📦 How to play Shut the Box

Easy rules, to read aloud 🔊

1. Start with the numbers 1 to 9 all open.
2. Roll two dice and add them.
3. Shut numbers that make that total, like 3 and 5 for an 8.
4. Roll again and keep going.
5. When you cannot make the total, your turn is over.
6. Add up the open numbers; the lowest total wins.

The full rules

1. Start with all nine tiles, 1 to 9, open. With no box, write 1 to 9 on paper and cover a number with a coin to shut it.
2. On your turn, roll two dice and add them.
3. Shut any open tiles that add up to that total: one tile, two, or more. A roll of 9 could shut the 9, or the 4 and 5, or the 1, 3 and 5.
4. Roll again and shut more tiles the same way.
5. Once the 7, 8 and 9 are all shut, you may roll just one die.
6. When no open tiles add up to your roll, your turn ends. Add up the tiles still open; that is your score.
7. Open all the tiles again for the next player.

How to win: After everyone has had a turn, the lowest score wins. Shutting every tile is called shutting the box, and it wins straight away.

Tips

• Shut the 7, 8 and 9 early so you can switch to one die.
• Before you shut anything, say every way to make the total.

What it practises

adding to 12, different ways to make a number, making choices.

Other ways to play

• Play alone. Play by yourself and try to beat your best score, or to shut the box.
• Golf scoring. Play several rounds and add up each player's scores. The lowest total wins.