Dots & Boxes

DRAW THE FOURTH SIDE

Claim the grid.

Join two dots. Close a box to score and take another turn.

Set up a match

Player 1 draws first

Players
Board
Computer

Game guide · Turn-based strategy

Every fourth edge matters

Dots and Boxes begins with an empty lattice and one simple action: connect two neighboring dots. The depth comes from deciding when to offer a box, when to take one and how to control a whole chain.

Dots and Boxes grid with completed coral and blue squares between dark dots
A live match view showing claimed boxes and remaining edges.
Players
1 vs AI or 2 local
Session
3–12 minutes
Input
Touch or mouse
AI
Three difficulty levels

Claim boxes

Players add one horizontal or vertical line per turn. Completing the fourth side of a box claims it and grants another move. When every edge has been drawn, the player with more boxes wins the match.

Understand chains

Early moves are usually safe because no box has three sides. Later, a single edge can hand over several connected boxes. Count the unfinished boxes in each chain before opening it, and look for a sacrifice that limits how many your opponent can collect.

Two ways to play

Face Easy, Medium or Hard computer play, or select the local two-player mode and share one screen. The active player, score and last move remain visible, while a restart returns the board to a clean state without reloading the page.