If you haven't heard of Blokus yet, you probably haven't found yourself inside many gamer-hobby shops in the past year. The board game was created by a mathematician, yet the rules are very simple. This results in an amazingly involved game that can be picked up by players of any age.
What is it, and why am I writing about it on GI.n? Well ... it's here because Sekkoia and Funkitron have released their PC version of the game, Blokus World Tour. It's an amazingly well-done reproudction of the board game, bolstered by pleasing graphics and artificial intelligence that actually scales up from easy to hard at a good rate.
OK, OK ... the game itself ... Blokus is for two to four players. It is comprised of a square board containing 400 squares and 84 pieces (21 in each color) made up of small squares linked together — think Tetris and you've got the gist. The purpose of the game is for each player to place his 21 pieces on the board (or at least the maximum number of pieces).
Sounds easy right? Well, it would be except that it's each player's job to try and prevent opponents from being able to place pieces. Each player begins the game by placing a piece in "his" corner of the board. Players take turns placing new pieces, with the condition that each new piece must touch another piece of the same color ... but it can ONLY touch at the corners, never along the sides! This makes planning ahead a few moves HUGELY important, as available board space fills up quickly.
If a player cannot play any pieces on the board, he must pass his turn, and his opponent(s) continue playing until they can no longer make any plays. The game ends when all players have passed. To figure out who wins, each player counts the number of squares they were unable to play, and scores are tallied.
So that's Blokus ... is there anything special about Blokus World Tour? Well, it's basically just the board game converted to a video game. But that's a GOOD thing. You can ALWAYS find opponents (the AI), there are challenges to meet and a "campaign" to work through in which you attempt to become the Blokus world champ, and the feel of the board game has been preserved and carried into the PC game.
My only complaint with the game is the lack of online multiplayer. The Blokus board game is amazingly fun to play with family and friends, but something's not quite there when you are sharing a monitor and a mouse. The ability to play against my dad from a few states away would greatly increase the value of the game to me. At the end of the day, I suppose "no multiplayer" isn't a horrible criticism. It means that the game is good and I want to be able to play against my friends.
If you already have a home version of Blokus, this game is a good way to get some practice in so that next time you go heads-up with your favorite opponent, you'll have new tricks to put you ahead. If you don't own the home version but like board games ... go download the trial right now from Blokus.com, and give it a shot. I doubt that you'll be disappointed — but be forewarned ... you may get addicted and end up with the PC full version and also a home version.
