Conquer · Rules guide
Conquer (Kepung Titik) rules: how to play
Place dots on squared paper, close an unbroken ring around your rival's dots, and the territory is yours — plus dead dots, empty rings and the rescue that turns games around.
The short answer
- Players take turns placing one dot on any empty intersection of squared paper.
- Dots connect in all eight directions, including diagonals.
- Closing an unbroken ring around one or more enemy dots captures them and seals the territory.
- Captured dots are dead: they cannot form rings, and nobody may play inside sealed territory.
- Enclosing your own captured dots brings them back to life — the main comeback mechanism.
The rules
Conquer — Kepung Titik, "surround the dots" — is played on squared paper. Players take turns placing one dot of their colour on any empty intersection. Close an unbroken ring of your dots around one or more enemy dots and you capture them, along with the territory inside.
- Red moves first, then turns alternate.
- Dots connect in eight directions — horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
- A ring must contain at least one enemy dot to be worth anything.
- The edge of the paper cannot be used as part of a ring — you must close it yourself.
Capturing, dead dots and empty rings
What a ring does
When your ring closes, every enemy dot inside is captured. The loop is drawn in, and the enclosed area becomes your territory: nobody may play inside it for the rest of the game.
Dead dots stay dead
Captured dots cannot take part in anything afterwards. They cannot form part of a ring, and they do not defend the territory they sit in.
Empty rings
A ring that encloses no enemy dot captures nothing and is not drawn in. But it is not useless: if your opponent later drops a dot into that empty pocket, it is caught immediately, because the ring around it already exists.
Rescuing your own dots
If you close a ring around territory that contains your own captured dots, they come back to life. This is the main comeback mechanism in the game, and it is why a large captured area is never entirely safe.
Ending the game and scoring
The game ends when the paper is full, or when both players agree to stop — on this site, by pressing End game.
There are two standard ways to score:
| Method | What counts |
|---|---|
| Dots | One point per captured enemy dot. Simple, and the traditional method. |
| Territory | One point per enclosed point, whether or not it held a dot. Rewards large captures. |
Decide which method you are using before you start — they reward completely different play. Dot scoring encourages small, efficient captures; territory scoring encourages big enclosing walls.
The same game under other names
This game is played all over the world on exercise-book paper, under many names and with small rule differences:
| Name | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kepung Titik / Conquer | Malaysia, Indonesia | The name means "surround the dots". |
| Точки (Tochki) | Russia and post-Soviet countries | Played on squared copybook paper; the largest competitive scene. |
| Kropki | Poland | Same game, with online tournaments. |
| Židi | Czech Republic | Same family. |
| Dots | English-language usage | Not to be confused with Dots and Boxes, which is a different game entirely. |
The main rule variation is how the edge is treated. Some versions use a grounding rule, where groups touching the border cannot be captured at all; the version here simply forbids using the edge as part of a ring, which has a similar effect and is easier to apply.
Common questions
Is this the same as Dots and Boxes?
No. Dots and Boxes is about drawing lines to complete squares. This game is about placing dots and surrounding your opponent's — it is much closer to Go.
Do diagonals count?
Yes. Dots connect to all eight neighbours, so a ring may run diagonally. This is the main difference from Go, where only orthogonal connections count.
What happens to captured dots?
They are dead. They cannot form part of any ring, they do not defend anything, and the area they sit in is sealed so nobody may play there.
Can I get my captured dots back?
Yes — if you later enclose a territory that contains them, they come back to life. Large captured areas are therefore never completely safe.
Can I use the edge of the paper as part of a ring?
Not in this version. You must close the ring with your own dots, which means the border offers much less shelter than it does in Go.
What is this game called elsewhere?
Точки in Russian, Kropki in Polish, Židi in Czech, and simply Dots in English. Kepung Titik is the Malay name, meaning "surround the dots".
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