How To Beat Your Friends In Dots (2024)

How To Beat Your Friends In Dots (1)

How To Beat Your Friends In Dots (2)

Now that I have achieved a score of 700+ on Dots, I feel compelled to share some pro tips so everyone can get better at Dots.

If you're not aware, Dots is the incredibly addicting iPhone game from Betaworks that is one of the most popular free apps since launching in May.

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It's also ridiculously simple. You connect dots. That's it. As I told Brian Ries of Daily Beast/Newsweek, a lot of life is about connecting dots anyway, so that's one reason I think it's a popular game.

As you connect dots, a new wave of dots slides down the screen. They're multi-colored and you connect dots with like colors.

As Quartz's Zach Seward points out in this excellent Dots strategy guide, the key to the game is making squares. And that's correct. Don't stress about rectangles, or even straight lines. Do whatever it takes to create squares. There are many ways to make squares. Seward talks about all of them here so I'm not going to be repetitive.

Now, for the real power users, here are some pro tips to beat your friends. And why am I sharing these tips you might ask? Well, first, Seward himself encouraged me to do such a post. But also, Dots is just way more fun when your friends are competitive with you. There's a desire to beat them. I actually want my friends to beat my high score and keep the competition going.

(1) Relax. Play when you're relaxed. I mean 100 percent relaxed. Betaworks' Patrick Moberg said the game was created for a "Zen-like" experience. But it's easy to get frustrated or stressed. Don't. It's just a game. And also, you'll do better when you're relaxed.

(2) Focus. Don't have distractions around you. Don't be thinking about anything but the dots before you. Focus 100 percent and you'll do better. Probably seems like common sense, but it's so important.

(3) Anticipate. This is huge. I wasn't very good at this when I first started playing Dots, but a huge skill to be successful in the game is anticipation. Know where the Dots will fall next before they even fall. Eye the board in a way you know that if you make a square here, these other dots will make a square too, and do them in quick succession. Similarly, if you get rid of this dot, these dots line up just right and so do those over there.

(4) Strategize. Be strategic in every move. Don't waste power-ups. You can accomplish way more without the power-ups than you think. In fact, my best games only use 15-20 power-ups tops. That includes the extra 5 second power up, which you must use for a really great high score. That said, when you see no square opportunities, you must use power-ups or start a new game. Otherwise you'll just waste your time.

(5) See. You have to really see the board at all times. And this includes peripheral vision. It's not easy to see the whole board at once. I usually focus on the bottom of the board as I play Dots. But I must be able to see opportunities at the top too. While I focus on the bottom, my peripheral vision eyes opportunities up above. Then I might focus on above for a bit, and watch for opportunities below at the corner of my eye. This may sound crazy but it's important.

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(6) Act. You can't hesitate in Dots. Not if you want a high score. Just keep going. Tell yourself, keep going. Stay positive. Opportunities will present themselves. In fact, sometimes a board looks hopeless until you land a single square that opens up two or three square opportunities simultaneously. If there's a single square, there's going to be others.

(7) Hustle. And this goes without saying, but speed is so important in Dots. To get a 700, or even a 600, in Dots, I can tell you, you must have a nearly flawless game with square, after square, after square. And you have to do it quickly. The highest score ever is 800 so 600 or 700 is quite good. Even 500 is a huge milestone. Huge. If you're in the 400 range or lower, don't worry. You can improve the score. But speed will be part of it.

BONUS: One of the best things about Dots is if you're having a terrible game, don't waste your life, quit it midway and start another one. Any dots you managed during that game still count toward power-ups, so all is not lost.

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Hope these help! Happy dotting.

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Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Support HuffPost

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How To Beat Your Friends In Dots (2024)

FAQs

How to beat someone in Dots and Boxes? ›

If your opponent is forced to play in one of these chains, then you can take all but two of the boxes and, by sacrificing the last two boxes, make certain that it is his turn to play into the next long chain. You will thus win all but two boxes in each long chain, and of course you will win all boxes in the last chain.

