How to Play Shut the Box: Rules, Scoring and Odds

Nine wooden tiles, two dice and one goal: flip every tile down before the dice run out of luck. Shut the box rules fit on an index card, yet the game hides a surprising amount of math. Below are the standard rules, how scoring works, the common variants, and the odds of a perfect game, which we worked out for every position on the board.

What is the Shut the Box game?

The Shut the Box game is a dice game for one or more players, most often played in groups of two to four. The classic equipment is a wooden box with a row of tiles numbered 1 to 9, each on a hinge or slide so it can be flipped down, plus a pair of dice that you roll into the box. You can also play with two dice, a pen and paper by crossing numbers off a list.

Its origins are unclear. The Wikipedia article on Shut the box notes claims of a much older history, while the earliest firm records tie it to English pubs and the Channel Islands in the 1960s. It also goes by names such as Canoga, Batten Down the Hatches and Trick-Track, and it was the basis for the American TV quiz show High Rollers.

Shut the box rules: how a turn works

Every player’s turn starts with all nine tiles open. The turn then repeats the same loop until you get stuck.

1. Roll the dice. Roll both dice and add them up.
2. Shut tiles that match the roll. Flip down any combination of open tiles whose numbers add up exactly to the total. You can shut one tile or several.
3. Roll again. Keep going with whatever tiles are still open.
4. Stop when nothing fits. When no combination of open tiles adds up to your roll, the turn is over and you count your score.

Take a roll of 9 on a full box. You could shut the 9 alone, or 8 + 1, 7 + 2, 6 + 3, 5 + 4, 6 + 2 + 1, 5 + 3 + 1 or 4 + 3 + 2. That is eight different choices. The total must match exactly, so you can’t shut the 8 on a roll of 9 and waste the extra point.

The one-die rule

The most common rule says that once the 7, 8 and 9 are all shut, you may choose to roll only one die. While any of those three tiles is open, you must roll both. The reason is simple: a single die can’t make 7 or more, and it gives you a much better shot at small numbers like 1 and 2, which two dice can never roll.

Some groups always roll two dice. Agree on this before you start, because it changes the odds, as you’ll see below.

Shut the box scoring

When your turn ends, add up the numbers on the tiles that are still open. That total is your score, and the lowest score wins. If your turn ends with the 1, 2 and 6 open, you score 9.

If you shut every tile, you have “shut the box.” Your score is zero and, under the standard rules, you win immediately, even if other players haven’t taken their turn yet.

The other main scoring method is often called digital scoring. You read the open tiles from left to right as one number, so the same 1, 2 and 6 would score 126 instead of 9. This punishes a leftover high tile far less than an extra open tile, because every open tile adds a digit.

How to play Shut the Box with friends

In a group game, each player takes one complete turn on a freshly opened box. Then everyone compares scores, and the lowest wins the round. Agree in advance whether a tie is shared or replayed.

Many groups play several rounds and keep a running total. Wikipedia also describes a multi-round tournament format played to 100 points. A quick evening version is best of five rounds, and if your group likes dice games with a scorecard, Yahtzee makes a good follow-up.

Common variants

Shut the Box is a pub and kitchen-table game, so house rules are everywhere. These are the ones you are most likely to meet.

• Always two dice: no one-die option at all.
• 10 or 12 tiles: bigger boxes with tiles up to 10 or 12, a longer and harder game.
• Digital scoring: open tiles are read as a number, as described above.
• Missionary: your score is how many tiles are still open, not their total.
• Thai style: you always roll two dice but shut only one tile, matching either one die or the total.
• Golf: the name some players use for standard sum scoring, often over several rounds.

For a family game with younger players, many people simply play solo rounds and cheer whenever someone gets their score lower than last time.

Shut the Box odds: what perfect play looks like

Because the game is small, it can be solved exactly. A box of nine tiles has only 512 possible sets of open tiles, so we computed the best decision for every set and every roll, working backward from an empty box. Here is what the numbers say for the standard nine-tile game.

Rules and strategy	Chance to shut the box
One-die rule, perfect play	9.76% (about 1 in 10)
One-die rule, otherwise perfect play but always rolling one die when allowed	7.42%
Always two dice, perfect play	7.14% (about 1 in 14)
Always two dice, shutting the fewest tiles each time	7.00%
12-tile box with the one-die rule, perfect play	0.475% (about 1 in 210)

Perfect play aimed at the lowest score averages 11.01 points per turn with the one-die rule and 11.16 with two dice only. So a score in single digits is a good turn, and a zero is a genuine event.

The dice themselves explain a lot. With two dice, 7 is the most common total at 6 in 36 rolls (16.7%), while 2 and 12 come up only 1 in 36 each (2.8%). Tiles that you need to hit with a rare total are the ones that leave you stuck.

Strategy tips from the solver

On the first roll, shut the single matching tile. On a full box, the best play for every roll from 2 to 9 is to flip down just that tile. For 10, 11 and 12, shut the 9 plus the 1, 2 or 3 that makes up the rest.

Get the big tiles down early. The 7, 8 and 9 can only be shut with two dice, and they need the bigger totals. Leaving them for later means hoping for the right high roll when you have fewer ways to use it.

Keep the small tiles as change. Open 1, 2 and 3 tiles let you split awkward rolls. Spending them early leaves you with fewer combinations later.

Use the one die wisely. Rolling one die every time it is allowed is a mistake: it drops your chance of shutting the box from 9.76% to 7.42%. The solver’s rule is easy to remember. Roll one die when your open tiles add up to 6 or less, and roll two when they add up to 7 or more.

Play Shut the Box online

Our free Shut the Box dice game runs in your browser, solo or against one to three computer players. It follows the rules above, with options for the 12-tile box, always rolling two dice and digital scoring. An odds line shows your exact chance of shutting the box from the current position, and an optional hint highlights the best move from the same solver behind the numbers in this guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can you roll one die in Shut the Box?

Under the common rule, yes, but only after the 7, 8 and 9 are all shut. Until then you must roll both dice. Some groups play that you always roll two dice, so check before you start.

Do you have to shut tiles that add up to the exact roll?

Yes. The tiles you flip down must add up to exactly the dice total. You can use one tile or several, but you can’t go over or under.

What happens if you shut the box?

You score zero and win the game immediately under the standard rules. In a group game, that ends the round even if other players haven’t rolled yet.

What are the odds of shutting the box?

With nine tiles, the one-die rule and perfect play, the chance is 9.76%, about 1 in 10. If you always roll two dice, it falls to 7.14%. On a 12-tile box it is under half a percent.

Is a low or high score better in Shut the Box?

Low is better. Your score is the total of the tiles left open, so the player with the lowest score wins, and zero is a perfect game.

Conclusion

The shut the box rules come down to roll, match, flip, and stop when nothing fits. The strategy is about shutting the big tiles early, saving small ones as change and using the single die only for totals of 6 or less. Grab a box, or play a round in your browser, and see if you can beat the 1-in-10 odds. For a quick break between turns, the Chrome Dino runner is waiting on our homepage.