How to play DotDuel

Two players take turns colouring dots. Complete a line and you score its length. The rules take two minutes to learn; the tactics take a lot longer.

The goal

Score more points than your opponent. Points come from lines: rows and diagonals of dots on the board. When every dot on a line has been coloured, the line is complete and is worth one point per dot.

Your turn

On each turn you do exactly one thing:

Place a dot on any empty spot, or
Claim a waiting line (more on that below).

Then it's your opponent's turn. Turns always alternate, even after you score.

Completing a line

It doesn't matter who coloured the other dots on a line. Whoever places the last dot completes it and scores its full length. A line of 3 dots is worth 3 points, a line of 8 dots is worth 8.

Corner dots sit on a line of their own that is just one dot long, so the first player to colour a corner scores 1 point straight away.

Green places the last dot of a 3-dot row: +3, even though Cream coloured one of the dots.

The bottom corner is a 1-dot line: colouring it scores +1 at once.

The twist: only the longest line scores

One dot can finish two or three lines at the same time. When that happens, you score only the longest of them. The others don't disappear: they become waiting lines (also called unclaimed or pending lines).

Waiting lines belong to nobody yet. On any later turn, either player can spend their turn to claim one and score its full length. To claim a line, tap any coloured dot on it. If a dot sits on more than one waiting line, the longest one is claimed.

Green finishes a 3-dot row and a 2-dot diagonal with one dot. The row scores +3; the diagonal (dashed) is left waiting.

On the next turn Cream taps a dot on the waiting diagonal and claims it: +2 for Cream.

This rule is what makes DotDuel more than a race. A move that completes two lines also hands your opponent the chance to grab the second one, so sometimes the stronger move is the quieter one.

The end of the game

The game ends when every dot is coloured and every waiting line has been claimed. If the dots run out while lines are still waiting, the remaining turns are claims only: players take turns claiming lines until none are left. The player with more points wins; equal points is a draw.

Board shapes

Shape	Dots	Line directions	Total points
Triangle	36 (rows of 8 down to 1)	Rows and two diagonals	108
Square	49 (7 × 7)	Rows, columns and both diagonals	196
Rectangle	63 (7 × 9)	Rows, columns and both diagonals	252

Square and Rectangle have four line directions instead of three, so single moves complete several lines far more often, and the waiting-line pool gets much bigger.

Ways to play

Against bots: five levels, from Beginner to Impossible. Beat a level to unlock the next one; beat Easy or harder on a shape to unlock the next shape (Triangle, then Square, then Rectangle).
Hot-seat: two players on one phone or computer, every shape available from the start.
Online ranked: sign in with Google, get matched with a player of similar rating and play on a chess clock (Bullet 1 minute, Blitz 3 minutes or Rapid 5 minutes per player). Wins and losses move your Elo rating on the global leaderboard. Add friends and challenge them directly.
Daily puzzle: one shared board for everyone each day, already part-played. You get a 3-minute clock and up to three attempts, and your best score goes on the daily leaderboard.

Ready for the next step? Read the strategy guide.

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