Boxed In: how to play

Play

Your First Game

1. On the menu choose an Opponent (vs AI or Local) and a game from the Game list. Against the AI also choose the AI difficulty. Then press Play - in a local game the button says Start.
2. In a dice game press Roll Dice. The roll is the number of edges you may draw this turn.
3. Tap between two neighbouring dots to draw an edge. Whoever draws the last missing side of a box captures it and scores.
4. After your first edge you may press End Turn at any time. When your edges are used up, the turn passes on by itself.
5. The game ends when no edge can score any more. The player with more points wins.

Standard is played without dice: one line per turn, and another line whenever you complete a box. The Rules section has every rule in full.

Reading the Board

The board is a square grid of dots. An edge joins two neighbouring dots, across or down - never diagonally.

• Green with a diamond: you - or Player 1 in a local game.
• Blue with a ring: the AI - or Player 2 in a local game.
• Green and blue are the colours the app starts with; Settings > Player colours changes them, and this page then names the colours you chose.
• A drawn edge has the colour of the player who drew it.
• A captured square is filled with its owner's colour, and every box in it carries the owner's mark. Where squares of both players lie over each other a box shows both marks - except with the Territory overlap rule, where a box shows only its current holder.
• Faint lines show where an edge can be drawn. They appear while it is your turn to draw.
• Edges pulsing in orange were drawn in the previous turn: the AI's last move, or the other player's in a local game. They stop pulsing when you draw your first edge.
• Dashed lines are open edges that can no longer score. A note by the turn status then reads "Dashed lines can no longer score". They only appear with the Exclusive overlap rule.

When a square is captured it grows into place and the change in its new owner's score floats up from it, for example +4.

Your Turn

The status line says whose turn it is and what to do, for example "Your turn — roll the dice", "Your turn — draw 3 edges" or "AI (Hard) is thinking…".

• Roll Dice: Starts your turn in a dice game. Before the roll the label under the die shows its range, for example "Rolls 1–6"; afterwards it counts down, for example "3 of 5 edges left".
• Drawing an edge: Tap the gap between two neighbouring dots; the edge nearest to your finger is drawn. Tapping an edge that is already drawn does nothing.
• End Turn: Passes the turn to the other player. In a dice game it becomes available once you have drawn one edge - you never have to use the whole roll. Edges you do not use are lost.
• Undo: Takes back the last edge you drew in the current turn; press it again for the edge before, back to the start of the turn. Squares captured with those edges are taken back as well. Undo cannot take back a dice roll, a finished turn, a move of the AI, or the edge that used up your roll or ended the game - the turn is over the moment that edge is drawn. It also starts empty when you resume a saved game. A game with a move clock has no Undo.
• Move clock: In a timed game a clock in the top bar counts down the seconds you have for your move: the roll, or the next edge. Every roll and every edge starts it again. When it reaches zero your turn ends as it stands - edges you have not drawn are lost, and a turn with nothing drawn passes all the same. The clock stands still while the game is not on screen. The AI is not timed.
• Standard: There is no die and no End Turn button. The note "Complete a square to go again!" sits next to Undo: a line that completes a box must be followed by another line. Because every other line ends the turn at once, Undo is only available after a capture, while you still owe a line.

Zooming

• Pinch with two fingers to enlarge the board, up to 3 times
• While the board is enlarged, drag to move it. A finger that has dragged never draws an edge - only a plain tap does
• While the board is enlarged, a button in the top bar shows the whole board again

Scores and Rounds

• Each player has a score card with their mark, name and points. The card of the player to move is outlined in their colour and labelled TURN
• The thin bar under the cards is split between the players' colours in proportion to their points. It is empty at 0 : 0
• "Round 3" in the top bar counts rounds. A round is one turn for each player, counted from the player who moved first
• With some overlap rules a score can go down as well as up, because squares can be removed or change owner

When the Game Is Over

• A result window names the winner - "You won!", "AI wins", "It's a tie", or for example "Player 1 wins" in a local game - and lists the Final scores
• If the game stopped with edges still open, it says so: "No scoring moves were left, so the game ended with edges still open."
• After a win against the AI the window says what the win is worth on your leaderboard, and where it stands there
• Achievements unlocked by the game are listed in the same window
• Play again starts a new game with the same choices. View board closes the window so you can study the final position. Exit returns to the menu
• With the window closed, the buttons under the board are Results (shows the window again), Play Again and Exit
• You can leave a game at any time with the back arrow. It is saved after every move and offered on the menu as "Continue game" (see the Options section)

Playing Online

Choose Online as the opponent to play somebody on another phone. The first time, you pick a name; the other player sees it.

