A little bit Tetris, a little bit Dominoes, Blokus is an instant-hit and a definite-classic!
Written: Dec 28 '06 (Updated Jan 10 '07)
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Pros: Simple and easy-to-teach rules, addictive game mechanics, educational for the kids.
Cons: Only plays best with 4 players, can lose pieces easily which makes the game unplayable.
The Bottom Line: This is one game everyone should have in their collection, it's that good. Simple to learn and incredibly addictive, Blokus is a winner.
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| openroad's Full Review: Blokus |
Publisher: Educational Insights
Players: 2, 3, or 4
Time: 15-30 minutes
Ages: 5 – Adult
Ease of play: Very easy
MSRP: $35-$40
I’m a sucker for new board games, it doesn’t have to fit into any specific genre for me to sit down and give it a shot. More often than not I’m that guy bringing over another new game to my friends house every time I visit. Usually I hear; “Come on Abraham, we just learned the last game and now we have to play another new one?” Maybe it has something to do with me always being the winner since I know my games already, but I like to think not. Anyway, I recently had the experience reversed on my when a friend introduced me to Blokus at a pre-Christmas party. I’d heard of this game before but it never sounded worth purchasing since it seemed like a “family game” intended primarily to educate the kids about shapes and spatial relationships. Boy was I ever wrong… read on to see why I’ve become a Blokus addict in only one weekend.
----- Awards and all that good stuff -----
Apart from the award of Top-10 selling game at many online game sites several years in a row, Blokus was a Spiel Des Jahres nominee for 2002, the German equivalent of Game of the Year award. Quoting the explanation from Funagain.com; "The German Spiel des Jahres is perhaps the world's most prestigious game award. Founded in 1978 by a group of German game critics to promote awareness and to increase the cultural value of games, the award recognizes outstanding games based on originality, playability, and educational value of the game idea; organization, clarity and understandability of rules; packing and layout of the gameboard and the game rules; and functionality and overall quality of the game materials included."
Other awards include:
• MENSA Select winner
• ASTRA 2003 Good Toy Award
• Dr. Toy 2003 100 Best
• Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2004 Platinum Award
• 2004 Teacher's Choice Award
• 2003 Parent's Choice Gold Award
----- Playing Blokus for the beginner -----
If you’ve ever seen or played the classic puzzle video game Tetris you’ll instantly recognize many of the pieces in Blokus. Each player starts with the same number of pieces (21) in front of them, the only goal is to get rid of all (or as many as they can) of their pieces before they can’t play any more. Once the game is over you are penalized for each individual segment (not piece, segment) you have left in front of you. Each oddly shaped piece is made up of several square segments, just like in Tetris. The piece distribution for each player is as follows: 13 pieces are formed with 5 segments, 4 pieces with 4 segments, 2 pieces of 3, 1 piece of 2, and 1 piece with 1 segment. This is important as your strategy should be to get your largest and weirdest shaped pieces on the board as soon as you can or you’ll be stuck with them near the end of the game. After you’ve played your piece your turn is over and play passes clockwise to the next person. You may only play one piece per turn.
RULE #1: There are several rules about placing your pieces (big surprise, right?), the biggest rule is you can never touch any flat side of your pieces to another flat side. Every intersection must be at a corner of another piece you’ve already played. This means you can’t just slap pieces willy-nilly all over the board, instead you need to build a path in whatever direction you want to expand. You may touch as many corners as you want on any given turn as long as you don’t make contact along the flat sides.
RULE #2: This rule involves interaction between your pieces and other player’s pieces on the board. You may touch any and all full sides of your pieces to any side of any other player’s pieces as long as you follow the first rule. This makes it possible for you to fill in gaps in other players lines that a unplayable to them because of rule #1.
RULE #3: There is no third rule, isn’t that simple? This has to be one of the easiest games to teach I’ve ever seen. If it takes anyone more than 5 minutes to understand this game I… well I’d have to say they are… anyway, it’s an easy game to learn. : )
----- It sounds easy, does it get boring? -----
While the rules are simple and the game is very straightforward, there are quite a few different strategies you can employ. Do you try to play defensively and create a “safe zone” using a wall of your own pieces or will you play offensively and attack the other players by inserting your pieces into their patterns. I must say this game rewards creative thinking and a player that doesn’t mind shafting an opponent when necessary. I’ve played this game with family and with my very aggressive board game friends which make it seem like two totally different games.
After one or two games everyone will have a few basic strategies and the games should take around 15-20 minutes each. That’s the beauty of Blokus, you don’t need to schedule a whole evening to play. Just pull it out after evening coffee and play with your friends when they come over. Kids also love this game, not only do they get a chance to beat their parents but the translucent colored tiles are pretty sweet looking. Even kids as young as 6-8 will probably pick up the nuances of the game faster than you’d imagine. This isn’t just a fun game for the kids, it’s also a great way to stimulate their minds and promote creative thinking and problem solving.
This game really shines as a four player contest, it's meant to be played by four different people and it shows. Since the board never changes you need all four colors every game or the balance of the pieces verses empty spaces would change. For a three player game each player takes a turn playing the fourth dummy player. In a two player game each human takes two colors and plays them alternately. These are both still fun variations but the true challenge lies in beating three other devious minds.
I’ve already given two copies of Blokus away as it’s a great game for the whole family. Since you’ll never find it (or many other great limited market games) in your local Walmart or Toys R Us, I recommend looking at card and comic shops or novelty gaming shops. If you’re in a small town without access to these stores check out Funagain games website, they have a great price on the game and it’s usually always in stock.
Other game reviews that might interest you:
Family Games
•Bohnanza Card Game
•Monopoly: Here & Now Edition
•Moods: The Board Game
•Hare & Tortoise
•Candamir: The First Settlers
•Scotland Yard
•Evo: The Last Gasp of the Dinosaurs
•Bang! Card Game
Strategy Games
•Axis & Allies: Miniatures Starter Set
•Axis & Allies: Miniatures Base Set Booster Pack
•Axis & Allies: Miniatures Set II Booster Pack
•Axis & Allies: Miniatures Contested Skies Booster Pack
•Axis & Allies Pacific
•Axis & Allies Europe
•Axis & Allies Classic
•Axis & Allies Revised Edition
•History of the World
•The American Civil War Board Game
•Settlers of Catan
•Settlers of Catan: The Card Game
•Cities and Knights of Catan
Note: If you want quick service, great selection, and fair pricing for online board game shopping, stop by Funagain.com Online Store and check out their website.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!
© Openroad 2006
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
Type of Toy: Board Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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