The History of Shut the Box is unknown but records of the game can be traced back to 19th Century France. The game did not appear in Engl&, however, until the mid 20th Century. Jaques were one of the first companies to market Shut the Box in the UK. The game itself is a dice game for one or more players. The object of the game is to cover all the numbers, or 'shut the box', according to throws of the dice.