• Play with Friends: Create Room gives you a six-character code to pass on. Your friend enters it under Join Room and the game starts. Whoever creates the room picks the game mode and, where there is a choice, the overlap rule.
• On the same Wi-Fi: Under Play with Friends, the tab Same Wi-Fi is for two phones on one Wi-Fi network. It needs neither the internet nor the game server. One player taps Host a Game; the other sees that game in the list and taps Join. Both phones then show a six-digit code. If it is the same on both, the two phones are talking to each other and nobody on the network is in between: the host taps Let In and the game starts. What the phones say to each other is encrypted. The host's phone runs the game, so keep the app open there; if the host closes it, the game is over.
• Find Match: Pairs you with the next player who is looking for a game in the same game mode; the mode's usual overlap rule applies. In these games every move has a time limit of two minutes, shown under the board. A player who lets it run out loses the game.
• Where the players are: While the app is connected, the online menu says how many players are online, and the list of game modes marks where a game is easy to get. Opponent waiting: somebody is looking for a game in that mode right now, so Find Match starts one at once. Games now: how many are being played in it. Popular: among the modes played most in the last 7 days. Your most played is your own habit, counted on this device. What comes from the game server are numbers only; they do not say who is playing.
• The game: Rules, dice and scoring are the same as on one device. The game server rolls the dice and checks every move, so both players always see the same board. There is no Undo: an edge counts the moment it is drawn.
• Lost connection: The app reconnects by itself and the game goes on. A player who is away has a minute and a half to return; after that the other player wins. Closing the app does not end the game either: choose Online again in time and you are back in it.
• Leaving and playing again: Leaving a running game gives it to the other player. After a game, Rematch starts the next one as soon as both players have asked for it, and the player who went second goes first.

Online games are not counted in your statistics or on the leaderboard, and they are not saved on the device. Finishing and winning them counts towards the achievements under Other players, and the device keeps count of the game modes you finished them in, for the mark Your most played.

Rules

The Game in Short

1. Two players take turns drawing edges between neighbouring dots of a square grid. Against the AI you are one of the two; in a local game two people share the device.
2. The player who draws the last missing edge of a square's outline captures that square and scores its size × size: 1 point for a 1×1 box, 4 for a 2×2 and 9 for a 3×3. Which sizes exist depends on the game mode.
3. The game ends when no open edge can still lead to a capture. The player with more points wins.

A Turn in a Dice Game

Every game but Standard is played with a die.

1. Roll the die. The roll is the most edges you may draw this turn.
2. Draw at least one edge. You cannot pass without drawing.
3. After the first edge you may end your turn whenever you like. Unused edges are lost.
4. A capture scores points but gives no extra edge - except in Chain Reaction, where an edge that captures does not count against the roll.
5. A roll is capped at the number of open edges: with 4 edges left on the board, no roll gives more than 4.

A Turn in Standard

1. There is no die. Draw exactly one line.
2. If the line completes a box, you must draw another one - and again after every further capture.
3. The first line that completes nothing ends your turn.

Chain Reaction has the same idea with a die: there an edge that captures does not count against your roll.

The Dice

Each dice mode has its own die. Every face is equally likely. Standard uses no die at all.

The End and the Winner

• The game is over the moment no open edge can lead to a capture - also in the middle of a turn
• Normally that is when every edge has been drawn. With the Exclusive overlap rule it comes earlier, with many edges still open: edges that could only complete blocked squares cannot score, and the board draws them dashed
• The player with more points wins - points, not the number of squares
• Equal points are a tie. Nobody wins a tie; in the statistics it counts as a tie and ends a winning streak
• A game with 1×1 boxes only can never end in a tie: every box is captured by someone and the number of boxes (9, 25, 49 or 121) is odd
• By default you (Player 1) move first. Settings > Who moves first can give the first move to the AI / Player 2, or pick at random for every new game

Scoring

Points

A captured square scores its size × size:

Strategic adds 2×2 squares to the 1×1 boxes; Big Squares and Expert have 1×1, 2×2 and 3×3. The other six games have 1×1 boxes only.

In Strategic, Big Squares and Expert the Overlap rule can change what a capture is worth - bonus points, squares that are removed, change owner or cannot be captured at all. The Overlap section explains each rule.

Only the Outline Counts

• A square is complete when every edge of its outline is drawn: 4 edges for a 1×1, 8 for a 2×2, 12 for a 3×3
• The edges inside a 2×2 or 3×3 do not matter. They may be drawn or still open
• It does not matter who drew the other edges. The player who draws the last one completes the square
• A square can only be captured at the moment its last edge is drawn. If an overlap rule prevents the capture then, the square can never be captured later

One Edge, Several Squares

One edge can complete several squares at once: two boxes that share it, or a small square and a larger one around it.

They are resolved one after another, largest first - smallest first with the Builder and Majority overlap rules. The order matters for some rules; the Overlap section says what happens in each.

How Many Points Are in a Game

• Mini: 9 boxes, 9 points - 5 win
• Standard and Quick: 25 boxes, 25 points - 13 win
• Classic and Chain Reaction: 49 boxes, 49 points - 25 win
• Marathon: 121 boxes, 121 points - 61 win
• Strategic, Big Squares and Expert: it depends on the overlap rule. With Independent every square of every size is captured in the end: 81 + 256 = 337 points in Strategic, 81 + 256 + 441 = 778 in Big Squares, 121 + 400 + 729 = 1,250 in Expert
• Other rules give anything from 81 points in a whole game (Exclusive, Territory) to several thousand (Layered). The Overlap section lists what to expect for each rule

Modes

Nine Game Modes

The Game list on the menu holds nine game modes. Each one fixes the board, the die and the sizes of the squares you can capture. Boards are named by their dots: 6×6 dots make 5×5 = 25 boxes.