Is there a strategy in Dots? ›

Make squares

There is no other Dots strategy. Drawing a square of like-colored dots eliminates all dots of that color from the board. It's the fastest way to rack up points and the only way to get your score into the stratosphere.

What is the trick to the Two Dots? ›

Make squares

This is the most basic strategy in Two Dots. When you connect a square of dots, it clears out all of that color from the board.

How to beat the dot game? ›

If your opponent plays within a loop, leave four boxes and play so that there is a space between two boxes on either side of your last line. By sacrificing the last 2 boxes of a chain or the last 4 boxes of a loop, you are guaranteed to obtain every single chain in the game.

Are dots and boxes solved? ›

In addition to outperforming the state-of-the-art solver on several benchmark problems, we have solved the game on a board of 4×5 boxes. This is the largest game solved to date, and is a tie given optimal play by both opponents.

How do you win beat the box? ›

In order for the entire group to win the game, they must enter their code into the electronic combination lock before the countdown is over. There are four intriguing cases in each aluminium box which are protected by strong combination locks. These contain codes and mysteries that teams must solve to progress.

What are the 5 strategies of DOTS? ›

It has been described by WHO as "the most important public health breakthrough of the decade in terms of lives saved" The 5 major components of DOTS are i) Political will, ii) High-quality microscopy, iii) Uninterrupted supply of short-course chemotherapy drugs, iv) Directly--observed chemotherapy regimen use, v) ...

How to score high on DOTS? ›

Know where the Dots will fall next before they even fall. Eye the board in a way you know that if you make a square here, these other dots will make a square too, and do them in quick succession. Similarly, if you get rid of this dot, these dots line up just right and so do those over there.

What is the method of DOTS? ›

For most cases, the “method of dots” will get you where you need to go to determine priorities for a chiral centre. The one key thing from this post to remember is the concept of “phantom atoms” for determining priorities in alkenes and other multiple bonds.

How to get infinite lives on two dots? ›

If you're out of lives, go into your phone's settings and manually move the time forward, then go back to the game and, regenerated! But it gets better. I set my date forward a couple of months and started playing, and picked up 1h infinite lives.

How to get gold in two dots without paying? ›

No way to earn gold without paying for it. No way to get through the levels without using all the boosters and paying for extra moves.

What are the keys for in dots? ›

Golden Keys are collectibles that you can receive through Daily Mystery Prizes and events. They can be exchanged in the market for awesome items such as Lives and Booster Boxes!

Is there a strategy to Dots-And-Boxes? ›

The secret is to decline the last two squares of every long chain of three or more squares. You will then win all but two of every chain, plus the whole of the last chain. This is just one example showing that Dots and Boxes is a much deeper game than many players realise.

What is the gold mine in Two Dots? ›

Purchase the Gold Mine for great discounts on Gold. Every time you beat a level, more Gold is added to your Gold Mine. The deal keeps getting better until the mine is full!

How to beat fire in Two Dots? ›

Fire can be destroyed by matching dots next to it; by catching it in an explosion, gem blast, or cloud zap; or if a monster randomly eats it. An eraser will also destroy a fire dot. If you don't make a match next to it, it replicates itself, destroying a dot (or anchor, or lotus, or wild, or ball) attached to it.

What are the rules for dots and boxes? ›

Each player choses a different colour of pen. Players then take turns to connect two adjacent dots with a line, either vertically or horizontally (NOT diagonally). If a player draws the fourth side of a box, they 'capture' that box and write their initials inside. If a player captures a box, they get another turn.

How do you beat fire in two dots? ›

Fire can be destroyed by matching dots next to it; by catching it in an explosion, gem blast, or cloud zap; or if a monster randomly eats it. An eraser will also destroy a fire dot. If you don't make a match next to it, it replicates itself, destroying a dot (or anchor, or lotus, or wild, or ball) attached to it.

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