Blokus: A Strategy Game for Everyone
Objective of the Game: Each player aims to place as many of their own pieces on the board as possible. A player's pieces must always touch each other by corners and cannot share a side.
Setup
- Game Board: A square grid of 20x20 squares.
- Playing Pieces: Each player gets 21 pieces of one color (Blue, Yellow, Red, or Green), consisting of one to five squares in different shapes.
Gameplay
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Starting the Game: The first player places a piece in one of the corners of the board. The starting player is chosen randomly (e.g., by rolling dice or drawing lots).
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Turn Order: The game progresses clockwise.
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Placing Pieces: Each player, in turn, places one of their pieces on the board, observing the following rules:
- Each new piece must touch at least one corner of a piece of the same color that is already on the board.
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Pieces of different colors may touch sides or corners.
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Ending the Game: The game ends when no player can place any more pieces. This can happen when:
- A player has no legal moves left.
- All pieces are placed.
Scoring
- Each remaining piece in a player’s possession counts as a penalty equal to its square units. E.g., a piece with five squares counts as -5 points.
- Players who manage to place all their pieces receive a bonus of +15 points.
- An additional bonus of +5 points is awarded if the last piece placed was the single square piece.
Strategies
- Optimal Start: Place larger pieces early to avoid getting blocked.
- Corner Control: Secure strategic corners and simultaneously block opponents.
- Flexibility: Keep a variety of piece types for more options in later turns.
- Anticipation: Look ahead to see what pieces opponents have and what they might block.
Special Rules and Tips
- Side Contact is forbidden for pieces of the same color.
- Corner Contact offers strategic flexibility to fit into tight spaces.
Blokus is easy to learn but offers deep strategic play. The more you play, the better you will understand effective movement options and blocking strategies.
