Shut the Box

Shut the Box is the old pub dice game with a row of numbered wooden tiles. You roll two dice and flip down tiles that add up to the roll, then roll again. The game ends when the dice give you a number you can’t make, and whatever tiles are still standing count against you. Flip them all down and you’ve shut the box.

This version puts a chunky wooden box on a picnic table in a pub garden. The dice tumble across the felt and knock off the walls, and the tiles tip shut with a clack. Play alone and chase your best score, pass one device around with friends, or take on up to three computer players.

How to Play Shut the Box

1. Press Roll Dice. Say you roll a 4 and a 5, for 9.
2. Tap open tiles that add up to 9. You could shut the 9 on its own, the 4 and the 5, the 1 and the 8, or the 1, 3 and 5. Tiles that can still be part of a valid move stay bright, and the rest go grey.
3. Changed your mind? Tap a picked tile again to put it back, or press Clear. When your picks add up to the roll, press Shut and they flip down.
4. Roll again and keep going.
5. When no open tiles can make your roll, your turn is over and the open tiles are your score.

Turn on Hints with the light bulb button and the game marks the best move after every roll, worked out from the odds of every roll still to come.

The Rules

• The box has tiles numbered 1 to 9. You can also play with 1 to 10 or 1 to 12, which makes the game longer and the scores bigger.
• Each roll, you must shut tiles that add up exactly to the total. You can use as many tiles as you like, but each tile only once.
• Once the 7, 8 and 9 are shut (and any higher tiles), you may roll one die instead of two. That makes small totals like 1 and 2 possible.
• Your turn ends as soon as you can’t make the number you rolled.
• Shutting every tile is called shutting the box. It’s a score of 0, the best you can get.

Scoring Variants

• Add them up. The most common way: your score is the total of the open tiles. If 2, 3 and 7 are left, you score 12. Lowest score wins.
• Read as digits. The open tiles are read as one number, so 2, 3 and 7 scores 237. A single tile left open is much better than three small ones.
• Rounds. With friends or bots, everyone plays one turn per round. Play one, three or five rounds and add up the scores. The lowest total wins, and the starting player rotates each round.
• Instant win. In some pubs, shutting the box ends the game on the spot. Here, everyone still takes their turn, but a shut box scores 0, which is very hard to beat.

The Odds of Each Dice Total

With two dice there are 36 ways for them to land, and the totals in the middle come up far more often than the ends.

Total	Ways to roll it	Chance
2	1	2.8%
3	2	5.6%
4	3	8.3%
5	4	11.1%
6	5	13.9%
7	6	16.7%
8	5	13.9%
9	4	11.1%
10	3	8.3%
11	2	5.6%
12	1	2.8%

Seven is the most likely roll, and 2 and 12 are the rarest. That is why tiles like 7, 8 and 9 are easy to shut early but get stuck if you leave them for later.

Shut the Box Strategy

• Shut the high tiles early. Rolls of 7, 8 and 9 are common at the start. Once only small tiles are left, it’s easy to make 2 to 6 with what remains. Later on, a lone 9 needs a roll that adds up to 9 exactly.
• Use fewer tiles when you can. If you roll 9, shutting the 9 on its own keeps the 1 to 8 open, which gives you more ways to make the next roll. Shutting 2, 3 and 4 uses up three small tiles you’ll want later.
• Keep the small tiles. The 1, 2 and 3 are your flexible pieces. They help you finish off awkward totals, so don’t spend them early unless you have to.
• Think about the one-die rule. When you’re down to small tiles, rolling one die gives totals from 1 to 6. If your open tiles add up to 6 or less, one die is almost always the better choice. With more left, two dice can still be right. The hint shows which is best.
• Aim for a low score, not a perfect one. With perfect play you shut the box about one game in ten. A turn that leaves 4 or 5 points open is a good result.

A Short History

Nobody knows for sure where Shut the Box began. It’s often said to come from northern France, and it has long been played by sailors and fishermen around the English Channel. It became a fixture of pubs in England and the Channel Islands, where people played it for drinks, and it’s known in French as “fermez la boîte”.

The game has picked up plenty of other names over the years, such as Canoga, Batten Down the Hatches and Klackers. It even became an American TV game show in the 1970s. The rules have barely changed: a box, a row of tiles and two dice.

Tips

• Turn on hints for a few games to learn which moves the odds favour, then try to beat your best score without them.
• Hard bots play the best move every time. Beat them over five rounds and you’re playing very well.
• Try 1 to 12 for a longer game, or digit scoring if you want every leftover tile to really hurt.