26 August 2020

How to play "Dots and Boxes"


"Two players take turns joining two horizontally or vertically adjacent dots by a line. The player who completes the fourth side of a square (i.e., a box) puts his or her initials inside and gets another turn. When all of the dots have been made into boxes, the player with the most boxes wins."

10 comments:

  1. VireyaAugust 26, 2020 at 6:24 PM

    Wow! We used to play this at school, but I had completely forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me.

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  2. MuddyValleyAugust 26, 2020 at 9:55 PM

    Go!

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  3. Ambuj SaxenaAugust 27, 2020 at 12:21 AM

    I used to play this game often, and one day I “solved” it. Once the first person to play is decided, the winner is guaranteed based on the best strategy. I was so happy I solved it, but it led to draining all the fun of it and I stopped playing.

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  4. AnonymousAugust 27, 2020 at 10:24 AM

    i play on my computer (8x8). my initial strategy is neither of us gets any boxes. once i run out of safe places, it is 'how many more moves before the computer gets all the squares'. that usually is 3 or 4 moves, with the computer getting 10 to 15 boxes each time. i have done it in two(!!!) a couple of times.

    I-)

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  5. The Slide GuyAugust 27, 2020 at 1:38 PM

    Good Heavens. That brings back memories. Drumgarth School, Aberdeen, early seventies. Everyone was playing it, and then...it just stopped being played. I often wonder why.

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  6. demenace07August 27, 2020 at 1:42 PM

    This post takes me back to the 80's when I bought a Shareware version of this game for my Leading Edge XT compatible PC. The amber screen, DOS 3.1 commands, and not a mouse in sight - those were the days.

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  7. Jeremy WitteveenAugust 28, 2020 at 7:29 AM

    I played this every Sunday in Church with my best friend Chris. We'd find any area on the bulletin that had enough white space to create boards, dot them out and play through the sermon. What a great way to ignore the message of salvation!

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  8. AnonymousAugust 28, 2020 at 10:32 AM

    i played on paper a few times, but i stopped. i never liked having to fill in (or mark) the boxes i won, nor did i like having to wait while my opponent marked their boxes. depending on who and how you were playing, there was always the possibility of someone getting a box, but forgetting to mark it, which then meant the other player could get it.

    I-)

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  9. ML CollinsAugust 28, 2020 at 4:31 PM

    Still playing it old school.

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  10. WilliamRocketMay 9, 2022 at 11:10 PM

    With LT and CH playing, and their names so similar, I'm surprised they didn't use their middle name initial as well.

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