Mini - A game in a minute

• Board: 4×4 dots · 9 boxes · 24 edges
• Each turn: d4 die: 1 to 4 edges
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

The smallest board and the smallest die: a whole game in a minute or two. With only nine boxes, every three-sided box you leave behind counts. 9 points; 5 win.

Standard - Classic Dots & Boxes

• Board: 6×6 dots · 25 boxes · 60 edges
• Each turn: No dice: one line, and one more after every capture
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

Dots and Boxes as it is played on paper, and the only mode without dice. A capture gives you another move, which is what makes chains and the double-cross (see the Strategy section). 25 points; 13 win.

Quick - Fast games

• Board: 6×6 dots · 25 boxes · 60 edges
• Each turn: d6 die: 1 to 6 edges
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

The Standard board with a die: a good place to learn how a dice turn works. 25 points; 13 win.

Classic - Balanced gameplay

• Board: 8×8 dots · 49 boxes · 112 edges
• Each turn: d6 die: 1 to 6 edges
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

Marked Recommended on the menu, and the mode that is selected when you first open the app. Captures give no extra edges, so the game is about how many edges each box still needs: build a box and close it within your own turn, and do not leave three-sided boxes behind. 49 points; 25 win.

Chain Reaction - Boxes fall in chains

• Board: 8×8 dots · 49 boxes · 112 edges
• Each turn: d6 die: 1 to 6 edges; an edge that captures is free
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

The Classic board with one rule changed: an edge that completes a box does not count against your roll. A three-sided box costs nothing to take, and taking it can make the next box three-sided - so a row of boxes falls in one turn, whatever you rolled. Leaving a three-sided box behind costs far more here than in the other dice games. 49 points; 25 win.

Marathon - The long game

• Board: 12×12 dots · 121 boxes · 264 edges
• Each turn: d8 die: 1 to 8 edges
• Squares: 1×1
• Overlap rule: None

The largest board with the simplest scoring: boxes only, 121 of them. A long game in which no single turn decides much. 121 points; 61 win.

Strategic - Multi-size squares

• Board: 10×10 dots · 81 boxes · 180 edges
• Each turn: d8 die: 1 to 8 edges
• Squares: 1×1 and 2×2 (64 possible 2×2s)
• Overlap rule: Your choice; starts on Independent

The first mode with two sizes. A 2×2 is worth 4 points and its outline needs 8 edges - a whole roll of 8. From here on the Overlap rule decides how squares of different sizes affect each other.

Big Squares - High-value captures

• Board: 10×10 dots · 81 boxes · 180 edges
• Each turn: d10 die: 1 to 10 edges
• Squares: 1×1, 2×2 and 3×3 (64 possible 2×2s, 49 possible 3×3s)
• Overlap rule: Your choice; starts on Independent

The Strategic board with 3×3 squares worth 9 points. A roll of 8, 9 or 10 can draw a whole 2×2 outline. A 3×3 outline needs 12 edges, more than any roll, so it always takes edges that are already there or more than one turn.

Expert - Maximum complexity

• Board: 12×12 dots · 121 boxes · 264 edges
• Each turn: d12 die: 1 to 12 edges
• Squares: 1×1, 2×2 and 3×3 (100 possible 2×2s, 81 possible 3×3s)
• Overlap rule: Your choice; starts on Consume

The largest board and the largest die. A roll of 12 is exactly one 3×3 outline. Expert starts on the Consume overlap rule; you can pick another one before you start.

Compare the Modes

Choosing a Mode

• First game: Classic against the Normal AI - what the menu is set to when you first open the app
• No luck involved: Standard is the only mode without dice
• The shortest game: Mini, with 24 edges. The longest: Marathon, with 264
• Chains with dice: Chain Reaction, where an edge that captures does not count against the roll
• Larger squares: Strategic adds 2×2s, Big Squares adds 3×3s on the same board, Expert uses the largest board and die
• In Strategic, Big Squares and Expert the Overlap rule changes the game more than the board does. It is chosen inside the selected game's card on the menu; the Overlap section explains all 13 rules
• The menu remembers your last choices. Selecting a different game sets the Overlap rule back to that game's starting rule

Overlap

What an Overlap Rule Does

Strategic, Big Squares and Expert have squares of several sizes, and squares of different sizes can cover the same boxes. The Overlap rule decides what happens then. You choose it on the menu, inside the selected game's card. The other six games have only 1×1 boxes and no overlap rule.

All 13 rules are explained with the same small example: a 1×1 box and the 2×2 square around it. A 3×3 treats the 2×2s and 1×1s inside it in the same way. "Inside" always means completely inside.

In the examples, scores are yours first.

A table comparing all 13 rules follows at the end.

The 13 Rules

The rules are listed in the order of the menu's Overlap rule list.

Independent - Every square scores

Every completed square scores, whatever already covers the same boxes. Nothing is blocked, removed or handed over.

• Example: A 1×1 and the 2×2 around it, both yours: 1 + 4 = 5, in either order. Their 1×1 inside your 2×2: you 4, they 1.
• The opponent's squares: Never touched. They keep their squares and their points.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: Every square of every size ends up captured, so the points in a game are fixed: 337 in Strategic, 778 in Big Squares, 1,250 in Expert. 169, 390 and 626 points win.
• Strategy: Most of the points are in the large squares: in Big Squares the 3×3s hold 441 of the 778 points and the 1×1 boxes only 81. Play for the outlines of large squares and treat boxes as extra. What you capture can never be lost, so points in hand are safe.

