Mike Hulsebus | Contributor

I normally begin my board game reviews with a brief overview of how a game works and lead things out with some sort of tease so that you the reader, will click to view the full article. This time, however, I’ll jump right to the chase: Blokus is a great game and everyone should give it a try. The rules are simple and yet, in your first game, you have a moment of realization where suddenly you realize how everything fits together and works.

Because it’s easier to explain how the game works by showing you, join me for my first video explanation of rules where we'll get an overview of the rules in two minutes and 10 seconds. I'll follow it up with my thoughts on the game (spoiler alert: I like the game).

What I like about Blokus is how wonderfully complex of a game such simple rules produce. Like one of my other favorite games, No Thanks, the rules make it so that you can teach the game to anyone, even people that typically don’t want more than a few minutes of rules explanation. And you’ll have no trouble convincing anyone to play since the board and pieces are so visually attractive.

Mike Hulsebus | Contributor

There is a certain limit to the complexity, which, for me, is a good thing. Someone who has played three games of Blokus will have an advantage over someone who is playing his or her first game, but someone playing his fifth game won’t have a huge advantage over someone playing her third game. What I mean to say is, this isn’t a game like chess where you can study the game and become so good that no one wants to play with you because you wipe the floor with them every time. I don’t want an abstract game with that much disparity between player skill levels: I want a somewhat-even playing field so that everyone can have fun.

Really, the only problem with the game is that it is mostly a four player game. It does also play well with two (where each person plays two colors). With three players, however, one color is played by everyone: players alternate who gets to play that color’s next piece, which is weird and clunky.

Mike Hulsebus | Contributor

There isn’t much else that I can say other than that this is a great game. The makers of Blokus have attempted to take this success and tack “Blokus” in front of other titles (e.g. Blokus 3D which plays nothing like this), but don’t be fooled: get the original. But when you do, make sure you get it cheap. I’ve seen Blokus for sale for anywhere from $10 to $40. And while it’s great enough to pay $25 for, I don’t know that you’ll get enough playtime to justify paying $40 for what you get in the box. If you want to try a game or two online before you plunk down the money, you can, but just know that spatial board games like this are nowhere near as fun online.

When it comes to board games, theme makes a huge difference for me, and so I tend to stray away from games that are too abstract or that have a tacked-on theme. I’m never going to suggest playing chess or backgammon. And, as we found out with Hive, even if an abstract game is generally well-loved by the board gaming community, that doesn't mean that I'm going to like it. Despite all this, Blokus, rates really highly for me and is basically the only abstract board game that I like to play (and I will play it any time given the opportunity)

Mike Hulsebus recognizes that chess is a great game, but never feels like playing it. Tell him he should like it more by emailing him at mikehulsebus@gmail.com.