Dots and Boxes
A grid of dots. Taking turns, each player joins two neighbouring dots with a line; whoever closes the fourth side of a square keeps it and plays again. Whoever has the most squares at the end wins.
Play Dots and Boxes
The rules
How to play
On your turn you draw a line between two adjacent dots, horizontally or vertically. You cannot draw a line that is already there, or cross diagonally. When no free line is left, the match ends.
Closing a square
If your line completes the four sides of a square, that square is yours and you play again. A single line can close two squares at once: both are yours, and you still play one more time.
What it is about
Because closing gives another turn, the last lines of an area all get closed in one go: whoever draws the second-to-last line of a chain hands the whole chain to the next player. Nearly the whole match is deciding which chain to hand over and when — it pays to hand over the shortest one, and it pays to leave the long one for the end.
The clock
You have a few seconds to draw. If you run out, the game draws a free line picked at random — you do not lose your turn, but chance tends to give squares away.
Draws
If two or more end up with the same number of squares, the match is a draw between them and the pot is split.