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The classic pencil game for two players: join two dots, close a box, write your initial. Three grid sizes.
Dots and boxes is a classic paper game that needs only a pencil and a friend. Players take turns joining two neighbouring dots; whoever draws the fourth side of a box writes their initial in it and plays again. It looks like luck at first, but children soon discover strategy: never draw the third side of a box, and sometimes give away one box to win many. The small grid suits a quick game with young children, the large one a long match for older kids and adults.
Best for ages 6–99
Two is classic, but three or four can play on the large grid.
They write their initial inside and must play again straight away.
5 × 5 dots for a first game (16 boxes), 8 × 8 for a longer one, 12 × 12 for a real match.
Prefer practising on a tablet? Adaptive maths practice — offline, safe and free on Google Play.