Dots and Boxes

The classic pencil-and-paper game. Take turns drawing a line between two dots; close the fourth side of a box to claim it and move again. Play a computer with three levels (the hardest one knows chain strategy) or pass the device to a friend.

How to use the Dots and Boxes

1. Choose a mode: vs Computer (pick Easy, Medium or Hard) or 2 Players on the same device. Pick a board size.
2. Draw a line by clicking or tapping the gap between two neighboring dots. With a keyboard, Tab to a line and press Enter.
3. Close a box by drawing its fourth side: the box gets your color and you must move again.
4. Avoid drawing the third side of a box, because your opponent can then take it. Late in the game, try to make your opponent open the long chains.
5. When every box is taken, the player with more boxes wins. Press New game to play again or Undo to take back a move.

Dots and Boxes strategy, step by step

1. Opening: play safe lines. At the start almost every line is safe. A line is safe if it does not become the third side of any box.
2. Never give the third side away unless every remaining line does. One careless line hands your opponent a box and an extra move.
3. Count the chains. When the safe lines run out, the board breaks into chains (boxes in a row that are linked through their open sides) and loops (chains that close on themselves). Whoever has to move then must open one of them.
4. Give away the smallest chain first. Hand over 1-box and 2-box chains before long ones. For a 2-box chain, draw the line between the two boxes so your opponent can't use a double-cross.
5. Keep control with a double-cross. When you take a long chain and more long chains are still waiting, take all but the last two boxes and draw the far end line instead. Your opponent gets 2 boxes, but must open the next long chain for you. In a loop you leave four boxes instead.

How many boxes does each board have?

A board of n × n boxes has (n+1)² dots and 2n(n+1) lines. Because every line is drawn exactly once, the total number of moves in a game is always the same; only who draws them changes.

Controls

Frequently asked questions

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