Shut the Box with Playing Cards

I am one of the crazy game lovers who always keeps a deck of cards in my car and in my purse. You would be surprised how many times I have used them. That being said, I am always on the lookout for ways to play other games with a simple deck of cards.

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What is Shut the Box?

It is a simple wooden game where players use a pair of dice to determine what wooden tiles they can flip over. The object is to get as many of the tiles, numbered 1-9, turned over in one turn. (More on how to play later.)

The game is easy enough for anyone who can do simple addition so it is a fun family night game. Shut the Box is also perfect for a couples’ night or groups of 2-4. And it is a nice change of pace from Bunco night.

There are several versions of the wooden game. It comes in numbers 1-9, 1-10 or 1-12 with four sides or just one side. When you see the simplicity of the game design, you can see why Shut the Box would work well with a deck of cards.

The above picture is the four sided game. The different color dice allow for all play instead of taking turns, but on that small surface, there is a lot of bumped dice.

I prefer this one player at a time version, which is fine for groups of 4 or less who just pass the box from player to player.

How to play Shut the Box with Playing Cards

To play with four players, each player is given ten playing cards – one suit for each player – Ace through 9. Players put the cards out in front of them, face up and in numerical order.

Player one rolls both dice. (If you don’t have dice, you can use a dice rolling app on your phone.) The object is to turn over as many cards as you can on your turn. However, you can only flip a card over one time. This is where the simple addition comes in.

If a player rolls two 4’s that when added together equals 8, they have several options.

They cannot flip the 4 twice so they have to choose something else.

They can flip over just the 8.

Or 1 and 7

Or 2 and 6

Or 3 and 5

Or 1, 2 and 5

Or 1, 3 and 4

Let’s say they chose the 1, 3 and 4 to flip over.

On the next roll, they roll a 5 and a 2. They can flip over the 2 and the 5 or just the 7.

Let’s say they chose the 2 and the 5.

The third roll they roll 3 and 5 which equals 8. The 3 and 5 have already been flipped over so they have to flip the 8.

That leaves the 6, 7 and 9 still facing up.

They roll again. This time it is a 4 and 5. They can flip the 9.

Last roll is a 1 and 2. They are both already flipped, as is the 3, so their turn is over.

The remaining numbers – 6 and 7 – will be added together for Player 1’s score.

Scoring

The other players take their turns, rolling and flipping until they can’t flip any more. Their scores are tallied and that round is over. You can play a specific amount of rounds or for until one player gets to a specific number. The player with the lowest number is the winner.

A player who “Shuts the Box” is one who is able to flip every card during their turn. Their score would be zero.

Variations

One of my favorite ways to play this game is a gambling version, often called Canoga. Players use chips or money or even Halloween candy to ante up. The round is played as normal and when all the scores are tallied, all but the lowest score adds another chip to the pot.

I also like to play that a second chip goes to the winner of that round.

Some play that the difference in score is scored for that round – for example, the lowest score being 11 and the other scores being 13, 14 and 15, will play the difference to the winner. Therefore the winner would receive 2, 3 and 4 extra chips from the players.

The idea of putting a chip in the pot after each round is because the game can always change and the best score at the end of play might not be the winner of all the rounds.

When game is done, all the scores are added up from each round and the person with the lowest score is the winner.