Blokus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Setting Up
• Playing the Game
• Winning the Game
  • Basic Scoring
  • Advanced Scoring
• Game Variations
  • Two Players
  • Three Players

Contents

• 1 game board (20 × 20 squares)
• 84 pieces in four colors (21 pieces per color—red, blue, yellow, green)

Each color's 21 pieces comprise: one 1-square piece, one 2-square piece, two 3-square pieces, five 4-square pieces, and twelve 5-square pieces.

Object

Try to fit as many of your squares on the board as you can.

Setting Up

Each player chooses a color and takes that set of 21 pieces. Choose a player to go first; play proceeds clockwise around the board.

Playing the Game

Players take turns laying down one piece at a time, following these rules:

• The first piece played by each player must cover a corner square of the board.
• Each new piece must touch at least one other piece of the same color, but only at the corners.
• Pieces of the same color can never touch along a side (edge to edge).
• There are no restrictions on how pieces of different colors may contact each other (they may touch along sides or corners).
• Once a piece has been placed on the board, it cannot be moved.

Whenever a player is unable to place a piece on the board, that player must pass their turn. The game ends when neither player (nor any player) can place any more pieces.

Winning the Game

Basic Scoring

Once the game ends, players count the number of squares in their remaining (unplaced) pieces. The player with the lowest number of squares wins.

Advanced Scoring

For more of a challenge, play for the highest score. Each player counts the squares in their remaining pieces at –1 point each. A player earns +15 points if all of their pieces have been placed on the board, plus 5 additional bonus points if the last piece they placed was the smallest piece (the single square).

Game Variations

Two Players

• One player controls blue and red, and the other controls yellow and green.
• The playing order is blue, yellow, red, green.
• At the end of the game, each player calculates their score by counting up the squares in both colors they control.

Three Players

• Each player chooses one color.
• The playing order is blue, yellow, red, green.
• The remaining color is shared, and is played alternately by each player.
• Final scores are calculated in the same way as for the standard 4-player game; the score of the shared color is ignored.