Blokus

Customer Reviews

A fun puzzle game Review by KR

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I grew up playing Tetris so when I saw this game it instantly reminded me of my Tetris playing days. The components are nice (I'm a sucker for clear coloured plastic)

The only issue I have with the game is that I only really enjoy playing when you're playing a 4 player game. I find games with 2 or 3 players are missing some of the chaotic fun. (Posted on 4/4/12)

Good intro to a logic puzzle Review by Charles

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Thus far, all our friends who we've shown this to, absolutely love it. My one recommendation would be that although you *can* play this as a 2-player, you should really play it with four ppl. In 2-player mode, you end up controlling two colours, meaning that the game plays out differently, and often you sacrifice one of your colours for the other. In my opinion, it's not as competitive or enjoyable with two ppl. (Posted on 2/10/11)

Short and Sweet Review by Lane

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This is probably one of the shortest reviews that I have ever written, but this just a great fun game.

The rules are so incredibly simple and the board ends up being so random and fun.

I have yet find an age group that doesn't understand or love this game.

You owe it to yourself to play this game. It is just a nice great short game

Have I mentioned that yet? :) (Posted on 9/21/10)

good game, but too big for 2 players Review by mrqwerty

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As the description says, you place different shaped pieces onto the board, and when no one can place any more pieces, whoever placed more wins. Very simple rules makes this game very easy to pick up whether you are 5 years old or 50 years old.

This game is excellent for 4 players, the board becomes very colourful as plays continues. the board and pieces are high quality. The downtime between turns are neglegable, as there isn't much to think about.

The problem is the 2 player aspect, you are essentially playing 4 players but you control 2 players. The start of a 2 player game takes a while as there are tons of space to fill out before there is much conflict. But the solution to this problem is to just mark off the board for a smaller grid and play only 1 colour each. The game becomes "travel blokus." This will create a much faster game, and tensions rise fairly quickly.

(Posted on 2/26/10)

Beautful in its Simplicity and Complexity Review by Wasgo

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Blokus is one of the best games ever for family games. While not as recognizable as Scrabble, or Monopoly, it evokes all the same emotions and reactions while playing. Easily the easiest to play board game since checkers, Blokus offers a depth of strategy normally not achievable on family game nights. Not to mention it has some of the best looking components of any abstract game.

Blokus represents an interesting value proposition. It has simple rules, simple pieces and a simple board. But for the money, you couldn't find a better game to play with your family, and that makes Blokus worth it every single time. (Posted on 12/21/09)

Blokus is an abstract tile-laying game that makes everyone think of Tetris at first sight. And yes, this award winning board game does have superficial resemblance to the popular classic computer game. Blokus however is a 4 player, interactive game of Review by TR

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Blokus is an abstract tile-laying game that makes everyone think of Tetris at first sight. And yes, this award winning board game does have superficial resemblance to the popular classic computer game. Blokus however is a 4 player, interactive game of tile-laying that seems to be a sure-fire hit including with women. This is a definite must-have for any board game collection due to its simplicity of rules, strategic depth and quick gameplay.

Appearance: Blokus comes with a rectangular plastic board and pieces for 4 players. Each vividly coloured set of pieces contains the same number and configuration as any other set. There is no real art-work to discuss, though the rulebook is well laid out and easy to understand. Quality of the board itself seems a bit low, with our board feeling quite light and flimsy, even if it was plastic. On the other hand, unless you’re sitting on the game board, it is unlikely to break. The plastic insert provided is adequate, though with the usage of some basic ziplock bags, rendered unnecessary.

Rules / Ease of Learning: It is extremely easy to learn Blokus - the goal of the game is to place as many of your pieces on the board as possible. However, each piece must be connected to another by the corners only (I.e. only on diagonals and no piece may be directly touching one another). This however only holds true for your own pieces, so it is quite possible to block another player’s pieces with your own. In fact, it’s required. The only other rule on movement is that the first piece placed by a player must cover the corner of the board.

Scoring is very simple - players get 15 points if they finish placing all their pieces and a bonus 5 points if they place the single space piece last. Unfinished pieces count as negative points, with each ‘square’ of an unfinished piece subtracting one point.

The only other thing to note is that the game play changes depending on the number of players involved. In a two player game of Blokus, each player controls two colours. In a three player game, each player contrls one colour and all take turns controlling the fourth colour (which is not scored).

