Description
The standard rules of play for all variations of the game are as follows:
- Order of play is either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
- 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 pieces on the board (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 and three player variations
Blokus rules allow for two and three player games also. In two-player games, each player takes two colors. In three-player games, either one of the players takes two colors or else “the pieces of the fourth color are placed on the board in a non-strategic way.”
Game Rules [pdf]
Heather –
This is a great game, but at least one volunteer is needed with each group because the kids will likely need help and reminders to only touch corners of pieces. Once they understand it, the kids really like it. They will probably play with the pieces so be sure they don’t stuff any in their pockets!
Vidya Jagannathan –
This is a great game, but is somewhat advanced, especially in the beginning of the year. I would highly recommend this for later months in K and first grade as well!