This compact two-player edition of Blokus is an on-the-go strategy game. It takes less than a minute to learn, yet has the depth to challenge both beginners and experts. Players alternate placing their game pieces on the board, touching at the corners only. With one move a player can block an opponent, but open up lots of future moves. Addictive? Yes. Mind-bending strategy? Definitely! It includes a gameboard with 196 recessed squares and 42 vibrant, translucent game pieces in a storage tray. THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER DISTRIBUTED BY EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS. 12/4/08.

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Games Win for the Holidays (12/1/2005)

TDmonthly Review:

What Is It?
A travel version of Blokus -- winner of Dr. Toy’s Best Children’s Vacation Products 2003 -- the game is simple to play. Each player takes turns placing variously shaped pieces on the board, touching corners with at least one other piece of their own color. The goal is to cover as much of the board as possible, at the same time minimizing the area of a player´s remaining pieces. The player with the smaller area when no more moves are possible wins. Although four players can compete against each other with the full-sized game, the travel version is designed for two players.

What We Thought
It look literally 30 seconds to learn the rules of the game. It didn´t seem like a challenging game at first glance: After all, what is so difficult about putting shapes on a board? But as you play, you realize there are certain strategies to choosing and placing the pieces to block your opponent from putting down their pieces, or expanding your options to place your next piece. Each game took less than 10 minutes which is perfect for on-the-go. If needed, you can even save your board while jumping out for a quick fast-food break! The box is ingeniously designed in such way that you can pack up within a minute and get back on the road.

Why They’ll Want It
Travel Blockus is a game for all ages. Children and adults can develop different levels of playing strategy depending on their spatial planning capabilities. The best part is that the rules are simple! Players don´t have to read 15 pages of instructions to set up the game. The game is short and is perfect for quick breaks while traveling.

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-- Raywon Wang, 8/16/05