Blokus: A Family Game
Blokus was our choice for family game night this past weekend. It's a game I wanted for a long time and finally "Santa" brought it for the kids last Christmas. It totally lived up to the hype and since it also earned a Mensa select award I feel super smart when playing it, although it might not bode well for my ego that my 8 year old usually beats me.
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How to Play:
The rules of Blokus are deceptively simple. Players take turns placing polyomino tiles on the game board in an effort to place as many pieces as possible before running out of space. Pieces of the same color must touch another piece already on the board, but only at the corners.
Game Skills:
Blokus gives the players a workout in the following:
- Spatial thinking.
- Visual perception.
- Strategic thinking. You really need to think ahead and consider possible moves by other players. It takes skill, not luck to win the game
Tips for playing with younger kids:
Honestly, I don't think Blokus is the best choice if you have kids younger than 5 at the table. (It's recommended for ages 5 and up.) New Kid is a few months shy of 5. He sat next to me and we played a relatively peaceful game, but not without a lot of effort on my part to keep him focused.
- Play in teams!
- Ask your young teammate to find "a piece with a lot of squares" or "a piece with one square" and so forth. This strategy worked well to keep New Kid in the game.
- The game pieces are easily knocked out of place by roaming fingers. Give your younger one something to hold so he doesn't keep reaching across the board.
- If there is an extra set of pieces not being used (i.e. 3 or fewer players) let him play with the extra set.
- Since New Kid had zero chance of playing competitively on his own, I did make moves with my own tiles which gave him an advantage. I don't help my 8 year old to win (I don't need to!), but a 4 year old needs a fighting chance.
Have you played Blokus? What do you think? Do your kids like it?
Have you seen our other games of the month? If you like Blokus you may also like Qwirkle or Roads, Rivers and Rails. Or visit our comprehensive games gift guide for more ideas.
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Natalie F says
We have Blokus Duo, and it's certainly on our list of favorites. I agree with you that 5 is a minimum age, even for advanced learners.
writersideup says
This is right up my alley 🙂 Pretty colors! Tiles! Patterns 🙂 I'd love to play it, but have a feeling my boyfriend won't go for it. He's the one I typically play board games with now, though...in several years the grandchildren will start coming along!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I hope you like it!
Cherie Muller says
This is a great game!! I've run an out of school hours care program for 10 years and this one really does have lasting value. The younger ones, actually, all the children enjoy making patterns with the pieces if not playing competitively and certain staff even hung around after hours to have a game. We like to increase the difficulty by playing 2 each colours if there was only 2 playing. Absolutely adore the game!!!