are safe in Stake Mines. Ultimately, it is a game of chance and whilst some sites or apps might help you implement strategies, there is no way to guarantee a win.
Stake.us is only available in the US except in the following states: Idaho, Kentucky, New York, Washington, Nevada, Michigan, Maryland, and Vermont. If you want to play outside of the US, you might be able to access it via stake.com, although this isn’t available everywhere either.
Stake Mines is a fast-paced and action-packed game and is played by tens of thousands of people. Try it out, the proof is in the pudding.
You can use the bonus code in this article to get yourself a great starting pot. Stake.us also offers daily bonuses alongside regular boosts to its casino-style games.
No, stake.us offers a variety of classic casino-style games and plenty of their own original creations alongside normal sports sweepstakes.