Blokus 1

Previous:
Next:
Tags

Blokus is one of these abstract games which gets hauled out every once in a while at dinner parties and whatnot. At least, that's how I was first introduced to it. I liked it at the time, enough to purchase a copy for myself back in 2007 or 2008. It then went into the closet.

I played it several times previously, but I'm not going to count those plays. I don't recall when, and don't care to attempt to dig out the date, although I probably could for at least the game at Tahoe.

Blokus is designed to be a four player game, with 1, 2 and 3 player variants. The solo variant is to get all the tiles on the board, where the tiles are laid in turn order, and cannot be repositioned once put on the board.

I just tried solitaire. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have a lot of tiles left over for all the colors. Here's the final scores:

  1. Red: 20
  2. Green: 22
  3. Blue: 18
  4. Yellow: 16

Looks like yellow FTW.

It's notable that the score spread of 6 (16 to 22) is pretty small. I don't recall it being this small when playing opponents.

Blokus game 1

Previous:
Next:
Tags

What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.