Consume - Large squares absorb small ones

When a larger square is captured, every smaller captured square inside it is removed and its owner loses those points - your own squares included. Afterwards no smaller square inside it can be captured.

• Example: Their 1×1, then your 2×2: you 4, they 0. Your own 1×1, then your 2×2: you lose the 1 and score 4. Your 2×2 first: 4, and the 1×1 inside is blocked for both players.
• The opponent's squares: Removed, and they lose the points. Nothing is transferred to you: you score only your new square.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn. The largest squares can never be absorbed and every edge is part of the outline of one, so on the app's boards no edge ever becomes worthless.
• How it plays: By the end only the largest squares are left - every smaller one has been absorbed. The final total is exactly the largest squares: 256 points in Strategic (64 2×2s), 441 in Big Squares (49 3×3s), 729 in Expert (81 3×3s). Small squares are temporary points. Expert starts on this rule.
• Strategy: Only the largest squares count in the end, so play for their outlines. A small square is a lead you hold for a while, not points you keep. Closing a large square over your own small ones costs you their points, so close over the opponent's when you can: a 2×2 over one of their 1×1s is +4 for you and -1 for them.

Exclusive - No overlaps at all

A square can be captured only if it shares no box with a square that is already captured - whatever the sizes, whoever owns them. First come, first served.

• Example: 1×1 first: 1 point, and the 2×2 around it can never be captured. 2×2 first: 4 points, and the boxes inside it can never be captured. If one edge completes both at once, only the 2×2 counts (4).
• The opponent's squares: Never touched. But each of their squares blocks every square that shares a box with it, for both players - and yours do the same.
• End of the game: The only rule with worthless edges. An edge that could only complete blocked squares is drawn dashed; it can still be drawn but scores nothing. The game ends when only dashed edges are left, with many edges still open.
• How it plays: Captured squares never overlap, so every box is counted exactly once: the final total is always the number of boxes - 81 points in Strategic and Big Squares, 121 in Expert - shared between squares of all sizes. 41 or 61 points win, and a tie is impossible.
• Strategy: The board is a fixed 81 (or 121) points: what matters is how many boxes you cover, and a large square covers them with fewer edges. One box inside the outline your opponent is building ruins their large square. When you must draw an edge and want none, draw a dashed one: it helps nobody.

Takeover - Large squares capture small ones

When you capture a larger square, the opponent's smaller squares inside it become yours, with their points. Your own squares inside it stay yours.

• Example: Their 1×1, then your 2×2: you 4 + 1 = 5, they 0. Both yours: 5 in either order. Your 2×2 first, then their 1×1 inside it: you 4, they 1 - a square captured afterwards is not taken.
• The opponent's squares: They change owner, colour and mark, and the points move with them. A small square can change hands again when the other player captures a different larger square around it.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: As in Independent, every square of every size ends up captured and the totals are the same (337 / 778 / 1,250). Takeover only changes who holds them.
• Strategy: A small square is only as safe as the larger squares around it: a 1×1 lies inside up to four different 2×2s and nine 3×3s. The largest squares can never be taken, and they decide who owns what inside them. A 2×2 over one of their 1×1s moves the score by 6: +5 for you, -1 for them.

Protected - Small squares block large ones

A larger square cannot be captured once a smaller captured square lies inside it - whoever owns the small one, you included. The other way round is allowed: small squares inside an already captured large square still score.

• Example: 1×1 first: 1 point, and the 2×2 around it is blocked for everybody. 2×2 first, then the 1×1 inside: 4 + 1 = 5. If one edge completes both at once, the 2×2 counts first and both score (5).
• The opponent's squares: Never removed, never change owner. Their small squares block your large ones exactly as yours block theirs.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn: a 1×1 box can always be captured, so no edge becomes worthless.
• How it plays: Every box is captured in the end, but many large squares are blocked before they are finished. Typical totals between two strong computer players: about 170 (Strategic), 210 (Big Squares) and 330 (Expert) - between Exclusive and Independent.
• Strategy: Large first, small afterwards: close the outline of a big square while nothing inside it is captured, then collect the boxes inside as well. One captured box blocks up to four 2×2s and nine 3×3s for the rest of the game - the cheapest way to stop a big square, and the easiest way to ruin your own.

Layered - Bonus for overlapping your own squares

Every square scores as in Independent. On top, a new square earns 1 bonus point for every box it shares with one of your own captured squares - counted separately for each of those squares, so a box lying under several of them pays several times.

• Example: A 1×1 and the 2×2 around it, both yours: 1 + 4 + 1 bonus = 6, in either order. Their 1×1 and your 2×2: you 4, they 1 - no bonus for overlapping the opponent. A 1×1, the 2×2 around it and the 3×3 around both, all yours: 1 + 5 + 14 = 20.
• The opponent's squares: Never touched, and overlapping them earns nothing.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: The bonus dwarfs the base points: typical totals between two strong computer players are around 700 (Strategic), 3,000 (Big Squares) and 5,100 (Expert). A lead in an area grows with every further square there.
• Strategy: Concentrate. A square in an area where you already hold squares pays far more than the same square elsewhere, so build layer upon layer in one place. Every square the opponent captures in your area is one you collect no bonus on.

