A dots and boxes game for one or two players
Cloud Claim is a free online version of dots and boxes, the pencil and paper game first described by the French mathematician Edouard Lucas in 1889. Here the paper is the sky: the angels and the demons take turns drawing lines of light between 36 dots, and every closed square is a cloud won for their side.
Play alone against the computer demon, or with a friend on the same screen. There is no timer and nothing to install. A game takes a few minutes, and the rules take one sentence: if you draw the fourth side of a cloud you claim it and move again.
How to play Cloud Claim
- Players take turns drawing one line between two neighbouring dots. In a game against the demon you are the gold angels.
- Draw the fourth side of a cloud and it becomes yours. You then move again, and you keep moving for as long as you keep closing clouds.
- If your line does not close a cloud, the turn passes to the other side.
- The game ends when all 25 clouds are claimed. The side with more clouds holds the sky. There are 25 clouds, so a game cannot be a draw.
- The first move swaps between the two sides from one game to the next. Press Enter or Space, or tap, to play again.
Controls
- Mouse or touch: click or tap a line between two dots. On a computer the line lights up before you click.
- Keyboard: ← ↑ ↓ → move a marker between the free lines, and Enter or Space draws the marked line.
- M or the button under the board switches between playing the demon and two players, and starts a new game. Esc goes back to the game list.
Scoring and rules
Each cloud is worth one point and the most clouds out of 25 wins, so 13 is always enough. Against the demon, the game counts your wins and keeps the number in your browser.
The demon follows simple rules. It takes every cloud it can. If it cannot take one, it picks a line that gives you nothing. When only dangerous lines are left, it picks the one that hands over the fewest clouds.
Tips to score higher
- Never draw the third side of a cloud early on. That hands it to the other side, along with another move.
- Near the end, the board turns into long chains of clouds. Whoever has to open the first long chain usually loses the game, so count the safe lines that are left.
- Give away short chains first. When you have no safe move, open the chain that costs you the fewest clouds.
- Learn to leave the last two clouds. When you are taking a chain, you can stop two clouds before the end with a line that closes neither: you give up those two, but your opponent then has to open the next chain for you.
- That last trick works well against the demon, because it always takes every cloud it can.
Questions
- Can two people play Cloud Claim on one device?
- Yes. Press M or use the button under the board. You take turns on the same screen, on a computer, tablet or phone. There is no online play against other people.
- What size is the board?
- Six rows of six dots, which makes 25 clouds and 60 lines. It always takes 60 lines to finish a game.
- Is Cloud Claim the same as dots and boxes?
- It uses the same traditional rules, which are more than a century old and belong to nobody. The sky, the art, the sounds and the computer opponent are our own.
- Do I need to sign up?
- No. Open the page and play. Your wins against the demon stay in your browser.