Dots and Boxes Game
Draw a line on each turn, close a box to claim it, and go again.
Ready? Press Start
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Game information
- Price
- Free
- Skills
- Planning AheadSpatial ReasoningStrategy
- Players
- 1 or 2 players
- Platforms
- Phone / Tablet / Computer
How to play Dots and Boxes
Pick a board size and who to play, then press Start. On your turn, tap between two dots that sit next to each other to draw a line across or down; the faint dashes show every line still free. When you draw the fourth side of a box, the box is yours: it fills with your color and you draw another line straight away. Keep going for as long as you keep closing boxes. When every box is claimed, the player with more boxes wins.
The one rule of thumb that changes everything: try not to draw the third side of a box. A box with three sides is a present for the other player, who closes it and then gets another turn, and the box next to it may already have two sides of its own. Near the end of the game every line gives something away, and the skill is choosing to give away as little as you can.
Strategy for older players
On 4 x 4 and 5 x 5 boards, the boxes join up into chains: corridors of boxes where closing one opens the next. Count them. When the safe lines run out, the player who has to move opens a chain and the other player usually takes all of it, so it pays to make the other player run out of safe lines first. Strong players sometimes refuse the last two boxes of a long chain on purpose, drawing a line that leaves them for the opponent, so that the opponent then has to open the next, longer chain. That trick is called a double cross, and the Hard computer knows it.
Playing the computer or a friend
Every game starts against the Easy computer, which sometimes draws a third side and hands you a box, so a beginner can win. Medium never gives a box away while it has a choice, and Hard plays the ending perfectly, which makes it a real challenge for an adult. You see each line the computer draws, and its boxes fill in red. Choose 2 Players for purple against red on one screen; whoever went second starts the next game.
A pencil and paper classic
Dots and boxes needs nothing but a sheet of paper and a pencil, which makes it a favorite for car journeys, waiting rooms and indoor recess. Playing it here first lets a child learn the rules with the board doing the checking, then take the game off the screen. If your child likes games where one move sets up the next, tic tac toe is the place to start for younger players, and mancala is a good next step for older ones.
Questions parents and teachers ask
How do you play dots and boxes?
Players take turns drawing one line between two dots that sit next to each other, across or down. Whoever draws the fourth side of a box claims it, and then draws another line straight away. When every box has been claimed, the player with more boxes wins. Here you tap between two dots to draw your line, and boxes you claim fill with your color.
Do you get another turn when you make a box?
Yes. Closing a box always earns another line, and if that line closes another box you go again, so one turn can claim a whole row of boxes. That is why the most important rule of thumb is not to draw the third side of a box, because it hands the box, and often the boxes after it, to the other player.
Which board size should we start with?
Start on 3 x 3, nine boxes, which is over in a couple of minutes and is the best size for learning to spot a third side. Move to 4 x 4 when your child stops handing over boxes, and to 5 x 5 for longer games where chains of boxes and planning ahead decide the winner.
How does the computer play?
Easy usually takes a box when it sees one but often draws a third side by mistake, so a beginner can win. Medium always takes boxes and never gives one away while it has a choice. Hard plays like Medium until the board is nearly full, then works out every way the game can end and plays the ending perfectly. You see each line it draws as it draws it.
What does dots and boxes teach?
Looking ahead. Children learn to check what a move gives the other player before they make it, which is the habit behind every strategy game. Bigger boards add counting and comparing: is it better to give away a chain of two boxes now or a chain of three later? It needs nothing but paper and pencil, so it is easy to keep playing away from a screen.