Dots and Boxes

Dots and Boxes is a free strategy game you can play in your browser. Draw lines against the computer on Easy, Medium, or Hard and claim boxes on a dotted grid. Play a Quick 3×3, Classic 4×4 or 5×5, or the shared daily 4×4.

Also known as: dots and boxes, boxes game, dot grid game

Play Dots and Boxes free in your browser against Easy, Medium, or Hard. Quick 3×3, Classic 4×4 or 5×5, and a shared daily 4×4.

How to play Dots and Boxes

  1. Choose Quick, Classic, or Daily, plus Easy, Medium, or Hard. Quick is 3×3. Classic is 4×4 or 5×5, and you pick who starts. Daily is always 4×4, Medium, you move first, with 4–6 shared pre-drawn lines for that UTC day so nobody owns a box at the start. Open Daily from a link with ?daily=1.
  2. Tap a gap between two dots to draw a line. An already drawn line does nothing. Completing a box’s fourth side claims it: your boxes fill blue with a Y, the computer’s orange with a C. Claiming a box grants one extra turn, even if that line closes two boxes at once. When no lines remain, the game ends.
  3. Easy sometimes takes a box when one is available, otherwise a random legal line. Medium always takes the capture that claims the most boxes, then prefers a safe line that does not set up a box for you. Hard searches the full 3×3 and uses chain play on 4×4 and 5×5.
  4. Undo returns to the start of your current turn, so a chain you are still taking comes off in one step. If you have not drawn yet, it also removes your last turn and the computer’s whole reply. It stays disabled while the computer is thinking. Restart deals the same mode again; Daily keeps today’s board.
  5. Wins, losses, draws, and best margin are saved on this device. Daily keeps its own best margin and does not mix with Classic 4×4 Medium.

Most boxes wins. Equal scores show Draw, which can only happen on 4×4. The score is your box count. Margin is your boxes minus the computer’s. Quick and Classic store wins, losses, draws, and biggest win margin for each size and difficulty on this device. Daily stores the best margin separately and does not mix with Classic 4×4 Medium.

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