New game
New game
You against Hops (and his pond friends).
Grid
Players
Dots and Boxes
Board · Draw lines, close boxes and claim the most squares.
Play Dots and Boxes free online against Hops the frog, or pass the phone for 2 to 4 players. Take turns drawing lines between dots, close the fourth side of a box to claim it and go again. Pick a small, medium or large grid, or play Dots and Boxes online with friends: send a link and they join from any phone or computer.
🏆 Leaderboard
Loading…
How to play
- Choose Easy, Medium or Hard to play Hops (his pond friends join at 3 or 4 players), or Friends to play on one device. Pick a grid of 3×3, 5×5 or 7×7 boxes and press Start.
- On your turn, draw one line between two dots next to each other: tap the gap between them, or drag from one dot to the next.
- Draw the fourth side of a box and it's yours: it fills with your colour and you draw again.
- Your turn ends with a line that doesn't close a box. A line that gives a box its third side hands that box to the next player.
- When every box is claimed, the player with the most boxes wins.
Tips to win
- Early on, never draw the third side of a box: the next player simply takes it.
- Sooner or later every line gives boxes away. Then give the smallest chain first.
- Hand over a chain of two boxes with its middle line, so it can't be handed back to you.
- The double-cross: when your rival opens a long chain, take all but the last two boxes and leave those two with one line between them. Your rival takes them but then has to open the next chain for you.
- Long chain rule for two players: on all three grids here (an even number of dots), whoever moved first wants an even number of long chains (3 or more boxes), the other player an odd number. Fight for it while safe lines last.
- Loops are expensive to keep control of: four boxes instead of two.
- Stuck? Press Teach me and Hops shows a good line and says why, like "This line gives nothing away".
- To play friends online, open the Online tab, choose Play a friend, pick 2, 3 or 4 players and send the link. Online games use the 5×5 grid, with 30 seconds for each line.
Questions
How do you play Dots and Boxes?
Start with a grid of dots. Players take turns drawing a line between two neighbouring dots. Whoever draws the fourth side of a box claims it and draws again. When all the boxes are claimed, the most boxes wins.
Do you get another turn when you complete a box?
Yes. Closing a box (or two at once) means you must draw another line. Your turn ends with the first line that doesn't close a box.
What is the best strategy in Dots and Boxes?
Don't give away third sides while you can avoid it. When every line gives boxes away, give the smallest chains first and win control of the long ones: take all but two boxes of each chain your rival opens and hand the last two back, so your rival has to open the next chain.
What is the long chain rule?
A rule for two players that tells you who will get the long chains. On a grid with an even number of dots, like all three grids here, the first player wants the number of long chains (3 or more boxes) to be even and the second player wants it odd.
What is a double-cross in Dots and Boxes?
When you take all but the last two boxes of a chain and leave them with one line between them, your rival can take both boxes with a single line: that's the double-cross. Then they must move again, usually opening another chain for you.
What is Dots and Boxes called in other languages?
In Spanish it's Timbiriche (or puntos y cajas), in Portuguese Jogo dos Pontinhos, in Turkish Kutu Kapmaca, in French Pipopipette and in German Käsekästchen. The French mathematician Édouard Lucas first described the game in 1889.
How smart is Hops?
Easy plays casually and sometimes gives boxes away. Medium takes every free box and avoids third sides. Hard counts chains and loops, fights for control with the long chain rule and double-crosses you in the endgame.
Can I play Dots and Boxes online with friends?
Yes. Choose Online, then Play a friend, pick 2, 3 or 4 players and send the link. Hops and his pond friends fill empty seats. Quick match finds you another player instead. No account needed.
Is Dots and Boxes free?
Yes. Play free in your browser on phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no account. Your game is saved if you leave mid-way.