How to play Dots and Boxes
- Pick the computer (Easy, Medium or Hard) or a friend, and a board of 3 by 3, 4 by 4 or 5 by 5 boxes. Against the computer, choose who starts.
- Take turns clicking between two neighboring dots to draw a line. A dashed preview shows the line before you click.
- Draw the fourth side of a box and it’s yours, and you take another turn. When every line is drawn, whoever owns more boxes wins.
Tips for winning at Dots and Boxes
- Count safe moves. Early on, any line that doesn’t make a third side is safe. The player who runs out of safe moves first usually has to give something away.
- Give away short chains first. When every move gives up boxes, open the shortest chain, so the other player gains as little as possible.
- Learn the double-dealing move. When you take a long chain, decline the last two boxes with the line between them. You give up two boxes but keep control of the next chain.
- Watch the parity. On larger boards, the number of long chains decides who has to open the first one. Plan your safe moves so the count works in your favor.
About the game
Dots and Boxes is a pencil-and-paper game for two players, known in some places as Pigs in a Pen or Squares. Starting from a grid of dots, players take turns joining two neighboring dots; completing the fourth side of a box claims it and earns an extra move. This version plays on boards of 3 by 3 to 5 by 5 boxes, against the computer at three levels or with a friend on the same device.