Volatile - Large squares erase the opponent's small ones

When you capture a larger square, the opponent's smaller squares inside it are removed and they lose those points. Nothing is transferred to you, and your own smaller squares inside it stay.

• Example: Their 1×1, then your 2×2: you 4, they 0. Your own 1×1, then your 2×2: 1 + 4 = 5. Your 2×2 first, then their 1×1 inside it: you 4, they 1 - a square that is already there does not erase it.
• The opponent's squares: Removed for good: the box cannot be captured a second time. Squares they capture inside your large square stay until you capture another larger square around them.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: Mostly large squares survive. Typical totals between two strong computer players: about 280 (Strategic), 540 (Big Squares) and 860 (Expert) - below Independent, because erased squares take their points out of the game.
• Strategy: Your small squares are safe from your own large squares but not from the opponent's. The largest squares can never be erased. Erasing counts like scoring: a 2×2 over one of their 1×1s moves the score by 5 (+4 for you, -1 for them).

Builder - Bonus for building small to large

Every square scores and nothing is ever removed. When you capture a larger square you also get, as a bonus, the points of your own smaller squares that lie inside it.

• Example: Your 1×1, then your 2×2 around it: 1 + 4 + 1 bonus = 6. The other way round - 2×2, then 1×1 - gives 4 + 1 = 5: the bonus is only paid when the larger square is captured. If one edge completes both, the 1×1 counts first and the bonus is paid (6). Their 1×1 inside your 2×2: you 4, they 1.
• The opponent's squares: Never touched. They give you no bonus.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: Roughly twice the points of Independent: typical totals between two strong computer players are around 490 (Strategic), 1,570 (Big Squares) and 2,640 (Expert).
• Strategy: Build from small to large: boxes first, then the 2×2 over them, then the 3×3 over those. The same squares captured in the opposite order pay no bonus at all. A box of the opponent's inside your area lowers every bonus you collect there.

Territory - Boxes count, not squares

Points are boxes, not squares. Every box belongs to whoever most recently captured a square covering it, and your score is the number of boxes you hold. A square captured over the opponent's boxes takes them over; over your own boxes it adds nothing.

• Example: A 1×1 and the 2×2 around it, both yours: 4 in either order - the box is not counted twice. Their 1×1, then your 2×2: you 4, they 0. Your 2×2, then their 1×1 inside it: you 3, they 1.
• The opponent's squares: Their boxes under your new square become yours: +1 for you and -1 for them per box. On the board each box shows only its current holder.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: Every box ends up held by one player, so the final total is always the number of boxes: 81 in Strategic and Big Squares, 121 in Expert. 41 or 61 win, and a tie is impossible. Final margins tend to be larger than in Independent: a large square captured late repaints up to nine boxes.
• Strategy: Boxes taken early are only on loan: a box can be repainted for as long as any square that covers it is still incomplete, and it is secured for its holder only once all of them are complete. So do not chase boxes early - aim to draw the last edge of the last square over an area. Late large squares swing most: a 3×3 over nine of their boxes moves the score by 18. Over boxes that are already yours a square scores nothing (the board shows +0).

Majority - Boxes decide who gets the large squares

1×1 boxes go to the player who closes them. A larger square goes to the player who holds more of the 1×1 boxes inside it at the moment it is completed - whoever draws its last edge. The player who draws that edge gets it only on a tie, including when nobody holds a box inside.

• Example: Their 1×1, then you close the 2×2 around it: they get the 2×2 as well - you 0, they 5. You close the 2×2 while nobody holds a box inside it, then they take the 1×1: you 4, they 1. Both yours: 5. If one edge completes a 1×1 and the 2×2 around it, the box counts first, and it counts for you (5).
• The opponent's squares: Never removed and never change owner. But their boxes decide where a larger square goes: with more of theirs than yours inside, your last edge gives the square to them, and the points float up in their colour.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: The same points as in Independent (337 / 778 / 1,250), but the widest final margins of all 13 rules: whoever holds more boxes in an area also collects the larger squares there.
• Strategy: Boxes first. Before you draw the last edge of a larger square, count the boxes inside it: with more of theirs than yours, the edge is a gift of 4 or 9 points. If you hold more boxes inside a square, it is yours whoever closes it. Only the count at the moment of completion matters - boxes captured afterwards change nothing - and only 1×1 boxes count, not the 2×2s inside a 3×3.

Fortress - Only the owner of the inside closes the outside

A larger square can only be captured by a player who owns every captured smaller square inside it. If somebody else draws its last edge, nobody captures it - and it can never be captured later. With smaller squares of both players inside, a larger square is lost to both.

• Example: Your 1×1, then your 2×2 around it: 1 + 4 = 5. Their 1×1, then you close the 2×2: you 0, they 1, and the 2×2 stays uncaptured. Your 2×2 first, then their 1×1 inside it: you 4, they 1 - small squares inside a captured large one are not restricted.
• The opponent's squares: Never removed, never change owner. One of their squares inside a larger square reserves it for them; one of yours reserves it for you; one of each kills it for both.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: All sizes get captured, but fewer large squares than in Independent. Typical totals between two strong computer players: about 205 (Strategic), 315 (Big Squares) and 550 (Expert) - between Protected and Independent.
• Strategy: A box is a key. Your first small square inside a larger one reserves it for you; a small square of yours inside one the opponent has reserved destroys it. Before you draw the last edge of a larger square, check that everything captured inside it is yours - otherwise the edge scores nothing and the square is gone. Unlike Protected, your own small squares do not block you.

