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Strategy

Dots and Boxes

Connect dots with lines and close off cells: surround territory and your opponent's pieces to capture more points.

★ 4.5 👥 2 players 2,740 online ⏱ 10–20 min
How to play
2,740 online 🔳

How to play

You can learn the rules in a couple of minutes. Just 4 steps — and you're ready for your first game.

01

Board

A grid of nodes sits in front of the players. Each one has their own color of dots.

02

Move

Take turns placing your dot on any empty node on the board.

03

Surround

Enclose your opponent's dots on all sides with your own chain — and they're captured.

04

Scoring

Captured dots earn points. When there are no moves left, whoever surrounded more wins.

About the game

Dots and Boxes is a positional territory-capture game, a relative of Go and the schoolyard "boxes" game. Players take turns placing dots of their color on the nodes of a grid and connecting neighboring dots with lines. If your unbroken chain fully surrounds your opponent's dots, they count as captured and earn points. The key is to expand your influence while not letting yourself be enclosed. On muta.pro, play with a friend by room code or against a bot right in your browser.

Players2
Game length10–20 min
DifficultyMedium
GenreStrategy

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