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About Blokus
Blokus is a pure abstract with one rule: your pieces may touch your own colour only at the corners, never along an edge. Each player has twenty-one polyomino shapes and is trying to place as many as possible before the board locks up. It takes thirty seconds to explain and it has been a family staple for twenty-five years.
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Is Blokus Right for You?
Best for
Blokus is one of the best family abstracts ever made and it is genuinely at its best with exactly four players. The corner-only rule produces a game that is simultaneously about expanding your own territory and blocking everyone else, and it is completely language-independent. Excellent for mixed ages.
Maybe skip it if…
It is at its weakest at two players, where the board is too open and the blocking is thin, though a two-colour variant helps. There is no theme whatsoever and no variability between games beyond the players.
How to Play Blokus
Setup
Each player takes all twenty-one pieces of one colour. Play begins from the four corners of the board.
On Your Turn
- Place one piece so that it touches at least one corner of a piece you already own.
- It may never share an edge with your own colour, though it may share edges freely with opponents.
- Pass when you cannot legally place anything.
How to Win
Play until nobody can move. Score minus one point per square still in your hand, with a bonus for placing every piece.
💡 Strategy Tips
Play your biggest pieces first. The board only ever gets tighter, and a five-square piece left over costs five points.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Saving the big pieces. Every square left in your hand is a point lost, and the board closes far faster than beginners expect.
- Building into a corner. Expanding toward the centre keeps your options open; hugging your own edge strangles you by mid-game.
- Forgetting you can touch opponents freely. New players avoid all contact, which wastes enormous amounts of space.
- Ignoring blocking. Denying an opponent a corner is often worth more than your own best placement.
Advanced Strategy
- Push toward the centre in the opening. Central presence generates far more future corners than edge play.
- Count your remaining corner access every turn. A player with two live corners is one bad turn from being finished.
- The single-square piece is your most valuable endgame asset; hold exactly one for a tight final placement.
- Block the opponent with the most open board, not the one nearest you. Positional threat matters more than proximity.
Variants & House Rules
Two-player variant
Each player controls two colours, which fills the board properly and fixes the main weakness at low counts.
Blokus Duo
A dedicated two-player version on a smaller board with a different start. Better than the two-colour house rule.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Blokus is a genuinely great abstract hiding in a family game box. The corner rule is one of the most elegant constraints in the hobby, and a four-player game produces a satisfyingly chaotic scramble for space. It is cheap, it is fast, and it works with almost anyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players is Blokus best with?
Four, comfortably. The board is designed for four colours and the blocking only really works with a full table.
Can two people play?
Yes, either with two colours each or by buying Blokus Duo, which is purpose-built for two and better.
Is it suitable for children?
Very. The rule is simple enough for around six or seven, and adults still have to think.