Shut the Box
A free game from Ancient.Games · no wagering, no account
Shut the Box
Normandy fishermen played it, then every pub in England.
Roll the dice, flip the tiles, and try to close the lot.
Box is open, dice are yours. Roll when you're ready.
Roll, then tap tiles adding up to your total.
Ours is solid bamboo and hardwood.
Nine by six inches, precision cut and sanded to a buttery finish, with a pair of dice and that satisfying clack when a tile goes down. We'll engrave a name or date on it for you. There's an eighteen-inch six-player board too, if the table gets busy.
How it works
Roll both dice and flip down any tiles that add up to the total. Roll a nine and you can shut the 9, or 6 and 3, or 5 and 3 and 1 — whatever you like, as long as it comes to nine.
Keep rolling. When no combination of the tiles still standing can make your roll, the game is over and your score is the sum of what's left. Low is good. Zero means you shut the box, which does not happen often.
Once every tile above six is down, you may roll a single die instead of two. Knowing when to take that is most of the skill in this game.
Tiles that can't be part of any combination for your roll are greyed out, so you'll never hunt for a move that isn't there.
Ancient Games · handmade historical boards · ancient.games