Home Turf - Double at home, nothing away

Every square scores as in Independent, with one change: a square captured inside a larger square you already hold scores double, and one captured inside a larger square that only the opponent holds scores nothing (it is still marked as yours). If both of you hold a larger square around it, or nobody does, it scores normally.

• Example: Your 2×2, then your 1×1 inside it: 4 + 2 = 6. The other way round - 1×1, then 2×2: 1 + 4 = 5. Your 2×2, then their 1×1 inside it: you 4, they 0. Their 1×1, then your 2×2: you 4, they 1 - nothing is changed afterwards. If one edge completes both, the 2×2 counts first and the box doubles (6).
• The opponent's squares: Never removed, never change owner. Their larger square makes your later captures inside it worthless - unless you hold a larger square around the same spot as well.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: A little above Independent: typical totals between two strong computer players are about 400 (Strategic), 1,000 (Big Squares) and 1,640 (Expert).
• Strategy: The opposite order to Builder: large first, then fill it - every square you capture inside your own larger square counts twice. Do not spend edges on squares inside the opponent's turf: they score nothing. A larger square of your own around the same spot cancels their turf.

Capped Layered - Layered, but a square can at most double

Like Layered, but each box of the new square adds at most 1 bonus point: 1 for every box that at least one of your own squares already covers, however many cover it. So a square can at most double.

• Example: A 1×1 and the 2×2 around it, both yours: 6 in either order, as in Layered. Their 1×1 and your 2×2: you 4, they 1. It differs once your squares stack: a 1×1, the 2×2 around it and the 3×3 around both, all yours, score 1 + 5 + 13 = 19 here and 20 in Layered, which pays for the corner box twice.
• The opponent's squares: Never touched, and overlapping them earns nothing.
• End of the game: Every edge is drawn.
• How it plays: Well below Layered: typical totals between two strong computer players are about 540 (Strategic), 1,400 (Big Squares) and 2,300 (Expert).
• Strategy: Still build where you already hold squares - a square over boxes you cover can double. But covering the same boxes again and again adds nothing extra: what counts is how many boxes of the new square you already cover, not how often.

Compare the 13 Rules

• Small first / Large first: your total when you capture a 1×1 and the 2×2 around it yourself, in that order.
• Their small first: they hold the 1×1, then you draw the last edge of the 2×2 around it - your points : their points.
• Dead edges: whether open edges can become worthless, so that the game ends before every edge is drawn.

Strategy

In Every Game

Never Leave a Three-Sided Box

A box with three sides drawn costs one edge, and whoever moves next takes it. In Standard, put off drawing a third side for as long as you can. In dice games, draw a third side only if you close the box yourself in the same turn.

The Rim Gives Away Least

An edge on the rim of the board is a side of one box; an edge further in is a side of two, and part of more large squares. When you have to draw an edge you would rather not draw, a rim edge next to an untouched box helps the opponent least.

Standard: Chains

In Standard every capture gives another line, so boxes fall in rows. Chain Reaction has chains of its own, described below. The other dice games have none.

Safe Lines First

A line is safe while it leaves no box with three sides. Both players use up the safe lines first; the game is decided by who has to draw the first unsafe one.

Chains

A chain is a row of boxes joined through their open sides. Whoever has to draw into a chain opens it: the other player then takes its boxes one after another, because every capture gives another line.

Open the Shortest Chain

When every line gives something away, give away the least: count the boxes each line would hand over and open the smallest group.

The Double-Cross

When you collect a chain you may stop two boxes short. Instead of the line that takes the next box, draw the line at the far end of the last two. It completes nothing, so your turn ends; the opponent takes both boxes with the one line between them - and then has to open the next chain for you. Worth it when the chains still to come hold more than the two boxes you give up.

Chain Reaction: Chains with Dice

A Three-Sided Box Is Free

An edge that captures does not count against the roll. Whoever moves next takes every three-sided box on the board with any roll, and every box that becomes three-sided along the way.

Follow the Row Before You Open It

A row of boxes with two sides open falls completely once one of them gets its third side: each box taken makes the next one free. Before you draw a third side, count how far the row goes.

One Safe Edge Is a Whole Turn

A high roll does not have to be spent. With nothing to take, draw one edge that leaves no box three-sided and end your turn. When no such edge is left, open the shortest row.

Keep an Edge for the Harvest

Taking a free box needs an edge in hand: the capture gives it back. Use up your roll on other edges first and the boxes that open up are left for the opponent.

Dice Games

In dice games a capture gives no extra edge, so there are no chains to collect - Chain Reaction is the exception, with advice of its own above. What counts is how many edges each square still needs.

Think in Edge Prices

A square costs as many edges as its outline is missing: 4 for an untouched box, 1 for a three-sided one, 8 for an untouched 2×2, 12 for an untouched 3×3. Every edge you draw makes the squares it belongs to cheaper - for whoever moves next.

Build and Close in One Turn

Spend your roll on squares you can finish this turn: draw the missing sides and close the square yourself, for example a third side and then the fourth. Start with the square that gives the most points per edge.

