How to Play
- Pick a grid: 3×3 for a quick game, 5×5 for a proper battle, or 7×7 for a long one.
- On your turn, tap the gap between two neighbouring dots to draw a line.
- If your line finishes the fourth side of a box, the box becomes yours and is marked with your colour and shape.
- Finishing a box earns you another turn straight away, so you can keep going while boxes are ready to close.
- When every line is drawn, the player with the most boxes wins.
Rules
Lines can only join two dots that sit next to each other, across or down — never diagonally. Once drawn, a line stays for the rest of the game and belongs to nobody in particular; only the boxes are scored.
If your line does not complete a box, play passes to the next player. A single line can close two boxes at once, and you still get just one bonus turn. With three or four players, turns go round in seat order, and several players can tie for first place.
Tips & Strategy
- Avoid drawing the third side of a box. That hands the box to the next player. Early on, most good moves are lines that leave every box with two sides or fewer.
- Think in chains. Late in the game the board splits into chains: rows of boxes where taking one lets you take the next. Whoever is forced to open the first long chain usually loses.
- Give away the smallest pieces first. When every move gives something away, open a single box or a pair before a long chain, and hope your opponent must open the big one.
- Learn the double-cross. When your opponent opens a long chain, take every box except the last two, then draw the line at the far end. They collect two boxes but must open the next chain for you. Giving two to win six is a great trade.
- Break a pair in the middle. If you have to give away a two-box chain, draw the line between the two boxes. That way your opponent cannot use the double-cross trick on you.
Game Modes
Play vs Computer lets you face one, two or three computer players. Easy grabs boxes some of the time and often draws careless third sides. Medium always takes free boxes and avoids giving any away until it has no choice. Hard counts chains and loops, keeps control with the double-cross, and plays the final stages perfectly on small boards.
Play with Friend seats two to four people around one screen. The scoreboard glows around whoever is drawing, and every claimed box carries a shape as well as a colour, so it is easy to tell players apart.
Play Online supports up to four people in separate places, and the host can let the computer fill any empty seats.
Play with Friends Online
Choose Play Online and make a new room. You get a room code and a share link; drop the link into your family or class group so everyone can tap in from their own phone. Each person who joins takes the next free seat in the lobby. When the group is ready, the host presses start and the grid appears for everyone at once. A line drawn on one screen shows up on all the others within a moment.
Dots and Boxes FAQ
Which grid size should I start with?
Start with 3×3. Games last about two minutes and you will quickly see how chains work. Move up to 5×5 once the double-cross makes sense.
Why did the computer give me two boxes on purpose?
That is the double-cross. By leaving you the last two boxes of a chain, the computer makes you move next, which means you have to open the following chain for it.
Can the game end in a tie?
With two players on these grids there is always an odd number of boxes, so someone always wins. With three or four players, two people can finish level on top.
Do I have to take a box when I can?
No. You may draw any open line. Sometimes leaving a box untaken is the smarter choice, as the double-cross shows.
How many people can play?
Two, three or four. In a game against the computer you can pick how many computer players join you.
Last updated: 2026-09-30
