Shut the Box

How to play Shut the Box

In Shut the Box, nine wooden tiles stand in a row, numbered 1 to 9, and your aim is to flip them all down.

1. Roll the two dice.
2. Tap tiles that add up to your roll. For a 9 you could flip the 9, or 4 and 5, or 1, 3 and 5.
3. Roll again and keep going.
4. When no tiles add up to your roll, the game ends.
5. Your score is the tiles still standing, added up. Lowest wins. Flip every tile and you shut the box: a perfect 0.

Once 7, 8 and 9 are all down you can choose to roll one die instead of two.

The full Shut the Box rules cover scoring, playing with friends and the questions people ask most.

The daily game

Today's dice are the same for everyone, so you and your friends can compare scores. A new game starts at midnight. When you finish, you can see what the Super Intelligence scored with the same dice, knowing every roll in advance. Want more? Practice games use new dice every time.

Where Shut the Box comes from

Nobody knows for certain where Shut the Box comes from. A popular story says it began in Normandy, in northern France, but no evidence has been found for it. The earliest dated sources describe it as a game from the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, played in English pubs by the 1960s. It is also known as Canoga, Batten Down the Hatches and Trick-track. This game is set on an old Normandy quay at sunset because of that popular story. Read more about the history of Shut the Box.

Tips for a better score

Three habits lower your Shut the Box score:

• Flip as few tiles as you can, and take the highest tiles when you have a choice. The 7, 8 and 9 are the hardest to get rid of later.
• Keep the small tiles for the end. They fit lots of rolls.
• Roll one die once the tiles still standing add up to 6 or less.

Those tips find the best move about 19 times in 20. The Shut the Box strategy guide shows how we tested them and where they go wrong.

Questions