Shut the Box Rules

What you need

A Shut the Box set is a tray with a row of hinged or sliding tiles numbered 1 to 9, and two dice. You can play without one: write the numbers 1 to 9 on paper and cross them off. One player can play alone, and any number can take turns.

A turn, step by step

1. Start with every tile open.
2. Roll the dice and add up the two numbers.
3. Shut tiles that add up to the roll. You may shut one tile or several, in any combination, as long as they are all open and add up exactly. A roll of 8 can shut the 8, or 7 and 1, or 6 and 2, or 5 and 3, or 5, 2 and 1, or 4, 3 and 1.
4. Roll again. Once the 7, 8 and 9 are all shut, you may choose to roll one die instead of two. Until then you must roll both.
5. The turn ends when no open tiles add up to the roll. Add up the tiles still open: that is your score.

Scoring and winning

The usual scoring adds up the open tiles, so if 2, 3 and 5 are left open your score is 10. When every player has had a turn, the lowest score wins. A player who shuts every tile has shut the box: they score 0 and win straight away.

Two other ways of scoring are common:

• Count the tiles: the score is the number of tiles left open, so 2, 3 and 5 score 3.
• Read the digits: the open tiles are read as one number from left to right, so 1, 2 and 5 score 125. This makes low tiles left open far cheaper than high ones.

The game on this page uses the first method, adding up the open tiles.

Playing with two or more players

Players take full turns one after another, each on a box with every tile open again. In pubs the game was traditionally played for a stake, with each player putting the same amount into a pool and the lowest score taking it. A tie can be settled by playing another round between the tied players. On this board, choose 2, 3 or 4 players and pass the device after each turn.

1–10 and 1–12 boxes

Boxes with ten or twelve tiles play the same way. A roll can still only make 12 at most, so the high tiles are harder to shut and the turn is longer. House rules differ on when one die is allowed on these boxes; here it is once every tile from 7 up is shut.

Common house rules

Shut the Box is a traditional game with many local versions. These are some you may meet:

• Only the dice or their sum: instead of any combination, you shut either the tile matching the total or the tiles matching each die. Rolling a 6 and a 2 lets you shut the 8, or the 6 and the 2. This simpler version is often taught to children.
• One tile a roll: you shut a single tile showing one die or the total, never more.
• 2 to go or 3 to go: the first roll must shut the 2 (or the 3).
• Tournament play: scores add up over several rounds, and players drop out once they reach an agreed total.

Where the game comes from

Nobody is sure. It is also called Canoga, batten down the hatches and trick-track, and stories place its origin in Normandy or the Channel Islands, but none is confirmed. It was long played in English pubs, and the American television quiz show High Rollers was built on it in the 1970s.