Dots and Boxes strategy: the secret is giving boxes away
Pull up a chair. This is what I wish someone had told me before I lost my first hundred games.
Good Dots and Boxes strategy comes down to one idea: make your opponent open the big chains of boxes. Early on, never give any box its third side. Later, when every line gives something away, hand over the smallest gift and keep the big chains for yourself.
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Count the safe lines left
A safe line leaves every box with two sides or fewer. Know who will run out of them first.
Give away the smallest gift
When you must hand something over, give one or two boxes, never the start of a long chain.
Keep two back in a long chain
Take all but the last pair, leave them for your opponent, and make them open the next chain.
The Dots and Boxes game you lost, replayed
On the rules page, Ana loses a tiny 2×2 game 4 to 0. She never makes an obvious blunder. She plays a safe line at move 7, Ben plays the last safe line at move 8, and then she's stuck: every line left opens boxes for him. That's how most beginners lose. Not with a bad move, but with a good-looking one at the wrong time.
Go back to move 7 and try something that feels wrong. Instead of the safe line, Ana draws the line between the two left-hand boxes. That gives Ben the top-left box for free.
Ben takes it (turning it down would be even worse for him), and because he scored he has to draw again. Now look at what's left: every one of the four remaining lines gives a third side to at least one box. Whichever he picks, Ana closes the three remaining boxes one after another. Final score: Ana 3, Ben 1.
That's the whole secret in miniature. Count the safe lines. If the last one is going to fall to your opponent, spend a small box to flip who runs out first.
Dots and Boxes tips for the opening: stay off the third side
A box with three sides drawn is a present for whoever moves next. They add the fourth side, score, and get another line. So in the early game every line you draw should leave each box with two sides or fewer. Those are the safe lines.
Beginners play safe lines without keeping track of how many are left. Start counting as the board fills up. When you can see that the final safe line will land on your turn, that's your cue to plan a small sacrifice, like Ana's, before you're forced into a big one.
Chains: the shape that decides most games
Later on, the board breaks into chains: rows of boxes connected so that taking one sets up the next, like dominoes falling. A chain of three or more boxes is a long chain. The first person to draw a line inside a long chain usually gives the whole thing away.
So the real fight in the middle of a game is over who will be forced to open the first long chain. Strong players predict it by counting chains and dots, using the long chain rule. It sounds like homework and takes about five minutes to learn; the chain rule guide counts out a full board with you.
The double-cross: winning by turning down two boxes
Once you're taking a long chain, there's a move that separates good players from great ones. Take every box except the last two. Then, instead of closing the second-to-last box, draw the line at the far end of the chain, so the final two boxes can both be closed with a single line.
Your opponent happily takes that pair, and then has to draw again, which means opening the next long chain for you. You've traded two boxes for the next five or six. When only short chains are left, the trade isn't worth it, so grab everything. The double-cross guide shows exactly which line to draw, with pictures.
How to beat someone at Dots and Boxes: a practice plan
Play ten games against Medium and count the safe lines out loud as the board fills. When you're winning most of them, move up to Hard, which understands chains and punishes a careless opening. Expert is the final exam. It works out the closing stretch of a game exactly, so a win against it is a real one.
After that, try the daily puzzle. Each one is a position with a single right idea, very often a sacrifice, and spotting it every morning sharpens your eye faster than full games do.
The computer thinks on your own device, so you can replay a tricky position as many times as you like. Nothing about your games is sent away or stored anywhere but your browser.
Moments where strategy pays off
- You're about to draw a third side
Stop and count the safe lines left. There may be a cheaper gift somewhere else.
- Your opponent gives you two boxes for no reason
It could be a double-cross. Look at what you'll be forced to open afterward.
- Every line on the board gives something away
Open the shortest chain you can find, never the longest.
- You're taking a long chain and another one is waiting
Take all but two and leave the pair. It nearly always pays.
- Only chains of one or two boxes are left
Forget the tricks and take everything you can.
- You keep losing to Hard
Spend a week on the daily puzzle. It drills exactly these decisions.
Strategy questions, answered
How do you always win at Dots and Boxes?
No method wins every game, because a good opponent knows the same ideas you do. What you can do is win far more often by refusing to draw third sides early, counting chains in the middle, and using the double-cross whenever you take a long chain. Against most casual players, those three habits are plenty.
What is the best first move in Dots and Boxes?
On an empty board almost any line is fine, since no box is anywhere near finished. Edge lines are popular because each one touches only a single box. The decisions that matter come later, once the safe lines start running out.
Is it better to go first or second?
It depends on the board size and on how the chains end up forming. The long chain rule gives the target: the first player wants dots plus long chains to be even, the second wants it odd. A 5×5 board has 36 dots, so the first player there wants the long chains to total an even number.
Should you always take a box when you can?
Usually, but not always. If taking every box in a chain means you then have to open a bigger chain for your opponent, leave the last two boxes instead. That's the double-cross, and it's the single most useful trick in the game.
What is control in Dots and Boxes?
Having control means your opponent is the one who must open each long chain. You keep it by taking all but two boxes of every long chain and handing over that pair. Whoever holds control as the board closes up almost always wins.
Is Dots and Boxes a solved game?
Small boards are. A computer search by Joseph Barker and Richard Korf in 2012 proved that the 4×5 board is a draw with perfect play. Full-size boards are far too big for that kind of search, so human ideas like the chain rule still matter, and so does practice.