Standard chess on a moonlit board. Cream pieces against velvet midnight, lit by a lantern moon.
In the Cartographer's Study
Dots and Boxes - a cozy offline board game
Every line charts new land. Trade lines with a rival cartographer, close squares to reveal the terrain beneath, and claim the most land on the map.
- Plays fully offline
- Four difficulty levels
- Pass and play with a friend
How to play Dots and Boxes
The pencil-and-paper classic on a cartographer's candlelit desk. Trade lines with a rival cartographer - close a square to reveal the terrain beneath, plant your flag, and go again. Most land wins the map.
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Take Turns Drawing Lines
Tap any dotted line between two survey dots to ink it. You and your rival alternate, one line per turn.
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Close a Square to Claim It
Ink the fourth side of a square and it's yours: the hidden terrain is revealed, your flag is planted, and you immediately take another turn.
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Fresh Lines Wear Their Color
A new line keeps its drawer's color all through the other player's turn, then settles to plain ink when the drawer is next to move - so you always see exactly what your rival just did.
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Never Gift the Third Side
Drawing the third side of any square lets your opponent finish it for free - and completed squares grant extra turns, so one slip can hand over a whole chain. Count sides before you ink.
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Most Land Wins the Map
When every line is inked, the blank parchment has become a finished fantasy map. The expedition with more flags planted wins the round.
Four difficulty levels
Every level keeps its own streak, best and high score, so climbing costs you nothing.
- Easy
- The rival sketches carelessly - they hand you squares almost every turn, and stroll past half the free ones you leave.
- Medium
- The rival collects every square you leave open, but their own lines are loose enough to leak one to you every few turns.
- Hard
- The rival never gifts a square, and counts what each chain would cost before conceding one.
- Very Hard
- The rival will hand you two squares to take six back - they play the long chains for control of the endgame.
Dots and Boxes plays completely offline
Every round of Dots and Boxes is generated, played and saved on your own device. There is no account, no sync and no server to reach, so it works the same on a plane, in a tunnel or with the phone in airplane mode.
Questions about Dots and Boxes
Does Dots and Boxes work without internet?
Yes. Dots and Boxes generates every round on your device and saves your progress there too, so it plays exactly the same on a plane, on the underground or with the phone in airplane mode. Nothing in Just One More needs a connection.
How hard does Dots and Boxes get?
There are four levels. Easy is "The rival sketches carelessly - they hand you squares almost every turn, and stroll past half the free ones you leave." Very Hard is "The rival will hand you two squares to take six back - they play the long chains for control of the endgame." Your streak, best and high score are tracked separately for each level, so moving up never costs you what you earned lower down.
Can two people play Dots and Boxes on one phone?
Yes. Dots and Boxes offers pass-and-play alongside the bot, so two people can share one device and alternate turns. Personal stat chips are hidden in that mode, because a shared board is nobody's streak.
Is Dots and Boxes free?
Yes. Dots and Boxes and the other 68 games in Just One More are free to play and ad supported, with an optional one-time Remove Ads purchase. No game, level or difficulty is locked behind a payment.
More board games
Five ways to play chess, plus Checkers, Reversi, Tic-Tac-Toe and Dots and Boxes versus a bot.
Standard 8×8 checkers on a maple-and-cream board. Crown your pieces and out-think the bot.
Place a disc to flip a row from sun to moon. Whichever side owns more discs when the sky fills wins.
Three in a row in a sun-warm meadow, where a friendly frog squares off with a bunny. Play the classic 3x3 round, or step up to Ultimate: nine little boards where every move decides which board your opponent plays next.