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About Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz is a free browser game that turns the world's most strategic chokepoint into a tense minesweeper puzzle. The real strait is barely 33 km wide at its narrowest, carries roughly a fifth of global oil shipments, and is hemmed in by Iran to the north and the Musandam Peninsula to the south. In this game it has been blockaded and mined — and your job is to reason out a safe channel and slip a tanker through. A quick, brainy break in the Your AI Slop Bores Me arcade.
How to play
- Pick a posture: Patrol (22 mines, barely any missiles — great for learning), Tensions (55), or Blockade (80 mines, with the far exits sealed off).
- Tap or left-click open water to sound it. The number tells you how many sea-mines sit in the eight surrounding tiles.
- Use the numbers to deduce which tiles are safe. Flag the dangerous ones with right-click, long-press, or Flag mode.
- Your tanker automatically follows the rightmost safe channel you've revealed — clear a route and it sails itself toward the Gulf of Oman.
- Watch for homing missiles. They lock onto where your ship is at launch, so keeping it moving is the best evasion.
- Reach the right-hand exit to break the blockade and log your time.
Tips for running the blockade
- Your first probe is always safe — open aggressively near the Persian Gulf to build a foothold.
- The waterway pinches at the narrows in the middle of the map — that's where mines hurt most. Flag carefully.
- Chord-click a satisfied number (all its mines flagged) to clear its neighbours at once.
- You win by reaching the exit, not by clearing the whole sea — don't over-probe.
- On Blockade only one or two right-edge tiles are real exits; the rest are mined.
FAQ
Is Strait of Hormuz free?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser — no install or sign-up — on desktop and mobile.
How do I flag a mine on mobile?
Long-press a tile, or tap the Flag button to switch into flag mode and tap normally.
Why won't my ship move?
The tanker only travels across water you've already revealed. Reveal more tiles to the right to extend its route toward open sea.
Are the missiles avoidable?
Yes. Each missile locks onto your ship's position at launch. Because the tanker keeps advancing along cleared water, missiles usually arrive where you no longer are — so keep progressing.