Looking for a board game that is fun for all ages, quick to learn and works on spatial reasoning and strategy skills?

Well, ok, maybe you are looking for just a few of those features. Look no further because Blokus has received raving reviews.

My son and I were looking for gift ideas on Amazon. We came across the Blokus Board Game both in the Best Sellers list as well as the Most Wished For list, but he quickly replied, “nah”, without even looking at the description. Just a week and a half later, he told me that he played Blokus at school and he really liked it. I had hoped he’d change his mind because I wanted to give it a try , so I was ready and willing to purchase.

Overall, I have to agree with the hundreds of 5 star reviews. It’s hard to find a game that is enjoyable for me while not being too difficult for the youngest. But this fits the bill. It’s quick – only about 20-30 minutes for a round – so I’m willing to take a break for some family time when my day is busy. No fighting over the rules either. Yes, I am often interrupting arguments over games that require I read the rules out loud again followed by whines of “that’s not fair” or “that doesn’t make sense” because it’s not to the child’s advantage.

On your turn you must lay one of your color tiles so that it touches one of your other tiles – but it must only touch on the corner. Simple. Here’s a quick video in case you’d like to see….

Pros and Cons of Blokus Classic Edition (there have been more variations released):

Pros…

• Quick and Easy to learn – makes for a good game to pull out when company is over since there is no learning curve
• Fun for Kids and Adults – yes, I’ve been beat by my 7 and 9 year olds
• Colorful – I feel this adds to the stimulation of the game
• Addictive – the game will get lots of play time rather than sitting on a shelf
• Flexible – the kids have also used it for alone time by creating designs and playing it in the manner of Tetris

Cons…

• Game is useless if pieces are lost (see note below)
• Really requires 4 players for good play even though it says 2 – 4 players (see note below)
• Sometimes kids get frustrated at being blocked or ‘ganged up on’ (though these types of frustrations happen with many games and is a learning point in itself)

The size of the board and number of pieces makes it so the outcome of play with 2 or 3 players is pretty predictable. Since many card games adjust the number of cards in play according to number of players, we do the same with Blokus and it seems to work out pretty well. Rather than having each player be responsible for more than one color as suggested by the game for 2 players, we limit the use of playing squares. If there are 3 players, we are not allowed to use the outermost square of spaces as shown below..

And when we have 2 players, we do not use the 2 outermost squares..

As for lost pieces, I’ve read claims that some have called the company and the pieces were sent free of charge. I have never tried this. You can go to Blokus.com for contact information. And while you are there, you can play the game online for free!