Shut the Box — Free Online Dice Game

Shut the Box is a classic dice game for one or more players. Nine tiles numbered 1 to 9 stand open in a row. You roll two dice and flip down any open tiles that add up to the roll, then roll again. When no open tiles add up to your roll, your turn is over: the tiles still standing are your score, and lower is better. Flip down every tile and you have shut the box.

This Shut the Box game is free and runs right in your browser on a computer, tablet or phone, with no sign-up and no download. Play solo and try to beat your best score, or take on one to three computer players. Choose 9, 10 or 12 tiles and whether the one-die rule is on. Press Hint whenever you like and the best tiles for your roll light up: every position in the game has been worked out exactly by computer, and the hints and the computer players both use those results. Your game saves itself as you play, so you can close the page and carry on later.

How to Play Shut the Box

All the tiles start open. On your turn:

1. Roll the two dice and add them up.
2. Shut tiles that add up to the roll. Use one tile or several, as long as they are all still open and their numbers add up to exactly the dice total. A roll of 8 can shut the 8 on its own, or the 7 and 1, the 6 and 2, the 5 and 3, the 5, 2 and 1, or the 4, 3 and 1.
3. Roll again and keep going, matching each roll with tiles that are still open.
4. Your turn ends when no combination of open tiles adds up to the roll. Add up the tiles still open: that is your score. With the 2, 5 and 9 left, you score 16.

Shut every tile and you have shut the box: a score of 0, the best result there is. Whenever a roll can be matched you must shut tiles for it, so you cannot pass or stop early.

With more than one player, each takes a full turn in order, starting with every tile open again. The lowest score wins the round, and players who tie for the lowest score share it.

Playing on this page

• Roll: press Roll. Once the one-die rule applies, you choose between Roll 1 die and Roll 2 dice.
• Shut tiles: tap or click the tiles you want. They light up and a counter keeps the running total, for example “Selected 7 of 9”. As soon as your tiles add up to the roll, they flip down by themselves. Tap a lit tile again to let it go. A tile that would take you past the total does not light up.
• Hint: lights up the best tiles for your roll, or tells you whether to roll one die or two. Use it as often as you like.
• Solo or vs Computer: in Solo, one turn is one game and you play for your best score. In vs Computer you play against one to three computer players, whose turns play out on screen, and a scoreboard counts the rounds each player has won. Press Next round to play again.
• Settings hold the mode, the number of computer players, the number of tiles, the one-die rule, the speed and sound, plus your statistics: games played, boxes shut, best and average score, and your wins, ties and losses against the computer. They are kept separately for 9, 10 and 12 tiles, in your browser on this device.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Space or Enter rolls the dice
• 1–9 pick or drop a tile; 0 is tile 10, - tile 11 and = tile 12
• 1 or 2 before a roll, once the one-die rule applies: roll one die or two
• H shows a hint, Esc lets go of the tiles you picked, N starts a new game

Rule Options

The one-die rule

Two dice never total less than 2, so a lone 1 can never be shut with them, and the last few small tiles are hard to match. The one-die rule helps: once every tile from 7 up is shut (the 7, 8 and 9 in the 9-tile game), you may roll one die instead of two. A single die rolls each number from 1 to 6 equally often. The rule is on by default; turn it off in Settings to always roll two dice. It makes a real difference: with 9 tiles, the best chance of shutting the box is 9.8% with the rule and 7.1% without it.

10 and 12 tiles

For a longer game, choose 10 tiles (1 to 10) or 12 tiles (1 to 12). More tiles make the box much harder to shut, because two dice still make 12 at most. With 12 tiles, all the tiles add up to 78, and the 12 can only be shut by a roll of 12, a double six, which comes up once in 36 rolls. The best chance of shutting the box falls to 5.4% with 10 tiles and below half a percent with 12.

Shut the Box Strategy and Odds

We had a computer work out the best play for every position exactly: for each set of open tiles and each roll, the move that leaves the lowest average final score. It covers every board with 9, 10 and 12 tiles, with and without the one-die rule, and we checked the results against a separate brute-force search and more than half a million simulated games. The Hint button and the computer players use these same results. Here is what they show, for 9 tiles with the one-die rule unless it says otherwise.

Shut as few tiles as you can, and take the high ones

When a roll gives you a choice, use as few tiles as possible, and among those pick the move with the highest tile. On the first roll that means a 2 to 9 shuts that single tile, a 10 shuts the 9 and 1, an 11 the 9 and 2, and a 12 the 9 and 3. High tiles are the hard ones to get rid of later, while small tiles fit into almost any roll. This simple rule picks the best move in about 93 of every 100 rolls where you have a choice. Played all the way, together with the one-die tip below, it averages 11.2 points a game, against 11.0 for perfect play.

The opposite habit, shutting as many small tiles as you can to keep your options open, is a trap: it averages about 24 points a game.

When to roll one die

Roll one die when the open tiles add up to 6 or less. With exactly 7 left, two dice are better, unless the tiles left are 1, 2 and 4. With more than 7 left, always roll two.

What is a good score?

Even with perfect play the box stays open most of the time. With 9 tiles, about half of all games end on 10 points or fewer and about 1 in 4 on 5 or fewer, so anything under 10 is a good game. The table shows the average score with best play and the best possible chance of shutting the box for each setting.

The average score and the best chance of shutting the box come from two slightly different strategies. Going all out to shut the box raises the average score a little (11.06 instead of 11.01 with 9 tiles), while playing for the lowest score, as the Hint button does, still shuts the box 9.7% of the time.

Other Names for Shut the Box

The Shut the Box dice game is also known as Canoga, Klackers and Batten Down the Hatches. Whatever it is called, the game is the same: numbered tiles, two dice, and the aim of flipping every tile down. On a wooden box the tiles are hinged flaps you flip down by hand; when you play Shut the Box online here, they flip down as soon as the tiles you pick add up to the roll.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Shut the Box free to play?

Yes. The game is free, with nothing to buy, no sign-up and no download. There is no money and no betting in it: you play for the lowest score.

How do you win Shut the Box?

Flip every tile down and you have shut the box, the best possible result, a score of 0. Otherwise the tiles still open are added up for your score, and lower is better. Against the computer, the player with the lowest score wins the round.

What are the odds of shutting the box?

With 9 tiles and perfect play the best possible chance is 9.8%, about 1 game in 10, when you may roll one die once the 7, 8 and 9 are down. Without that rule it is 7.1%. With 10 tiles it is 5.4%, and with 12 tiles less than half a percent.

When should you roll one die instead of two?

When the open tiles add up to 6 or less. With exactly 7 left, keep rolling two dice unless the tiles left are 1, 2 and 4. One die is only allowed once every tile from 7 up is shut, and you can turn the rule off in Settings.

Can I play Shut the Box against the computer?

Yes. Choose vs Computer and play against one, two or three computer players. Each player takes a full turn in order, the lowest score wins the round, and a scoreboard counts the rounds each player has won. The computer players make the same best moves the Hint button shows.

How does the Hint button work?

Press Hint and the best tiles for your roll light up. When you may choose between one die and two, it tells you which to roll. The advice comes from an exact calculation of every position in the game, and you can use it as often as you like.