Gameplay: Gameplay is where Blokus shines since the ‘ease’ of placement can be deceptively simple in the beginning. However, it does not take long for one to realise that there is a lot of deeper strategy - the girlfriend point out that it is very much like Go in that sense.

The first few games quickly devolved into a battle for the most space, with each player trying to garner the most amount of white space on the board while blocking their opponent from doing the same. In addition, careful placement of the pieces was required to ensure that the opponent could not ‘break out’ from a blocking attempt. This normally occurred when an opponents corner was flush against two of your pieces, thus giving him access to the ‘inside’ of your space. As more games were played, the realisation that previously ‘useless’ or annoying pieces were actually quite good in specific situations and that even more long-term planning was required than we had considered.

Blokus’s strategy also changes when more players are added - from an original two player game that I dominated, I started to lose badly when a 3rd player was added. With one player attempting to block me and a second player ignoring any attempts to control space, and a fourth colour that was changing hands all the time, I ended up hemmed in quickly. And obviously, a four player game saw a completely different change in strategy.

Actual play time ranged from about 20-30 minutes for 2 player games to slightly over three-quarters of an hour for 4 player games. This obviously varied somewhat with the players you play with - its very much like chess in that some players have a tendency to play at speed and others take their time to consider each move. In fact, speed Blokus might be an amusing challenge.

One last note - Blokus is a big favourite of the girlfriend (she actually asks to play it!) and it has been a hit with most ladies I’ve introduced it to. Not certain obviously why but it might have to do with the colourful and more abstract gameplay that isn’t directly combative.

Conclusion: Blokus is a definite must for ay collection, especially if you’re a couple. It’s simple enough to teach and learn to introduce to even non-gamers while having enough in-depth strategy to make it interesting for gamers to replay. With its ability to scale up to 4 players, it’s also more reliable introductory 2 player game than other great abstracts (e.g. the GIPF series). I would definitely recommend this as a buy for any collection. (Posted on 1/30/09)

A good game that should get more play than it does Review by Jasmine

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I suppose abstract games aren't as appealing as games with themes as Blokus has been sitting on my shelf, unplayed, for awhile now. Still, I think it is a great game and I am still very happy with my purchase.

The first time I saw Blokus was years ago as a demo game outside a children's toy store. I didn't get a chance to play or learn the rules for the game until a friend introduced me to the game much later on.

Blokus is great with 4 people, not so much with only 2. It seems that, in two player games, the player that moves first gets an advantage. I have tried to eliminate the issue by using a Mr. Jack type turn style where player A and player B would alternate round taking double turns: ABBA, BAAB, etc. That seemed to reduce the problem a little bit.

For a family of four or for people that gather to play quite often, Blokus is a good buy and I would definitely recommend it. (Posted on 12/17/08)

A nice abstract game, but somewhat limited Review by Murray

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The first time I played Blokus was at an intellect's party. The game made a big splash there as the people there didn't play many board games and were interested in "figuring" the game out. This game is great for people new to board games, but without a theme, is a bit plain for most board game fans.

The objective of the game is to place your pieces so that only the corners of your pieces touch. Play goes around the table as each player places one piece at a time. The game is over when no one can make a legal move and the players count their remaining pieces. Some pieces are made of 5 squares, others 4, 3, etc. The player with the fewest remaining squares wins.

An interesting quality of Blokus is that the game is either 2 players or 4 players. There isn't an easy way to play this game with 3 players. For that reason alone, I might suggest Ingenious over this game, as it is a game with very similar properties but is easily adaptable to 2-4 players.

The quality of Blokus components is very good. The board is solid plastic, meaning that you won't be able to fold it, but the grooves on the board makes gameplay much more easier and tidier. The plastic pieces are strong, though you may lose some of the smaller pieces if you are not careful. The game is packaged in a way that makes it difficult to store vertically. Personally, I placed all my pieces into four ziploc bags so that the colours won't mix.

Overall, the game is pretty fun with friends and family alike. It is very easy to pick up and learn and the strategy is at about a mid-range, experienced players will only have an advantage over new players for a few rounds. In a party with rotating, fresh players, the game has a lot of replay. If you think you'll only be playing two-players mostly, however, I would recommend Travel Blokus as the modified rules for that game makes two-players much better. (Posted on 12/9/08)