Blokus (Classic)

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The final phase might be considered the “mopping up”. This tends to start at turn 14. The expansion of the tiles has created spaces where only one or two players can legally place their shapes. If there is competition it is often wise to grab these opportunities. This part of Blokus is all about putting remaining tiles into the spaces available. Players need to consider how to use their last few shapes to crawl through gaps. Playing the final piece as a single square will give a great sense of satisfaction and a degree of smugness. For these reasons Blokus is a good, solid, family challenge that brings colour and strategy without needing too much deep thought in its playing. A player earns +15 points if all his/her pieces have been placed on the board plus 5 additional bonus points if the last piece placed on the board was the smallest piece (one square). Remember that there is a 5-point bonus at the game’s end if you play this piece last. This could be a tiebreaker, so don’t rush it. FAQs What is the best piece to start with in Blokus?

A four-player game of Blokus will be completed in 20-25 minutes. Gameplay usually falls into three phases. During the first four turns in the opening phase, players expand from their corner. There is no interaction or any limitation of what tiles might be used. However, careful choice during this phase will influence the latter parts of the game. Players might choose to place an awkward, five-sided pentomino shape just to get rid of it. They may then find out that this piece would have been ideal in other phases. Another approach is to expand as rapidly as possible. The more corners available after this phase will mean more options for play later. In turn, players select one of their tiles. This piece must touch the corner of a similarly coloured tile, but may not be placed so that edges of the player’s shapes are touching each other. With each turn, player’s pieces expand in a diagonal fashion out from the corners of the board. After approximately four turns these shapes start to meet in the middle of the board. The green player could not place 1 three-square piece, 3 four-square pieces, and 1 five-square piece. Score: -20 pointsThis one is a controversial, love-it-or-hate-it strategy. I’ve seen many players, myself included some time ago, using this strategy over and over, to prevent one’s opponents from moving through your corner, disincentivizing them from reaching your space and leaving you room to deploy your pieces. For some time, there was an official online version of Blokus where visitors could play with opponents all over the world. Mattel discontinued the online game on May 18, 2012, stating it did not meet its playability standards. [7]

The blue player has placed all his/her pieces, and the smallest piece has been played last. Score: +20 points Some players choose to build structures similar to the Barasona opening to force others to drop their 1 piece. However, this is probably going to cost them in the long run as they will not be able to reach new areas of the board and will miss valuable opportunities to expand. 8. Look at gameplay with a “corners out” mindset It would be not possible to score said points in a region controlled only by you, because it would represent no more than ¼ or ⅓ of the entire board, assuming you succeeded in keeping your opponents out of this area. 5. Focus on spreading The second phase starts when player tiles approach each other. This usually commences after turn four and it is now that Blokus gets interesting. Careful selection of tiles mean a player can wrap their pieces around others and wriggle their way into new territory. It is important to optimise space on the grid and leave very few gaps between tiles. By using shapes wisely players can cut off and limit other’s tile-laying opportunities. Whenever a player is unable to place one of his/her remaining pieces on the board, that player must pass his/her turn.However, keep in mind this isn’t a perfect opening either. The weakness of this opening is a very low ratio of corners to dead squares in your home corner, leaving you vulnerable to being walled in during the midgame if you have concentrated on the far side of the board. In the standard/original four-player version, each player's first piece must touch one of the board's four corners, as shown. Blokus Junior is targeted at younger children. Like Blokus Duo, it is played by two players on a 14×14 board, but it uses only a subset of the pieces that have simpler shapes. There are 12 unique pieces. Each player gets two of each kind, 24 in total. The game also comes with a set of single-player puzzle sheets, each containing a preset piece position on the board and a set of pieces to place into the board following standard Blokus rules. Each player counts the number of unit squares in his/her remaining pieces (1 unit square = -1 point). There is a solitaire variation where one player tries to get rid of all the pieces in a single sitting.

There are unauthorized versions of the game published under various names, including The Strategy Game, Tetris, Blokád (unofficial Hungarian version with cardboard pieces) and The Family Chess Game. Always remember to keep focusing on spreading, it is the more natural way to maintain your options open.The scoring system of penalties for un-played tiles can mean that some players will have negative points. This is a little frustrating as there is no other mechanism of rewarding good play. Perhaps, for younger children, points could be awarded for every tile placed. There have been video games based on Blokus. Irem was the first to develop such a kind of video game, in the form of what is known as Blokus Club with Bumpy Trot. Released in Japan in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, and one year later for the PlayStation Portable, the game features characters from Steambot Chronicles ( Bumpy Trot in Japan) playing the Classic, Travel, and Duo versions of the game. The game received an international release in 2008, under the name Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship. Focus on multiplying your available angles whenever you play a piece on the board. This will ensure you more tactics and open new strategies for your future moves. 9. Identify passages in your opponent’s lines Consider these gaps as doors to expand the game to your advantage, but make sure to be the first to exploit these opportunities before the remaining opponents do.