# Paper Dots & Boxes — The pen-and-paper classic

> The pen-and-paper classic (iPhone/iPad app by Alexandre Sivera.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-dots-and-boxes/id6799216864 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Alexandre Sivera](https://appshunter.io/developer/1089824201)
- Category: Games, Board, Strategy
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 1 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-20
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-dots-and-boxes/id6799216864/reviews.md

## What is Paper Dots & Boxes?

Take turns drawing a line between two dots. Close the fourth side of a box and it is yours — and you go again. When the grid is full, whoever owns the most boxes wins.

That is the whole game, and it is far deeper than it looks.

PLAY AGAINST A REAL OPPONENT

The computer is three levels of actual foresight, not three fudge factors:

Easy — takes any box it can see, and otherwise plays at random.
Medium — understands that opening a chain costs you. It plays only lines that give nothing away, and when it runs out of safe moves it opens the cheapest run it can find.
Hard — counts chains, declines the last two boxes to keep control, and solves the endgame exactly once the board is small enough. It will double-cross you.

OR PASS AND PLAY

Two players, one device, no account and no waiting.

BOARDS TO SUIT THE GAME

3x3 for a quick round through to 6x6 for something that takes real planning.

LEARN THE TRICK THAT DECIDES GAMES

Closing a box forces you to move again, so greed backfires. Handing over a short chain early often wins you a long one later — and the double-cross turns a losing chain into control of the board. The built-in rules screen explains it properly, including the move most people never find on their own.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0 — 2026-08-21

No release notes.

## More apps by Alexandre Sivera

- [Story Sequence](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/story-sequence/id1089824202)
- [French Phonology](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/french-phonology/id1302142408)
- [Match words and pictures](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/match-words-and-pictures/id1478975171)
- [English Phonology](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/english-phonology/id1482517000)
- [Find words that rhyme](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/find-words-that-rhyme/id1502452801)
- [Tic Tic Stop](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tic-tic-stop/id1551574868)

All apps by Alexandre Sivera: https://appshunter.io/developer/1089824201

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*