• Objective
• Board
• Play
• End of Game
• External Links

Dot and Boxes is usually played on a rectangular grid of 6x6 dots (5x5 boxes).  Other sizes can also be used (i.e. 6x6 boxes)

There are two players in the game: one marking his boxes with "X" symbol and the other with an "O" symbol.

The game starts with an empty grid.

Players move alternately, starting with the "X" player.

Each player draws either a horizontal or vertical line between two adjacent dots.

If by drawing this line the player forms a box (i.e. a square 1x1) then he places his symbol in the box and gets an extra turn.  Otherwise the turn is passed to his opponent.

The game ends up when all dots are connected to each other either vertically or horizontally.

The winner of the game is the player who formed the most boxes.

If both players form an equal number of boxes then the second player wins (this balances the advantage of the first move).

• Dots and Boxes rules and strategies on Wikipedia.