The most interesting game in the world.

January 17, 2011 11:50 AM

Board Game filter: How can I make Shut the Box more interesting?

I was given this game and although the board is beautifully constructed, I feel like the game itself could be more interesting.

The original game, called Shut the Box, consists of rolling dice and racing to cover corresponding numbers on your side of the box. Playing time is less than five minutes.

I’m hoping metafilter can help me think of more complicated games to play on this board. I have extra cards and pieces from other board games and can get extra materials for a “new” game if needed. If you have an amazing Shut the Box variation not already on the wikipedia page, I’m also interested in hearing that.

(An anticipation to one possible answer: When I researched Shut the Box, I found that it’s also a betting game, but I’m not really interested in betting money.)

Thanks!

posted by pluot to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (2 answers total)

Best answer: I love this game. It's deceptively simple, but playing it optimally is really rather challenging.

One variation we like is to pass the box back and forth between opponents for each roll. The player left unable to shut any numbers with a roll has to count points. Lowest score wins after X rounds. This changes the strategy about what numbers to "shut" with each roll.

Another variation is to allow players to "open" numbers as well as shut them with each roll, allowing them to back out of dead ends.
posted by cross_impact at 12:35 PM on January 17, 2011

Best answer: Did you look it up on Board Game Geek? There are a couple of variations listed there (1 2).
posted by shelleycat at 12:38 PM on January 17, 2011