Shut the Box Online: the Dice Game
Roll the dice and flip down the numbered tiles that add up to the result. Shut them all and you “shut the box”; if tiles are left, the lower the sum, the better.
Choose the size of the box and play solo to beat your record, against the computer or with another person.
How to play Shut the Box
At the start, the tiles from 1 to 9 (or 1 to 12) are all up. Roll the two dice and shut tiles whose sum equals the total: with an 8, for example, you can shut the 8, the 7 and the 1, the 5 and the 3, or even the 4, the 3 and the 1.
Keep rolling and shutting tiles until you can no longer make the dice total. When all the tiles above 6 are already shut, you roll with one die only.
Your score is the sum of the tiles still up, and the lower the better. If you shut them all, you score 0: the famous “shut the box”. Against the computer or another person, each player takes turns and whoever has fewer points in the round wins.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best strategy in Shut the Box?
In general, shut the higher tiles first, using few tiles per roll. The low tiles help you make any total later, including when only one die is left.
Is it possible to always shut the box?
No. Even playing perfectly, the 1-to-9 box is shut in fewer than 1 out of every 10 games. The 1-to-12 version is even rarer.