About Dots and Boxes: Peg Duel
Dots and Boxes: Peg Duel turns the pencil-and-paper classic into a handsome wooden tabletop game. A five-by-five grid of brass studs sits on a maple board, and you and your rival take turns snapping a glossy coral or blue rod between two neighbouring studs. Close the fourth side of a square and it is yours: a coloured tile with your emblem pops up, you score a point and you must move again. When all sixteen squares are claimed, the bigger collection wins. It sounds like luck, yet it is a sharp game of nerves. Early on everybody avoids drawing the third side of a box, until someone is forced to open a chain and the other side sweeps it up. Strong players learn the double-cross: decline the last two boxes of a chain to keep control of the endgame. Play the computer immediately. Easy draws anything, Medium grabs free boxes and never gifts one when a safe line exists, and Hard solves the whole ending exactly. Friendly helpers are on by default: a red rod warns you when a line hands a box away, gold squares show boxes ready to close, a hint button suggests a move and you can undo freely. Sign in to challenge friends or find a quick match online.
How to play
Tap between two neighbouring studs to draw a line (on phones tap twice to confirm). Closing the fourth side of a box claims it and you move again. Most boxes wins. Red rod = gives a box away. Undo (U), Hint (H), New game (N).
Controls
| Click / Tap | Draw |
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ · Released: 2026-10-07