Blokus Review

I was introduced to the world of modern board gaming by Travis. Every time we got together to game, I was left in awe by the amount of games I’d never heard of, but were so much fun to play! And then it finally happened – Travis pulled out a game I’d actually played before! Enter Blokus. Unbeknownst to me, I did have some experience with modern board games after all! It was one game, but still! So how does Blokus measure up? Keep reading to find out!

Blokus is a Tetris-like game of abstract strategy, hand management and tile placement. Players receive a set of colored tiles in various shapes, and take turns playing them to the board. Simple, right? The catch is that when you play a tile, it cannot be placed adjacent to your other pieces, but it must touch corners with at least one of your other pieces in play. Your tiles can be adjacent to those of your opponents, just not your own! (See picture below for reference) Play continues until no player can legally place anymore tiles. At the game’s end, if you successfully placed all of your tiles, you receive 15 points. For any tiles you were unable to place, count up the number of squares on each tile, and each square counts as a negative point. The player with the highest score is the winner!

I really like Blokus. For such a simple game, it actually requires a decent amount of strategy. As the game progresses, the available board space gets smaller – you’ve really got to be strategizing the best ways to place your own tiles while also trying to anticipate where your opponents might place theirs. There might even be a little “Take That” going on in your game if you can find ways to block your competitors while getting yourself ahead! I really like that there’s no single strategy for success – you’re always adapting to the board at any given time, so no two games will ever be the same.

Another thing I like about Blokus is that it is simple to learn, teach, and play. It can be played with pretty much all ages, which makes it a good pick for a fun family game. Blokus is a light game in terms of complexity, but that doesn’t negate the strategic implications. I think it’s a great balance of simplicity and strategy, and that makes it an enjoyable game to play every time.

If you’re looking for a family game, or even a nice little filler game, consider Blokus. It’s pretty simple, but in no way does that make it boring, in my opinion. It’s a game I’m always down to play, and one that I use to introduce people to the hobby. Purple Phoenix Games gives Blokus a poor-play-photo 17 / 24.