End Your Turn Early

A roll is a budget, not a duty: only the first edge is compulsory. If every further edge would only make squares cheaper for the opponent, press End Turn.

Leave Nothing Cheap Behind

Before you end the turn, look at what you leave. A square missing one edge is a gift on any roll; one missing two edges is a gift on every roll but a 1 - that is 5 of the 6 faces of a d6.

Compare Points per Edge

From nothing, a 1×1 costs 4 edges for 1 point, a 2×2 outline 8 edges for 4 points and a 3×3 outline 12 edges for 9 points: a quarter, a half and three quarters of a point per edge. Large squares are the better deal - if you can finish them. An outline left unfinished is an offer to the opponent.

Edges Are Shared

One edge can be a side of two boxes and part of the outline of up to four 2×2s and six 3×3s. An edge that brings several of your targets closer is worth more - and so is one that brings the opponent's closer.

The Edge You Must Draw

You have to draw one edge even when you would rather pass. Pick the one that helps least: a rim edge next to untouched boxes, or - with the Exclusive rule - a dashed edge, which helps nobody.

By Overlap Rule

Every rule has its own pointers in the Overlap section. These are the questions worth asking under any of them.

Is the Total Fixed?

Under some rules you know exactly how many points a game holds, so you know when it is decided. Independent, Takeover and Majority: 337 / 778 / 1,250 points in Strategic / Big Squares / Expert, so 169 / 390 / 626 win. Consume: 256 / 441 / 729, so 129 / 221 / 365 win. Exclusive and Territory: 81 / 81 / 121, so 41 / 41 / 61 win.

Which Order Pays?

Small first, then large: Builder - the bonus is paid on the larger square. Large first, then small: Protected (a small square would block the large one) and Home Turf (squares inside your own larger square score double). Either order scores the same in Independent, Layered, Capped Layered and Fortress - but in Fortress a small square of yours keeps the opponent out of the larger one.

Are Small Squares Safe?

Not in Consume (absorbed, whoever owns them), Takeover (taken by the opponent's larger square), Volatile (erased by it) or Territory (its box is repainted by the opponent's next square over it). In the first three a small square is only as safe as the larger squares around it, and the largest squares are the points that last. In Territory a box is only secured once every square that covers it is complete.

Does the Last Edge Pay?

Not always. Majority gives a larger square to whoever holds more boxes inside it. In Fortress nobody gets a square whose inside holds somebody else's squares. In Territory a square over your own boxes adds nothing. In Home Turf a square inside the opponent's larger square scores nothing. In Exclusive and Protected a blocked square is never captured. Look before you spend the edge.

Can One Box Stop a Large Square?

Yes in Exclusive and Protected (any captured box inside blocks it for everybody) and in Fortress (your box inside stops the opponent). A box costs at most 4 edges; the squares it stops are worth 4 or 9 points each.

AI

The Four Levels

The four levels are four different ways of playing, not one player made weaker or stronger. The AI is always Player 2: blue, marked with a ring.

Easy - Plays at random

Draws edges at random and always uses its whole roll. It takes a square only by accident and gives squares away all the time. The one thing it avoids is a dashed edge that can no longer score.

Playing Against It: Take what it leaves you: after its turn, look for squares that are one or two edges short. Good for learning the controls and for trying out an overlap rule.

Normal - Takes what it can, one edge at a time

Decides one edge at a time, in this order: (1) if an edge raises its score, it draws the one that raises it most; (2) otherwise it draws a random edge that leaves no square one edge short; (3) if there is none, the edge that leaves the fewest squares one edge short. It always uses its whole roll and never builds a square on purpose.

Playing Against It: It never ends a turn early and never plans a second edge. A long roll forces it to keep drawing: once the safe edges are gone it leaves squares one edge short, and it leaves squares two edges short all the time. Close those, build and close your own squares within one turn, and end your turn early instead of leaving it anything.

Hard - Plans its whole turn and your best reply

In dice games it plans the whole turn. It spends its edges on the squares that pay the most points per edge and can be finished this turn, and before each step it works out what you could score in reply, averaged over every roll of the die. It stops as soon as going on would not improve that balance, so it ends turns early instead of setting squares up for you; when it must draw an edge it does not want, it picks the one that helps you least. It knows every overlap rule: it counts bonuses, squares a capture would take or erase, and squares that would go to you instead. In Standard it takes every box on offer, draws safe lines while there are any, and when every line gives something away it follows each chain to its end and opens the one that costs it least.

Playing Against It: There is no cheap trick in dice games: count edge prices, leave nothing one or two edges short, and end your turn early. It looks one reply ahead, not further. In Standard it always takes every box it is offered and never declines the end of a chain, so after collecting a chain it has to open the next one itself - use the double-cross against it.

Expert - Plans, then plays out many games to choose its move

Starts from the turns Hard would consider - taking squares, stopping, a quiet edge - and tests each one by playing the game on from there many times, with random dice for both sides. It then plays the option with the best average result. It spends up to about 0.7 seconds a turn on this. On the 10×10 and 12×12 boards, while more than 120 edges are open, the test games run 8 turns ahead instead of to the end. In the dice games with 1×1 boxes other than Chain Reaction, and in the larger modes with the Independent overlap rule, it stops estimating once 14 or fewer edges are open and calculates the best play for the rest of the game exactly. In Standard it also tests declining the last two boxes of a chain - the double-cross.

