How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (2024)

Maths Week Scotland

23 September - 29 September 2024

How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (1)

Whether you’re travelling over the summer holidays and need something to keep the kids busy on the road, or looking for a boredom buster back at home, you can’t go wrong with a quick and easy pen and paper game. Dots & Boxes is simple yet fun, you might even remember playing it at school during break times (or in class!)

How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (2)

To set up the game, all you need is a grid of dots and a couple of pens in different colours. You can just sketch out a grid on a piece of paper, or download one of our pre-prepared grids. You can play with grids of different sizes - a 4x4 grid is good for beginners and to get the hang of the game, a bigger grid will take longer and is more challenging.

How to play

This game works best with two players. The aim of the game is to capture as many boxes as you can.

Each player choses a different colour of pen. Players then take turns to connect two adjacent dots with a line, either vertically or horizontally (NOT diagonally).

How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (3)

If a player draws the fourth side of a box, they 'capture' that box and write their initials inside. If a player captures a box, they get another turn.

How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (4)

The game ends when all boxes are captured. The person who has captured the most boxes wins.

How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (5)

Some questions to think about:

  • How many lines can you draw without capturing a single box?
  • How can you get more than one box on a single turn?

Maths skills involved: spatial reasoning, logical deduction

Have you had a go at playing Dots & Boxes? How did you get on? Let us know by sharing your experiences with us on Twitter or Facebook, and use the hashtag #MathsWeekScot.

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How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (6)

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How to play Dots & Boxes - Maths Week Scotland (2024)

FAQs

How to win dots and boxes cheat? ›

If your opponent is forced to play in one of these chains, then you can take all but two of the boxes and, by sacrificing the last two boxes, make certain that it is his turn to play into the next long chain. You will thus win all but two boxes in each long chain, and of course you will win all boxes in the last chain.

Is Dots and Boxes a solved game? ›

This is the largest game solved to date, and is a tie given optimal play by both opponents.

How to beat the dot game? ›

Drawing a square of like-colored dots eliminates all dots of that color from the board. It's the fastest way to rack up points and the only way to get your score into the stratosphere. That's because squares beget squares: Make one, and you're setting yourself up for many more.

What is the double cross strategy in dots and boxes? ›

A more experienced player faced with position 1 will instead play the double-cross strategy, taking all but 2 of the boxes in the chain and leaving position 3. The opponent will take these two boxes and then be forced to open the next chain. By achieving position 3, player A wins.

What are cheat codes? ›

in a computer or video game, a secret password, set of numbers, series of buttons to press, etc., that makes something unusual happen, for example giving a player unusual abilities or allowing them to advance in the game : The disk also contains secret cheat codes to get additional ammunition or be able to skip levels.

What's in the box game instructions? ›

Explain that people should put their hand inside each box to feel what's inside. After around thirty seconds, they should guess what the item inside the box is by quietly writing down the box number and their guess.

What are the rules for the game squares? ›

The object of the game is to form a square by joining four dots. When a player draws a line that closes a square, she writes her initials inside the square and gets a bonus turn. When all possible lines have been drawn, the player with the most initialed squares is the winner.

What is the largest solved games? ›

Othello is the largest game solved to date, with a search space of 1028 possible game positions.

What is the game where you draw lines between dots? ›

Dots and Boxes is a simple game for 2 players that takes minutes to play. You and your opponent take turns drawing horizontal or vertical lines to connect dots on a grid to form boxes. When someone draws the fourth line to finish a 1 x 1 box, they mark it, earn a point, and take another turn.

What is the game where you make squares out of dots? ›

Dots and Boxes is a classic pen and paper game where the goal is to make a square box.

What is the trick to dots and boxes? ›

The secret is to decline the last two squares of every long chain of three or more squares. You will then win all but two of every chain, plus the whole of the last chain. This is just one example showing that Dots and Boxes is a much deeper game than many players realise.

Is there a strategy in dots? ›

Know where the Dots will fall next before they even fall. Eye the board in a way you know that if you make a square here, these other dots will make a square too, and do them in quick succession. Similarly, if you get rid of this dot, these dots line up just right and so do those over there.

How to play dot box game? ›

First grab 2 pencils (or pens) and a friend to play with. Take turns drawing horizontal or vertical lines between two dots. Whichever player completes the fourth side of the box (square) puts their initial in the box and earns a point. After completing a box the player takes another turn.

How do you beat the box game? ›

In order for the entire group to win the game, they must enter their code into the electronic combination lock before the countdown is over. There are four intriguing cases in each aluminium box which are protected by strong combination locks. These contain codes and mysteries that teams must solve to progress.

How does the card game cheat work? ›

If anyone thinks the discarder is lying, they shout "Cheat!" before the next player begins their turn, and the cards are turned over. If they are as announced, the doubter picks up the entire pile. If a deception is revealed, the deceiver picks them up.

How do you win in Shut the Box? ›

The player with the lowest score after a certain number of rounds wins. If a player closes all ties, they have “shut the box” and win outright.

How do cheat codes work in games? ›

Cheat codes are usually activated by typing secret passwords or pressing controller buttons in a certain sequence. Less common activation methods include entering certain high score names, holding keys or buttons while dying, picking up items in a particular order and otherwise performing unintuitive actions.

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