What is Twelve tiles?
The twelve-tile game is played exactly like the standard one, but the box holds tiles numbered 1 to 12 instead of 1 to 9. On your turn you roll two dice and shut any open tiles that add up to the total, and you keep rolling until no open tiles match the roll. Your score is what the open tiles add up to, and the lowest score wins.
The three extra tiles change the game. Two dice total 12 at most, so the 12 closes only on a double six or together with smaller tiles that make up the roll: the 11 on a roll of 11, or with the 1 on a 12, and the 10 on a 10, or with the 1 or the 2. Those totals are rare, so the high tiles often stay up, and leaving them costs a lot: all twelve tiles add up to 78. You switch to one die only once every tile from 7 to 12 is shut, which takes longer than on the classic box.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Shut the Box | Twelve tiles |
|---|---|---|
| Tiles | Standard Shut the BoxNine tiles, 1 to 9. | Twelve tilesTwelve tiles, 1 to 12. |
| Worst score | Standard Shut the Box45, when no tile is shut. | Twelve tiles78, when no tile is shut. |
| Closing the high tiles | Standard Shut the BoxThe 9 closes on a 9, or with smaller tiles on a 10, 11 or 12. | Twelve tilesThe 10 closes on a 10, 11 or 12, the 11 on an 11 or 12 and the 12 only on a 12, which two dice roll once in 36 throws. |
| One die | Standard Shut the BoxOnce 7, 8 and 9 are all shut. | Twelve tilesOnce every tile from 7 to 12 is shut. |
| Other options | Standard Shut the BoxThe one-die choice and shut to win can be switched on. | Twelve tilesThe same options work on the twelve-tile box. |
History
Shut the Box is best known as a pub game with nine tiles, but boxes with ten or twelve tiles are recognised variations of it. Family versions, for example, add tiles 10, 11 and 12; the extra tiles let a big roll shut a big tile outright and give children more practice adding up numbers. Lists of Shut the Box variants call the game with twelve numbers up Full House.
The usual one-die rule names the tiles 7, 8 and 9 of the classic box. On the twelve-tile box this site applies it to every tile from 7 up.