Mogi › Board games › Dots and Boxes

Dots and Boxes: how to play

The classic pen-and-paper game of dots and boxes, hosted by Kip. Take turns drawing a line between two dots; close the fourth side of a box and it's yours, and you draw again. Every level brings a new opponent and a bigger grid, from a 3×3 warm-up against Bruno to a 5×5 Glitch Zone with gold boxes.

How to play

You draw first. Tap the gap between two dots to draw a line, or use the arrow keys and Enter or Space.
Close the fourth side of a box to win it, and take another turn straight away. One line can close two boxes at once.
When every line is drawn, the most points wins. A lost game costs one of your three hearts and you get a rematch; a draw is played again with no heart lost.
Each box scores 10 × the level number, and taking three boxes in one turn is a chain bonus of 25.

The five levels

Neon City: 3×3 boxes vs Bruno: close a box and go again
Rooftops: 4×4 vs Mogi: don't draw a box's third side
Sewer: 5×5 vs Sewer Bot: save your safe lines
Robot Factory: Factory Bot never gives a free box, and gives you the smallest chain it can
Glitch Zone: 3 gold boxes worth 2 points, and 6 lines already drawn

Clear the Glitch Zone and the levels loop again with opponents that make 40% fewer careless moves and give away fewer free boxes. You have three hearts for the whole run, and the game is the same for everyone each day, so you can compare scores. Press M to turn the sound off or on.

Tips

Never draw the third side of a box unless you have to: your opponent takes it.
Late in the game, count the chains. Hand over the shortest one first.
When you take a long chain, you can leave the last two boxes for your opponent so they must open the next chain.

Questions

What is a chain?

A row of boxes that each have two sides drawn, so once one is closed, the rest fall one after another. Whoever opens a chain usually gives all of it away.