4-Player Shut the box is a great adaptation on a classic pub game. A great way to break the ice with some friends and test your luck. The aim of the game is to shut the box by rolling the dice and knocking down the pegs until you’ve got them all.
This fantastic box set comes with 4 sides of pegs attached to a felt playing board, along with a set of dice. It works great for 2, 3 or 4 players and is easily portable to bring to any party.
How To Play 4 Player Shut The Box
The objective of the game is simple, be the player who knocks down the most of their pegs before the end of the round.
Each turn one player rolls the set of dice and adds up the number. Then they look at their board and must knock down pegs until they reach the same total as the dice.
For example if a player rolls a 2 and a 6 their total is 8. Then they must choose which numbers to knock down to total exactly 8. This could be just the 8 peg or a combination of pegs such as 7+1, 6+2 or 5+3.
Players take turns doing the same until someone can not make their dice total with their remaining pegs. When this happens they are out and total up their remaining points by counting the pegs still standing.
Once everyone is finished and can no longer play, the player with the lowest total wins.
Additionally if someone manages to get every peg down they successfully “shut the box”. Play ends immediately and they win the round.
Gambling Rules
Shut the Box is often played as a gambling game. In this case players decide on an ante, and each round the winner gets that ante from each player.
Also if a player manages to shut the box, they win double the ante from each player.
Drinking Rules
These are some handy drinking rules we came up with to raise the stakes and turn shut the box into a great ice breaker game.
Each round before the first roll, someone rolls one dice. This is the drinking number for the round and the number each player must drink if they lose.
If a player loses by more than 10 points, they drink double that drink number.
If they lose by more than 20 points, they drink triple that drink number.
If a player shuts the box, each other player drinks triple that drink number regardless of their score.
Review and Initial Thoughts
Whether you’re drinking, gambling, or just looking to kill some time, Ondekt’s 4-Player Shut-The-Box is a great way to do it. It’s portable too so you can bring it to any event and it’s a fantastic way to get people talking.
On the surface this game seems pretty simple; a couple dice, some pegs and a board to roll the dice on, and the rules are easy too. We played it most of the night with new players jumping in and out all the time because it’s so easy to understand. The quality of the board is great too, all the components work exactly how they should with no issues.
Shut The Box makes for the perfect background-game to have a few brews to and stir up some good conversation. It’s simple enough that anyone can understand it but it still manages to be engaging whenever someone gets dangerously close to shutting the box. All-In-All a great party game.