Dots! is a simple (but fun) game that is very easy to learn. It was designed for two players but will easily scale up to four players.
Players take turns drawing a line either vertically or horizontally from one dot to another. Diagonal lines are not allowed. Your goal is to "capture" a square by drawing the last remaining line needed to close all four sides. Once you capture a square or a series of squares, you should mark them as being yours via your initials. Additionally, you'll want to limit the number of squares that your opponents can capture. This will require some strategy on your part, especially towards the end of a game when most of the dots have been connected and one wrong move can lead to your opponent capturing a dozen or more squares at a time.
Finally, make use of the special advantage and disadvantage squares that are marked on the game board. Capturing a square with a +10 next to it grants you an advantage and causes your score to increase by ten points instead of just one. That being said, look out for the -05 square that can set you back five points. Players will want to avoid these negative disadvantage squares while simultaneously working to ensure that the other players are forced into capturing them.
Once all of the squares on the board have been captured the game is considered over. It's now time to tally up how many squares have been captured by each player. Each captured square of worth one point. Squares marked +10 are worth ten points and squares marked -05 take away five points. The player who has the highest score is the winner.
Do you have a suggestion you want to share? Feel free to contact me (@pmullins) on Telegram. I love hearing how people play our games and all the different ways they modify them to better suit their individual play styles. There is no wrong way to play Dots!, just more creative ones. :-)