Dots & Boxes

Two players take turns drawing lines to connect dots, and whoever closes a square gets to put their initial inside, and the player with the most claimed squares wins! Sounds easy? This classic pen and paper game, beloved by children, gets new strategic insights in this video featuring Dr. Elwyn Berlekamp, a mathematician and expert in combinatorial games (opens new window) like chess and Go. You can learn more about Dots & Boxes (opens new window) and other classic combinatorial games (such as Amazons and Hackenbush) on Dr. Berlekamp’s website (opens new window), including video tutorials.

For kids and beginners to the game, try it out at dotsandboxes.org (opens new window) or at home—here’s a free template (opens new window)!

Watch Video (opens new window)