Shut the Box: A game of chance or strategy?

On very rare occasions we turn the television off and play board games from our couch. My mother-in-law bought us this game for Christmas and we quickly learned that it was a fast moving game for any number of people. I like that it can be played quickly and I love the feeling when I get all the numbers down shut the box. I personally don’t have any strategy when I play, but others have said that it is better to get rid of the higher numbers first. I prefer to consider it a game of chance and an easy way to pass the time.

How to Play:

Any number of players may play.

To start the game, the tiles are turned up so the numbers are displayed. A round of play consists of each player taking one turn. The first player rolls the two dice. Lay down any combination of tiles that match your roll. For example, if you roll a 5 and 3, you may lay down any combination of tiles that add up to 8. You may lay down the 5 and 3 tiles, the 6 and 2 tiles, the 8 tile, the 7 and 1 tiles, the 5, 2, and 1 tiles, or the 4, 3 and 1 tiles. The player continues playing until tiles equaling the number rolled can no longer be flipped. At this point the player’s turn is finished. The numbers shown on the un-flipped tiles are then added together to become the player’s score. For example, 1, 2, 3 would results in a score of 6 points.

The tiles are flipped up again and the next player’s turn proceeds in the same manner. If a player successfully flips over all the tiles, the box is declared “shut” and that player is immediately declared the winner. If no one shuts the box, the player with the lowest score wins.