Shut The Box

I can't say that I find the game of Shut The Box anything more than just a mild curiosity, amusing enough to play with friends, but lacking the element of skill which makes for a really good game. At heart, Shut The Box is a simple dice game, the winner being largely determined by the roll of the dice, with only a small element of skill involved in choosing which of the nine numbers to 'shut' during your round.

The object of the game is to use the total of each roll of the dice to shut as many numbers from 1-9 on the box to achieve that total. For example, a roll of 5 and 2 on the dice means you could shut the 7, 5 & 2, 6 & 1, 4 & 3, or 1, 2 & 4. The player continues to roll until the total dice roll cannot be 'shut' on the box. The player with the lowest total score of open numbers on the box is the winner. There are one or two additional rules, but you get the idea.

The box shown here is my own, and this one is made of plastic rather than the more attractive wooden ones which are still widely available, though rarely seen in the pub. This one was made by Invicta of Leicester, and would have been available sporting a whole range of different logos and in varying colours, and would have been given out as promotional items to the pub trade in the 70's and 80's along with branded Dominoes and Crib Boards.