Boxes — Negative Numbers Game

Home → Curriculum Hub → Interactive Maths Games → Boxes — Negative Numbers Game

An interactive dots and boxes variant where two players take turns drawing horizontal or vertical lines between adjacent dots. Each square contains a positive or negative integer. The player who completes a square claims its value and adds it to their running total — no calculators. If you can complete a box, you must do so, and you take another turn. Highest total wins. Press New grid for a fresh set of directed numbers.

Classic dots and boxes — also called squares or pipopipette — was described by the French mathematician Édouard Lucas in the 19th century. This version turns it into directed-number practice: students must add and subtract mentally as scores swing positive and negative, and decide whether a high-value box is worth the risk of giving away several smaller ones. The forced-completion rule mirrors standard tournament play and creates chain reactions that reward planning ahead — a natural link to strategy, expected value and integer arithmetic at KS3.