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How to Play

Blokus

2-4 players 20-20 min 6.9 Board Game Geek Rating

In Blokus, players place Tetris-shaped pieces onto a board using corner-to-corner connections only—pieces cannot touch sides with your own color. Each player starts with 21 pieces ranging from 1-5 squares. The goal is placing as many pieces as possible before running out of legal moves. Whoever places the most pieces wins.

Published 2000

Blokus

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Prepare the board
Place the 20x20 grid board (400 squares) in the center of the playing area
2
Distribute pieces
Each of the four players chooses one color (blue, yellow, red, or green) and receives 21 pieces of that color
3
Determine starting player
Blue always plays first
4
Establish turn order
Play proceeds clockwise around the board: blue, yellow, red, green

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Place one piece
Choose one of your remaining pieces and place it on the board
2
Cover a corner on first turn
Your first piece must cover one of the corner squares of the board
3
Connect diagonally
Each new piece must touch at least one other piece of your same color, but only at the corners (vertices)
4
Avoid edge contact
Pieces of the same color cannot touch along any edge
5
Contact other colors freely
There are no restrictions on how your pieces may touch pieces of different colors
6
Commit your placement
Once a piece is placed on the board, it cannot be moved during subsequent turns
7
Pass when blocked
If you cannot legally place any of your remaining pieces, you must pass your turn

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
End the game
The game ends when all players are blocked and cannot place any more pieces
2
Count penalty points
Each player counts the total number of squares on their remaining unplaced pieces (1 square = 1 negative point)
3
Earn placement bonus
If a player places all 21 pieces, they receive a bonus:
4
Determine the winner
The player with the highest score (most points or fewest negative points) wins
5
Calculate team scores (variant)
In team play, combine both teammates' scores to determine the winning team

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Blokus

Blokus

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Blokus How to play

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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