About Shut the Box Online
Shut the Box Online is a free browser version of Shut the Box, built and maintained by John Weeks, a web developer. There is no sign-up, no download and no paywall — the game loads and you play, and the rules and strategy pages are written by hand rather than generated.
Who runs Shut the Box Online
This site is built and run by John Weeks, a web developer who designs, codes and maintains every game in the network himself.
I am a web developer. I build for the web full time — mostly TypeScript and PHP on the server, React and Tailwind CSS on the front end — and I build and run my own sites rather than only shipping other people's.
This network came out of a simple frustration: most free online versions of classic games are slow, buried under adverts, gated behind an account, or built once and abandoned. I wanted the version I would actually want to play — instant, playable on a phone, no sign-up, and accurate to the real rules — and then to write down properly how the game works so anyone can learn it in one page.
Every site here is a single game on its own domain. I write the code, the rules, the strategy and the reference tables myself, and I keep them current. There is no content farm behind this and no AI-generated filler: if a page states an odds figure or a scoring rule, it came from a solver I wrote or a primary source I can point you at.
What this site is trying to be
The goal is simple: the best free version of Shut the Box on the web, and the clearest explanation of how it works.
- Playable in about a second, on a phone, in portrait, with no account.
- Accurate to the real rules — including the variants people actually play.
- Explained properly: rules, scoring and strategy written out, not padded.
- Kept working. A game that breaks in a browser update gets fixed.
- Honest about the maths: the odds published here come from a solver, not an estimate.
How the site is paid for, and what it knows about you
Adverts pay the hosting and the time. Being straight about that — and about the data side — matters more than pretending the site runs on goodwill.
The site is free and always will be. It is funded by display advertising, which is why you will see ad slots around — never over — the play area. Adverts never cover the game, and nothing interrupts you mid-turn.
Your game statistics — streaks, best scores, preferences — are stored in your own browser using localStorage. They are not sent to me, there is no account, and clearing your browser data clears them permanently.
The site uses privacy-respecting analytics to understand which pages are useful, and advertising partners set their own cookies. What is collected, and how to opt out, is set out in full on the privacy page.
What makes this version different
Shut the Box is a solved game, so a version of it can be exactly right rather than approximately right — and this one is built that way.
- Both standard boards — 9 tiles and 12 tiles — plus two-player on one device.
- A hint engine that shows the genuinely optimal move, computed by backward induction rather than a rule of thumb.
- A solved-game analysis with numbers you can reproduce, published under a Creative Commons licence so teachers and writers can reuse it with attribution.
The dice use your browser’s cryptographic random number generator with rejection sampling, so every face is exactly equally likely. Nothing is weighted, and there is no house edge because there is no house.
Your scores, streaks and settings are stored only in your own browser using localStorage. There is no account system and none of it is sent anywhere.
Corrections and contact
The fastest way to reach me is email: john.weeks.dev@gmail.com. I read everything sent there.
Who created Shut the Box Online?
- John Weeks, a web developer, built and maintains it. The code, the game logic and the written rules and strategy are all his own work.
Is Shut the Box Online free?
- Yes — completely. There is no account, no download, no trial and no paid tier. Display advertising covers the costs.
Do I need to create an account or install anything?
- No. The game runs in your browser. Your scores and preferences are saved on your own device, so nothing needs to be signed into.
Can I use the rules, tables or score sheets on my own site?
- Yes, with attribution and a link back. The reference data is published for reuse — that is the point of writing it out properly.
I found a mistake in the rules. What should I do?
- Email john.weeks.dev@gmail.com and say what is wrong. Rule variations differ by region and household, so specifics help — and genuine corrections get made.