Wudly's Shut the Box for fourPhoto: Wudly
One board and eight dicePhoto: Wudly
Flip down tiles that add up to your rollPhoto: Roland Scheicher, public domain
Pinewood frame and felt liningPhoto: Wudly
The classic one-row box (this one is Play Nation's)Photo: FirstCry
A giant garden version in FrancePhoto: Als33120, CC BY-SA 4.0
Video

Traditional game

Shut the Box

Roll two dice, flip down the tiles, leave the smallest total

1–4players · best with 2-4
5–20 minplaying time
6+recommended age
Learning curve
Very easy1 / 5
EasyDemanding
Luck & skill
More luck than skill
LuckSkill
Interaction
Low
Set-up
Under a minute
Reading
None

The quick verdict

Full verdict ↓

Great for Children of about 6 to 10 practising addition: every roll is a small sum, and splitting a 9 into 4 + 5 or 2 + 3 + 4 builds number sense

Think twice if You want real strategy: the dice decide most of the game

How we rate it

Learning curve. Roll, add, flip. If a child can add two dice, they can play.

Luck & skill. The dice decide most of it. Your only choice is which tiles to close for each roll, and that makes a small difference.

Interaction. Everyone works on their own tiles; you can't affect anyone else's game, only race to a better score.

Set-up. Flip all the tiles up and hand each player their pair of dice.

Reading. Numbers on the tiles and dots on the dice only.

Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.

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Is Shut the Box right for you?

Great if

  • Children of about 6 to 10 practising addition: every roll is a small sum, and splitting a 9 into 4 + 5 or 2 + 3 + 4 builds number sense
  • Quick rounds at family get-togethers, with grandparents and grandchildren around the same box
  • Playing alone: it works as a solo patience game when nobody else is free
  • A good-looking wooden gift that needs no reading

Skip it if

  • You want real strategy: the dice decide most of the game
  • You want a long game: rounds take a few minutes and play out much the same way each time
  • You need quiet: dice rattling on wood are loud unless the tray is lined with felt

How Shut the Box plays

Flip all the tiles up so the numbers show: 1 to 9 on a classic box, 1 to 10 on each side of Wudly's. With a classic single box, players take turns and reset the tiles for the next person. With a four-sided box like Wudly's, each player sits at one side, has their own row of tiles, and takes the two dice of their colour.

  • Time to teach: about 2 minutes.
  • Reading and language: Only the numbers on the tiles and the dots on the dice. Nothing to read, so it works in any language.
Flip down tiles that add up to your roll · Photo: Roland Scheicher, public domain

How to play Shut the Box · Triple S Games

Choose a video · Watch right here

If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.

A turn, step by step

  1. 1
    Roll

    Roll both dice and add them up. Once your 7, 8 and 9 are closed, you may roll just one die.

  2. 2
    Flip

    Flip down any open tiles that add up to your roll, such as 9, or 4 and 5, or 2, 3 and 4. Keep rolling until you can't make the total.

  3. 3
    Score

    Add up the tiles left open: the lowest score wins. Close every tile and you've shut the box, which wins at once.

Read the rules (PDF)Shut-the-Box 4-Way Play rules (University Games, 2018) · English
The full explanation: how a game of Shut the Box goes

Roll both dice and add them up, then flip down any open tiles that make that total. A roll of 9 could close the 9 on its own, or 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 4 and 5, or even 2, 3 and 4. Keep rolling and closing tiles. Once the 7, 8 and 9 are all down, you may roll just one die; some families play that you switch to one die once the open tiles add up to 6 or less. Your turn ends when you roll a total you can't make from the open tiles.

Add up the tiles still open: that's your score, and the lowest score wins the round. Close every tile and you have 'shut the box', which wins at once. Some rules read the open tiles as a number instead, so a 2 and a 7 left open score 27. Over several rounds, keep a running total; a common house rule puts out anyone who reaches 45.

In a four-sided box, everyone rolls at the same time and works on their own side. When you can't go any more, call out 'done' and wait for the others. University Games' rules for its four-way box play until someone has won 10 rounds.

Alone, it becomes a patience game: just try to shut the box. Even with perfect play you'll manage it only about one time in ten. A common tip: when you have a choice, close one big tile (the 9) rather than two small ones (4 and 5), and save the small tiles for later, when you may be rolling only one die. And remember that 7 is the most common total with two dice.

What's in the box

One board and eight dice · Photo: Wudly
  • 1Four-sided wooden board
    about 22 cm square and 3 cm thick, with a row of ten flip tiles numbered 1 to 10 on each side, one colour per player
  • 8Dice
    wooden dice, two in each player's colour

From Wudly's own product picture ('What's inside'): one wooden board, 22 x 22 cm and 3 cm thick, and 8 wooden dice. Whether a rules sheet is included isn't stated. A classic single box has one row of tiles numbered 1 to 9 and 2 dice.

