Blokus
Encyclopedia
Blokus is an abstract strategy
board game
for two to four players, invented by Bernard Tavitian and first released in 2000 by Sekkoïa
, a French company. It has won several awards, including the Mensa Select award and the 2004 Teacher's Choice Award.
, two tromino
es/triominoes, five tetromino
es, and 12 pentomino
es).
The standard rules of play for all variations of the game are as follows:
When a game ends, the score is based on the number of squares in each player's unplayed pieces; a player loses one point for each square (e.g. a tetromino is worth -4 points). If a player played all of his or her pieces, he or she gets a bonus score of +20 points if the last piece played was a monomino, +15 points otherwise.
It is also possible to play with three players; in this case each player in turn makes moves with the fourth colour. This is not a perfect solution to three-way games, however, because the player diagonally opposite the fourth (multiplayer) colour has an advantage. (A better solution is the Trigon version of the game—see below.)
There is also an online version of Blokus at Blokus Online, where visitors may play with opponents all over the world, with four game mode types, Blokus Original, Blokus Trigon (2 players, four colours only), Blokus Duo, and Blokus 3D.
There are two rooms in the online version depending on your skill level. The competition room allows players to earn points and track their win/loss records. The training room is a great place to learn to play the game, with no affect on your overall stats.
The PlayStation Portable
also has Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship, which features characters from Steambot Chronicles
playing the Classic, Travel, and Duo versions of the game.
A Gameloft
developed version of Blokus was released for iPhone
, iPod touch
, and iPad
in April 2010, featuring the Classic and Duo versions of the game, local and online multiplayer gameplay, and single player tournament mode.
There is also some open source software based on the same concept of polyominoes
as blokus does, for example Blokish, Blockem or Pentobi for desktop and Blokish Android for smartphone.
However, many American markets use a pronunciation closer to 'bloh-kis'.
Abstract strategy game
An abstract strategy game is a strategy game, aiming to minimise luck, and without a theme. Almost all abstract strategy games will conform to the strictest definition of: a board or card game, in which there is no hidden information, no non-deterministic elements , in which two players or teams...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
for two to four players, invented by Bernard Tavitian and first released in 2000 by Sekkoïa
Sekkoïa
' is a publisher of board games based in France, in Issy-les-Moulineaux and Paris. The catalogue is currently limited to games by Bernard Tavitian : Blokus, Blokus duo and Blokus trigon. The founder and president of the company is Pierre-Jacques Jouars....
, a French company. It has won several awards, including the Mensa Select award and the 2004 Teacher's Choice Award.
Gameplay
The game is played on a square board divided into 20 rows and 20 columns, for a total of 400 squares. There are a total of 84 game tiles, organized into 21 shapes in each of four colors: blue, yellow, red, and green. The 21 shapes are based on free polyominoes of from one to five squares (one monomino, one dominoDomino (mathematics)
In mathematics, a domino is a polyomino of order 2, that is, a polygon in the plane made of two equal-sized squares connected edge-to-edge. When rotations and reflections are not considered to be distinct shapes, there is only one free domino....
, two tromino
Tromino
A tromino is a polyomino of order 3, that is, a polygon in the plane made of three equal-sized squares connected edge-to-edge...
es/triominoes, five tetromino
Tetromino
A tetromino is a geometric shape composed of four squares, connected orthogonally. This, like dominoes and pentominoes, is a particular type of polyomino...
es, and 12 pentomino
Pentomino
A pentomino is a polyomino composed of five congruent squares, connected along their edges ....
es).
The standard rules of play for all variations of the game are as follows:
- Order of play is based on color, with blue going first, followed by yellow, red, and green.
- The first piece played of each color is placed in one of the board's four corners. Each new piece played must be placed so that it touches at least one piece of the same color, with only corner-to-corner contact allowed—edges cannot touch. However, edge-to-edge contact is allowed when two pieces of different color are involved.
- When a player cannot place a piece, he or she passes, and play continues as normal. The game ends when no one can place a piece.
