How to Play Dots and Boxes
Dots and Boxes is a mind-challenging game similar to Tic Tac Toe. It’s simple and requires nothing but pencil and paper. Looks may be deceiving though, as this game is very tricky!
Objective of Dots and Boxes:
Players take turns in drawing lines between dots on a grid. The player who completes the most boxes wins.
What You Need:
- Two different colored pencils/markers
- Paper
- Two Players
Setup:
Drawing only dots, make a large square, 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, etc.
How to Play:
To start the game, one player will go first. Each player can only draw one line per turn, connecting two dots at a time. Players can only draw vertical or horizontal lines. Players take turns drawing lines anywhere on the board. Try to make a square, but the trick is to be the last one to fill in the missing line of the square. If a player completes the fourth side of a box they initial that box and must take another turn, drawing another line of their choice.
When all the boxes have been completed the winner is the player who has initialed the most boxes.
The game is more complex than it initially appears, and even on a 4×4 grid there is plenty of opportunity for skillful play.
If you want to spice things up, try different size boards, or different shapes.
Need further reference? Watch the tutorial!
