About Printable Dots and Boxes Rules
Free printable Dots and Boxes rules — the classic pencil and paper game for 2 players. Setup, turn flow, scoring, chain strategy, and variants included.
How to use
- Choose your print style. Full color uses a deep blue accent — clean, classic, reads as pencil-and-paper strategy rather than carnival. Ink-saver (black & white) switches to a high-contrast monochrome version, ideal for a classroom set where you need a class of 30 handouts cheaply.
- Choose whether to show grid diagrams. Diagrams on (the default) includes an empty 5x5 dot grid, a legal-vs-illegal move illustration, before-and-after diagrams of closing a single box and closing two boxes with one line, and a final scored 9-box example. Text only drops the diagrams for the most compact handout.
- Read the preview to confirm the layout — the rules flow from the goal and what you need, through setup, what a legal move looks like, the three-step turn flow, the closing-a-box scoring move, the lucky double-closure, how the game ends, special rules and strategy (don't give the third side, chains, and the double-cross), and three popular variants (Swedish board, Misère, triangular/hexagonal grids).
- Click Print Rules to send it to your printer or save it as a PDF. The illustrated version prints cleanly across one or two standard letter or A4 pages; choose Text only for the most compact summary.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Dots and Boxes?
Two players take turns drawing one straight line between two adjacent dots on a rectangular grid — horizontal or vertical only, no diagonals. Whoever draws the fourth (closing) side of a 1x1 box claims that box and takes another turn immediately. Play continues until every possible line is drawn; most boxes wins.
What grid size should beginners start with?
Start with a 3x3 dot grid (a 2x2 playing field of 4 boxes) — a full game takes about a minute and demonstrates the closure-and-bonus-turn rule. Step up to a 5x5 dot grid (16 boxes) once everyone is comfortable, and 6x6 or larger (25+ boxes) once players are ready for serious strategy where chains and the double-cross sacrifice start to matter.
What is the 'double-cross' strategy?
As the grid fills, remaining boxes form chains — runs where opening one box gives the opponent every box in the chain via the bonus-turn rule. An advanced player deliberately sacrifices the last 2 boxes of a chain by NOT closing the second-to-last segment — forcing the opponent to open the next chain instead. This chain-control strategy was popularized by Elwyn Berlekamp in his book The Dots and Boxes Game.
Can three or more people play Dots and Boxes?
Yes — turns simply rotate around the table. But 2 players is the standard and where strategy is deepest: chain control and the double-cross only work cleanly head-to-head, because with three players the opponent who has to open the next chain may not be the one you wanted to punish.
What is Misère Dots and Boxes?
Misère Dots and Boxes is a variant where scoring is reversed: the player with the FEWEST boxes wins. Strategy flips completely — you now want to AVOID closing boxes whenever possible. A great follow-up game once players have mastered the standard rules.
What other printable game rules do you have?
Dots and Boxes joins our growing collection of free printable game-rule sheets covering classic public-domain board, dice, and pencil-and-paper games — chess, checkers, backgammon, reversi, hangman, pig (dice), and many standard-deck card games are already available. See the
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