Reddit mentions of Blokus Game

First off sorry to hear about your mom. I'm sure there are a lot of different games that she would be able to play with the family. Just off the top of my head would be Blokus

Go out right now and buy Blokus!!
 
What are you still doing here?! It's currently only $10, has 3 extremely simple rules (1. your goal is to get rid of all your pieces; 2. you must start in a corner, and 3. your pieces can only touch at corners, not along the edges... THAT IS ALL THE RULES). There is zero reading. It's very easy for kids and older non-gamers to understand and yet has enough challenge that even my hardcore gamer group likes to play a few rounds now and then. It's especially suitable for people who are visual thinkers or like puzzles or games like Tetris, but I've literally never played it with anyone who didn't enjoy the experience, even the people who usually dislike all board games. I do have to say that although you can play it with less than the maximum 4 players, the challenge is severely diminished if you do (in that it is likely that all players will "win" by using up all their pieces... but if the players are children, that might be for the best).

This is extraordinarily thorough. So thorough in fact, that you should also consider board gaming. Reading this, it just makes a lot of sense for you. I think board gaming would fit you like a glove.

1. Video games have moved away from couch co-op. You've made a great list here with a lot of solid points, but I doubt you would have ever reached your conclusion, had you considered board games. Keep Talking is certainly a good entertaining game, nothing against it. It's just, that game feels plucked like a needle out of a haystack. Like you've biopsied out a very small node from inside a large mass.

You don't really have this problem with board games. Literally every single board game in existence is designed to be played with people immediately around you. I hesitate to use the phrase "played co-operatively" simply because most board games are NOT co-operative - though there are notable exceptions like Pandemic or Ghost Stories. Both great games.

Board games use human beings as the engine the game runs on. That's not to say board games pit intellects against each other in some sort of valid competition of "who's the most smartest", but to say: humans are social machines and will surprise you with their grasp of system thinking. If I have five or six people in the room with me, I'd prefer the game that we're playing to exist in the head-space between us rather than on some electronic device.

People have come over to my house in the real world. Why not play a game with them that also exists in the real world? I can play videogames over online multiplayer until I'm blue in the face. Just last night I reinstalled Bad Company 2 and played with a few old college roommates. If I had those old friends over to my house, we'd play a board game. It seems crazy to me that someone has taken the time to drive over to your place and you set them down in front of a computer.

2. Because boardgames have always been designed around a social experience taking place in the real world, they're just better at it. This is definitely subjective. You can feel free to disagree with me all you want, but there are mechanics that I just don't see in videogames. Sure, I could load up Gremlin's Inc and replicate what is probably the best roll n' move game I've ever played, but roll n' move is a Monopoly era game genre. Board games can move past this.

You can't play Two Room's and a Boom on a machine. You can't play Bid n' Bluff games like Liar's Dice, Sheriff of Nottingham, or social deduction games like Coup or Love Letter. You can't play physical dexterity games like Jenga (still great fun btw), Flick em' Up, or Catacombs.

There are just games that play better with groups of people because they exist in the real world and make use of humans as the operating system.

3. Board games are much more open to much more people. I don't know about you, but in my experience board games are just more accessible to a wider range of people. I'm maybe going to get a round of Mario Kart out of the adults in my life that love me, but I've sat down with people over 50 and had a great time with Ticket to Ride. At family reunions I've enjoyed Dominion with young children and grandparents alike. Settlers of Catan, Blockus, and Carcassonne are all genuinely fun games I played to death with my family.

How crazy is that? I would really look forward to playing one of those games with my whole family. I can't think of even one videogame that fits that criteria.

4. Perhaps most simply, there are incredible games that just don't exist in videogame form - even though they could. Is the total conversion mod for Crusader Kings II not giving you that full heady Game of Thrones experience? Why not just play Game of Thrones. This is probably my favorite game and it's just not on computers. I can imagine a version of Cosmic Encounter played over online multiplayer, but why? It already exists in perfect form. If I want to play El Grande, or Arctic Scavengers, or Lords of Vegas - well . . . those games just don't exist as videogames.

5. Just honorable mentions. Seven Wonders. Splendor. Blueprints.


TL;DR. There are a ton of great board games out there and if you actually are struggling to think of something that you and your friends can enjoy together in the same room - maybe give it a shot rather than lament the lack of couch co-op in videogames.

My family and I love games. Here are some of our favorites:

Spanish Poker: It's like Phase 10 or Rummy, but better. It takes a long time to finish a game but you can easily take a break and pick it back up later.

Blokus: A really fun strategy game that doesn't take too long and is easy to learn how to play.

Negative 5: Another strategy card game, but this one doesn't take forever to finish. I don't exactly remember all of the rules, but I think it's kind of like Golf.

I think you are getting this, this and this because DUH, board games! Cold toes.

Haven't played Rummikub in forever!! That brings back memories of family vacations.

My husband and I like to play Blockus from time to time. We've never been able to get anyone else into it!!

I think chess might be a bit too difficult as a way to teach strategy. