How to Play Connections

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Connections is a pen-and-paper strategy game for two to six players in which everyone shares a single drawn grid of nodes. Players take turns claiming edges between neighbouring points, racing to form unbroken chains across the board while blocking their opponents from doing the same. All you need is paper, a pen or pencil per player, and a few minutes to draw the starting grid.

The game earns its place at kitchen tables and on long journeys because the rules take under two minutes to learn yet the tactical depth grows quickly. A single misplaced line can hand the board to a rival, which keeps every turn genuinely tense. It travels in a pocket and needs no special equipment, making it a reliable option for families, school lunch breaks, or any situation where a screen is not welcome.

A little history

The origins of Connections as a pen-and-paper network game are unclear, and no single inventor or publication date is widely documented. Grid-connection games of this type belong to a broader family of topological strategy games that grew in popularity through the mid-twentieth century, when recreational mathematics and puzzle culture were widely published in general-interest magazines and books. The core mechanic, claiming edges on a shared graph to form chains, appears independently in several countries under different names, and no authoritative source attributes a definitive first version.

Setting up

1. Agree on a grid size. A 5x5 array of nodes (25 dots arranged in five rows and five columns) is standard for two players. Use a larger grid, such as 6x6 or 7x7, for more players or a longer game.
2. One player draws the grid of dots on a shared sheet of paper, spacing the nodes evenly so lines between them are easy to draw and read.
3. Each player chooses a colour of pen or pencil, or agrees on a symbol (such as initials) to mark claimed edges.
4. Decide the turn order. The youngest player goes first, or cut for it by any agreed method.
5. Place the paper where all players can reach it comfortably and see the whole grid.

How to play

1. On your turn, draw one straight line connecting any two nodes that are directly adjacent horizontally or vertically. Diagonal connections are not permitted unless all players agree to allow them before the game begins.
2. A line may only be drawn where no line already exists. You may not overwrite or share an edge claimed by another player.
3. You score a point each time you complete a closed triangle or a closed square using your own lines, depending on the scoring variant in use. In the simpler chain variant, you score instead for each unbroken sequence of your own connected edges.
4. If on your turn you complete a scoring shape or extend a scoring chain, you immediately take an additional bonus turn. You keep taking bonus turns for as long as each new line completes a scoring unit.
5. Play continues clockwise until every possible edge on the grid has been claimed.
6. When the grid is full, each player counts their score according to the agreed scoring method, and the highest score wins.

Winning and scoring

In the triangle or square scoring variant, each closed shape formed entirely by one player's lines scores one point. Shapes shared between players score nothing. In the chain-length variant, players score one point for each edge that forms part of their longest unbroken connected path at the end of the game; all other chains are ignored. Agree which scoring method you are using before play begins. In the event of a tie, the tied players share the win, or play a sudden-death tiebreaker round on a fresh small grid of nine nodes.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns bonus turns: a player draws a line that simultaneously completes two separate scoring shapes. The standard ruling is that both shapes score and the player still takes only one bonus turn, not one per shape completed. Similarly, if a bonus-turn line also completes a shape, another bonus turn is awarded, and this can chain several times in succession. Opponents must wait without playing until the active player fails to complete a shape.

A second frequent argument involves shared edges: can a line belong to scoring shapes for two different players? The answer under standard rules is no. An edge belongs to whoever drew it. Only shapes whose every edge was drawn by the same player count toward that player's score. If players disagree about who drew a particular edge mid-game, the convention is to mark initials or use distinct colours from the outset to prevent ambiguity entirely.

How to win more often

• Count available edges before committing. A move that looks safe can suddenly open a long chain of bonus turns for an opponent if it leaves the right cluster half-finished.
• Prioritise the centre of the grid early. Central nodes connect to more neighbours, giving you more options and forcing opponents to react to you rather than the reverse.
• Sacrifice a small shape to bait a larger return. Letting an opponent close one triangle can redirect their attention while you build an unbroken chain across a larger region.
• Keep track of which clusters are nearly complete. A cluster with only one free edge will give someone a bonus turn the moment it is taken; decide whether that someone should be you.
• In multiplayer games, avoid being the player who breaks open a large untouched region. The player who draws the first line into a fresh cluster rarely scores the most from it.

Variations

Squares Only

Players score only for completed squares, not triangles or any other shape. Each closed 1x1 square formed entirely by one player's lines scores one point. This variant rewards methodical grid coverage and reduces the influence of diagonal thinking, making it slightly more accessible for younger players.

Diagonal Connections

All four diagonal adjacencies are permitted in addition to horizontal and vertical ones. Each node can connect to up to eight neighbours. The denser graph produces faster games with more frequent bonus-turn chains, and it rewards players who can visualise longer paths quickly. Mark the allowed directions clearly before starting to avoid mid-game argument.

Team Connections

With four or six players, split into two teams of equal size. Partners sit alternately around the table and share a combined score. Teammates may not speak or signal during another player's turn, so coordination relies entirely on reading the board. First team to a target score, such as 20 points on a 7x7 grid, wins the match.

Blind Auction Start

Before the main game, each player secretly writes down how many opening moves they are willing to let an opponent take in exchange for going last. The player who bids highest gives that many free lines to the player who will go first, then play proceeds normally. This compensates for any first-mover advantage and adds a negotiation element suitable for players who already know the game well.

Connections: frequently asked questions