Where to buy

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How to pick a good setSize, pieces and the details worth checking.

Choosing a set

Shut the Box has no official edition, so any well-made wooden set will do. The link goes to the four-player box from Wudly, a toy brand based in Ahmedabad; its own store gives India as the country but doesn't say outright where the box is made. Imported sets from makers such as University Games (US) or Jaques of London (UK) cost much more and play the same game.

Before you choose

  • Pick the shape first: a classic 1-to-9 box (one player at a time, 2 dice) or a four-sided box (2 to 4 players at once, 8 dice in four colours). Four-sided boards range from about 22 cm square (Wudly's) to about 36 cm, so check the size.
  • Wood: look for solid wood with tight corners, a sanded finish and no splinters. Wudly says 'premium-quality wood with smooth edges' but doesn't name the wood.
  • Tiles: each tile should flip with a light push and stay where you leave it, up or down, without flopping back when dice hit it or someone bumps the table.
  • Dice: a classic box needs two, and a four-sided box needs eight, a pair per player in that side's colour. Full-size dice with clear dots are easiest for children; keep a spare pair, because dice go missing.
  • Felt: a felt-lined rolling tray keeps the noise down and stops dice bouncing out. Bare wood is much louder.
  • Tile numbers: 1 to 9 is standard, and the rules on this page assume it. Boxes with 10 or 12 tiles (Wudly's and Clapjoy's have 10) make the box harder to shut and games longer.
  • Safety mark: toys sold in India must carry the ISI mark with a BIS licence number on the toy or its box, under the Toys (Quality Control) Order in force since January 2021. Neither Wudly's store nor the listing title mentions it, so check the box when it arrives.

What reviewers and players say

Shut the Box is liked as a simple classic that slips a lot of mental arithmetic into play. Maths teachers and educational writers use it for addition and number bonds, and rules sites list many house variants, from 12-tile boxes to knock-out rules at 45 points. It's mostly luck, so it works as a quick family game or a warm-up rather than a strategy game, and each player mostly plays alone. Maths fans enjoy the odds: with perfect play you shut the box only about one time in ten.

What people love

  • It's very quick to learn: roll, add, flip
  • There's plenty of mental maths: teachers use it for addition and number bonds, and NRICH lists it for ages 5 to 7
  • It works as a solo challenge as well as a group game
  • There are lots of house rules to keep it fresh: 10- or 12-tile boxes, knock-out at 45, team play

Common complaints

  • It's mostly luck: your choices matter a little, the dice matter more
  • There's little interaction, because each player works through their own tiles
  • Shutting the box is rare, about one game in ten even with perfect play, so it's 'harder to do than you might think'
Based on 6 reviews and discussions

Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.

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Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): Yahtzee – Another dice classic: roll five dice and score combinations.

Questions people ask about Shut the Box

When can you roll only one die in Shut the Box?

The most common rule says you may switch to one die once the 7, 8 and 9 are all closed, because two dice can never roll a 1 and a single die gives you a better chance of hitting the small numbers left. Some families switch once the open tiles add up to 6 or less. Either is fine; just agree before you start.

Is Shut the Box good for learning maths?

Yes. Every roll is an addition sum, and children learn that the same total can be made in several ways: 9 is 9, 1 + 8, 4 + 5 or 2 + 3 + 4. The University of Cambridge's NRICH maths site lists it for ages 5 to 7 under mental calculation. Older children can work out why 7 comes up most often with two dice.

What is the difference between the four-player box and the classic box?

A classic box has one row of tiles numbered 1 to 9 and two dice, and players take turns. A four-sided box has a row of tiles on each side and a pair of dice for each player, so up to four people play at once and nobody waits. The rules are the same.

Where does Shut the Box come from?

Nobody knows for sure. It's usually described as an old European pub dice game, and stories link it to Normandy in France centuries ago and to sailors, fishermen and fur trappers, but there's no solid record. What is documented is that it was played in English pubs by the 1960s, said to have come from the Channel Islands, and that it was the basis of the American TV game show High Rollers from 1974.

How often can you actually shut the box?

Not often. One mathematical analysis found that with perfect choices you shut all nine tiles about 9.8% of the time if you switch to one die when 6 or less is left, and about 7.1% if you always roll two dice. So expect to manage it roughly once in every ten or so games.

Game facts

Publisher
Wudly (Wudly Toys, Ahmedabad)
In India
Wudly Toys (Ahmedabad, Gujarat)
Players
1–4
Language
No reading – Only the numbers on the tiles and the dots on the dice. Nothing to read, so it works in any language.
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.

Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.