How to Play Shut the Box Game

Meet Shut the Box strategy, the game which remains among the top pub table games for centuries! This game’s origin is unclear, and you may find mentions about it in various countries. For example, in France, it was known as Trick Track. The simplicity of rules, the diversity of its variations, and the opportunity to play it almost with what you have within reach make it one of the most accessible ways to spend time with friends and have a lot of fun. Typically, it is played for stakes, but you can start your ‘Shut the Box’ tournament just for fun.

The name ‘Shut the Box’ refers to the best-case scenario of the game, as when a player manages to throw dice to cover all numbers from 1 to 9, this is called ‘The Box Shut’. So, are you ready to learn the ‘Shut the Box’ rules? Our article may help you with that.

What Is the Game’s ‘Shut the Box’ Objective?

The objective of the game is to gain zero points during 5 rounds. While throwing dice, players need to close as many so-called number-spaces as possible during each turn.

“Sometimes, to win, you need to be able to close the box beautifully and even more beautifully – take risks.”

Preparing the Setup

The setup for the game ‘Shut the Box’ is quite simple. You can play it either with a special set or use something you have at your hand. So, what is required?

1. The number of players from 2 to 5 (optionally, you can play alone simply to try your hand or invite more players).
2. The desk for ‘Shut the Box’ consists of a plain field and nine boxes (they are called number-spaces) marked with figures from 1 to 9. In some sets, the numbers can be from 1 to 10 or even from 1 to 12.
3. A pair of dice is used for each turn. The game is played with standard dice with the number of dots from 1 to 6.
4. Markers are used to mark ‘shut’ boxes.
5. A sheet of paper can be used to fill in the score for each player after each round.

If you have no special game set, you can use a table surface, a couple of dice, and paper sheets with numbers from 1 to 9 instead of boxes and any kind of items which will be markers. You can even don’t use markers at all. In this case, you can change the boxes’ position to mark them as shut.

Comprehensive Instructions for ‘Shut the Box’ Game

Now let’s learn the instructions for the ‘Shut the Box’ game. First, place the numbered boxes on the surface. Decide on who plays first. After the first player, the game goes clockwise. Fill in the scoresheet with the names of the players. Set the markers in the center of the table so that every player can take them.

The main goal you have during your turn is to mark a maximum number of boxes as ‘shut’ with markers. To do that, let’s learn the main actions you can take.

1. Each action is performed after a player throws two dice. At the beginning of each one’s turn, all number-space boxes are not marked as shut, so you can shut them all.
2. When you see the numbers on the dice thrown, you can either add them one to another or use them separately.

For example: if you throw dice with 3 and 5, you can either use them to shut the boxes marked with 3 and 5 if they are still not shut, or to add 3 to 5 and shut the box marked with 8 as 5+3=8.

3. The task is to shut the boxes whose numbers are similar to the dice numbers or their sum. After you throw dice once, you shut some boxes, and then throw dice once more. Then you can again use each die separately, if their numbers match boxes that are still not shut, or use the sum of dots on dice.

For example, if you shut the boxes with 3 and 5 after your first throw, you throw dice once more and get 4 and 2. You can shut the boxes with 4 and 2 or add 4 to 2 and shut the box under the number 6.

4. You can repeat throwing dice until you have any action to complete.
5. If you succeed in shutting boxes with the numbers 7, 8 or 9 during your turn, you can choose to throw only one die instead of two. In the case, that the number you throw on a single die is not shut, you continue your turn. If it is shut, your turn ends.
   After you complete your turn, calculate the sum of numbers on boxes that remained not shut. This score should be recorded.
6. Each next player makes throws in their turn until they can perform an action and shut boxes, and then their scores are also recorded.
7. After everyone finishes their turns, the round is completed. You have to play 5 such rounds to complete the game.

Score and Winners

Each player’s score according to the ‘Shut Box’ rules is recorded after each round, and it is calculated as the sum of all numbers on the boxes that a player didn’t manage to shut. In the case you are a lucky guy to shut all 9 boxes during your turn, you get 0 points. After all 5 rounds, the scores of each round of each player are added and the final score helps to decide the winner.
The player with the minimal final score wins.

For example, if you get 5 points in the first round, 3 in the second, zero in the third, 11 points in the fourth round, and 1 point in the fifth, your total score will be 5+3+0+11+1=20 points. If other players have more than 20 points, you are the winner, if they have less, the winner is who has the smallest score.

Which ‘Shut the Box’ Strategy Is the Best?

You should understand that ‘Shut the Box’ is a strategic game where you have to make the right choices to win. The best ‘Shut the Box’ strategy is to try to shut the highest numbers from the start to get more opportunities to win and to get the smallest possible score.

Conclusion

‘Shut the Box’ rules are quite simple, and they provide you with the opportunity to have lots of fun. You can also modify them and play various versions of the game along with a classic one. For example, if you play the ‘Always Sum’ version, you cannot use dice separately to shut two boxes but only their sum. And for the ‘Instant Victory’ version, the player who manages to shut all 9 boxes per their turn is an instant winner of the game.

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