How to play Dots and Boxes

Dots and Boxes is the pencil-and-paper game many of us first played on a napkin or the back of a school notebook. The board is a square grid of dots. Two players take turns drawing one line between two dots that sit side by side, across or up and down. Whoever draws the fourth side of a box claims it, puts their letter inside, and draws again. When every line is drawn, the player with more boxes wins. A game on the classic 5 × 5 board takes about five minutes.

A turn

• Draw one line between two neighboring dots. Lines never go diagonally, and a line can only be drawn once.
• If your line finishes a box, the box is yours and you must draw another line. One line can finish two boxes at once.
• If your line finishes nothing, it is the other player's turn.
• On a computer, point at a line to see it, then click. On a phone, the first tap shows the line and the second tap draws it.

Winning and a draw

The game ends when all the lines are drawn and every box has an owner. More boxes wins. The 3 × 3 and 5 × 5 boards have an odd number of boxes, so someone always wins; on 4 × 4 and 6 × 6 a tie is possible. The number on each name plate shows how many boxes that player has.

Tips

1. Never draw the third side of a box. That hands the box to the other player. A line is safe when every box next to it still has two sides or fewer.
2. Take free boxes. If the other player leaves a box with three sides, close it and keep going.
3. Count the safe lines. Sooner or later the safe lines run out, and someone has to open a chain, a row of boxes where each one you take gives you the next. You want the other player to be the one who runs out.
4. Give the smallest chain. When you have to give something away, give the fewest boxes you can. A chain of two is best opened in the middle, so it cannot be handed back.
5. Keep control. When you take a long chain and more chains are still waiting, take all but the last two boxes and draw the line at the far end instead. The other player gets two boxes, then has to open the next chain for you. This one trick wins more games than anything else.

Today's board

The Daily Board starts everyone from the same 5 × 5 sheet, with ten lines already drawn. You draw first against the same computer player as everyone else, and your score is the number of boxes you take. Your first try of the day is the one that counts.

Questions

Is this the game I played in school? Yes. Same dots, same lines, same rule that closing a box gives you another turn. It also goes by Boxes, Squares, and Pigs in a Pen.

Do I have to take a box when I can? No. You may draw any line you like. Most of the time taking the box is right, but at the end, leaving the last two boxes of a chain is often the winning move.

How strong is the computer? Easy takes most free boxes and sometimes draws a third side by mistake, the way most people play at first. Normal never gives a box away while a safe line is left, but takes every box it can. Sharp counts the chains, keeps control at the end, and plays the last lines perfectly.

Can two people play on one phone? Yes. Choose "Two on one device" and pass the phone back and forth.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.