Playing Against It: Play as you would against Hard. In dice games it is only a little stronger than Hard and the dice still decide many games: it chooses the best average, not a guaranteed result. In Standard it is much stronger than Hard, because it uses the double-cross itself - you will need the chain techniques from the Strategy section.

Moving Up

Normal is the level the menu starts on. Each level is clearly stronger than the one below it, with one exception: in dice games Expert is only a little ahead of Hard. Move up when you win most of your games. The AI speed setting changes how fast the AI's moves are shown, not how well it plays.

Options

Before You Start

• Opponent: The row of buttons at the top. vs AI: you against the computer. Local: two players take turns on this device - they are called Player 1 and Player 2.
• AI difficulty: The small button under the opponents, for example "AI: Normal". It lists Easy, Normal, Hard and Expert with a line on how each plays. Shown only when the opponent is the AI. The AI section describes each level.
• Move clock: The small button beside it: "No clock", or for example "Clock: 20 s". It offers 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds for every move. With a clock a turn ends when the time runs out, and moves cannot be taken back. The Play section says how the clock runs.
• Game: The list that fills the rest of the menu: one of the nine game modes (see the Modes section). The selected card of Strategic, Big Squares or Expert also holds the Overlap rule: tap it to pick one of the 13 rules.
• Play: Next to the Play button - Start in a local game - the menu names what will begin, for example "Classic" and "vs AI (Normal)".
• More options: The three-dot button at the top of the menu opens Settings, Statistics, Achievements, Leaderboard, Help & Rules and the information pages.

The menu remembers what you chose last time.

Saving and Continuing

• A game in progress is saved automatically after every move - against the AI and in local games alike
• Leave with the back arrow or close the app: the menu then shows a "Continue game" card with the game, the opponent, the scores and the round
• Resume carries on exactly where you stopped, including a roll you had not used up
• Discard deletes the saved game after asking "Discard saved game?" (Discard / Keep). This cannot be undone
• There is one saved game. Starting a new game with Play replaces it, after asking "Start a new game?" (Start new game / Keep)
• A finished game is not kept. A game you discard or replace is not counted in the statistics

Settings

Appearance

• Theme: System default ("Follows your device's light or dark mode"), Light or Dark.
• Colours: The palette the app is drawn in: Indigo (the Boxed In palette, and the default), Forest, Ocean, Sunset, Berry or Graphite; Custom, with a slider for a colour of your own; or Wallpaper, which takes the colours of your wallpaper (Android 12 and newer). Each works in light and in dark mode.
• Player colours: One of eight colours for You / Player 1 and one for AI / Player 2: green and blue unless you change them. The two always differ - picking the other player's colour swaps them. The marks, diamond and ring, stay as they are.

Gameplay

• Who moves first: You / Player 1 (the default), AI / Player 2, or Random - "Picked at random for every new game". It applies to every new game, Play again included.
• AI speed: Normal: "The AI's moves are shown one at a time". Fast: "Only short pauses between the AI's moves". The AI plays equally well at both speeds.
• Vibration: "Haptic feedback during a game": a light tick for every edge you draw and a stronger one when that edge captures. On unless you turn it off.

Controls position

• Left side or Right side: The side of the screen the main controls sit on: the Play button and game list on the menu, and the dice and buttons panel on the game screen. Left side is the default.

Statistics

Open Statistics from the three-dot button on the menu. It has two tabs, Overview and Details; the Overview also leads to the Achievements and to the Leaderboard.

• Only finished games against the AI are counted. Games against other people, on this device or online, count towards the achievements under Other players and appear nowhere in these statistics
• Overview: Performance (Games, Wins, Losses, Ties and the win rate), Streaks (Current and Best run of wins - a loss or a tie ends a run), Scoring and Time Played
• Scoring is about you: Total Squares Captured (squares lost again later are not subtracted), Total Points Scored (your final scores added up), Highest Game Score and Biggest Win Margin
• Time Played adds up the finished games: Total Play Time, Longest Game and Fastest Win
• Details: wins and games by Mode, by Difficulty and by Overlap Mode, and the Dice Roll Distribution of your own rolls. Games in modes with 1×1 boxes only are not listed under an overlap mode
• Reset statistics, in the three-dot menu of the Statistics screen, erases the recorded games, streaks and play time, the achievements and the leaderboard, after a confirmation. This cannot be undone

Achievements

36 achievements can be unlocked, most of them by finished games against the AI. A new one is announced in the result window. Achievements, in the three-dot menu, lists them all, with a bar for those that count something up.

Leaderboard

Leaderboard, in the three-dot menu, keeps your best wins against the AI on this device: the 10 best of each game mode, and under All games the 10 best of all.

• A win is worth your share of all points scored in the game, in percent, times 1 against the Easy AI, 2 against Normal, 3 against Hard and 4 against Expert. Winning 31 to 18 against Hard is 63% × 3 = 189 points
• Only wins count. With equal points the quicker game stands higher
• The result window of a win says what it was worth and where it stands, for example "189 points: place 2 on your Classic leaderboard."
• Reset statistics empties the leaderboard as well