When a game ends, the score is based on the number of squares in each player's unplayed pieces; a player loses one point for each square (e.g. a tetromino is worth -4 points). If a player played all of his or her pieces, he or she gets a bonus score of +20 points if the last piece played was a monomino, +15 points otherwise.
Two-player variant
In two-player games, each player takes two colors, usually starting in opposite corners. This allows further strategy, as a player can sacrifice one of their colors in order to strengthen the position of their other color in order to try to play all the pieces of that color and win the bonus score.It is also possible to play with three players; in this case each player in turn makes moves with the fourth colour. This is not a perfect solution to three-way games, however, because the player diagonally opposite the fourth (multiplayer) colour has an advantage. (A better solution is the Trigon version of the game—see below.)
Expansions and spinoffs
Sekkoïa and its distributors manufacture three additional versions of the game.Blokus Duo/Travel Blokus
Blokus Duo is for two players only, and uses a smaller (14×14) board; the piece colors are purple and orange. The two starting squares are placed, not in the corner (as in the original Blokus game) but nearer to the centre. This makes a crucial difference in the flavour of the game, because players' pieces may (and usually do) touch after the first move. Even more than with the original game, Blokus Duo is an offence-centred game; it is also a much purer strategy game than the four-player game, since one is not in danger of getting ganged up on by three other players (as sometimes happens with the four-player version).Blokus Trigon
Blokus Trigon uses pieces made up of triangles rather than squares, and is played on a hexagonal board, a version optimized for three players but can be played with 2,3,or 4 players. The same rules apply, meaning that 2 edges cannot touch; however, as it is isometric, a corner touching an edge is possible.Blokus Giant
Blokus Giant is a larger version, with the game board being about square.Rumis/Blokus 3D
Blokus 3D, originally marketed in a Mayan theme as Rumis, uses pieces made up of unit cubes, in every permutation of three and four cubes in three dimensions. There is also a major rule change; instead of being required to place pieces so they touch corner-to-corner, a piece must be placed such that it touches a face of another piece of the same color. Also, a player placing a piece cannot do so if it would create any empty space underneath any part of the piece. The object is to build one of four different structures, each with its own placement limitations: the Tower, Wall, Steps, and Pyramid. Players attempt to place their blocks such that at the end of the game, when the structure is viewed from above, their color has the most squares showing.Video games
Funkitron developed a PC casual game version of Blokus called Blokus World Tour. Released in December 2007, World Tour was faithful to the board game version of Blokus while adding 16 playable characters, music and sound effects, and multiple game modes including a tour mode, quick play, and Blokus Challenges.There is also an online version of Blokus at Blokus Online, where visitors may play with opponents all over the world, with four game mode types, Blokus Original, Blokus Trigon (2 players, four colours only), Blokus Duo, and Blokus 3D.
There are two rooms in the online version depending on your skill level. The competition room allows players to earn points and track their win/loss records. The training room is a great place to learn to play the game, with no affect on your overall stats.
The PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
also has Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship, which features characters from Steambot Chronicles
Steambot Chronicles
Steambot Chronicles, known in Japan as is a action-adventure game developed and published by Irem Software Engineering in Japan for the PlayStation 2. It was later published by Atlus in North America and 505 Games in PAL regions...
playing the Classic, Travel, and Duo versions of the game.
A Gameloft
Gameloft
Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
developed version of Blokus was released for iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
in April 2010, featuring the Classic and Duo versions of the game, local and online multiplayer gameplay, and single player tournament mode.
There is also some open source software based on the same concept of polyominoes
Polyomino
A polyomino is a plane geometric figure formed by joining one or more equal squares edge to edge. It is a polyform whose cells are squares. It may be regarded as a finite subset of the regular square tiling with a connected interior....
as blokus does, for example Blokish, Blockem or Pentobi for desktop and Blokish Android for smartphone.
Pronunciation
The correct pronunciation of Blokus is 'blok-uhs'.However, many American markets use a pronunciation closer to 'bloh-kis'.
External links
- Official website
- Australian distributor's home page for Blokus
- Review of Blokus, Blokus Trigon and Blokus Duo at Blokus-Review.com
- Review of Blokus at TheGamesJournal.com
- Discussion of notation system for Blokus