Family Game Night: Shut the Box

Recently Jeremy and I had a cookout with my parents. When they asked us if we wanted to play a board game I said, “Of course!” Jeremy was a little more nervous since he knows we are competitive to the point of bad sportsmanship.

My dad proudly set up Shut the Box on the kitchen table, telling us how he found it in a Facebook group about Key West events.

The rules: Simple. Roll dice and drop numbered pegs that sum the total of your dice roll. For example, you roll a 2 and a 4; you can drop 6, 5+1, or 4+2 so long as those pegs were still standing. You keep rolling and dropping until you no longer can. When no more pegs can be dropped, you add them together and that is your score and the lowest score wins.

If anyone drops all 10 pegs, they automatically win!

First game, my dad won. I was awful, scoring in the upper 30s, but my parents were having so much fun I hardly heard them tell me how my 7 year old niece was better than me. Hardly noticed :)

Second game, my mom won but dad gave her a run for her money.

Third game, Jeremy shut it down by dropping all his pegs. What a show off! I learned that my super competitive family does not mind losing if someone shuts the box because it is really exciting.

Fourth game my dad won. My scores remained in the garbage can. There were lots of jokes about how the Board Game Queen needed to give up her throne…

… until I shut down Game 5 by shutting the box…

… and Game 6, …

… and Game 7!

I was excited but not nearly as excited as my dad! He was acting like I just told him I had a full ride to Yale or something. It was awesome!

Eighth and final game went to my mom. At this point we were all tired and it was time to call it a night.

Final opinion on Shut the Box: This is a fun and fast game for families and friends alike. My parents are 70, play with an 8 and 10 year old and have the largest of times. We could play this ourselves or with our friends. it is a universal game! Setup and breakdown happens in seconds. For $20 on Amazon, you get many hours of fun!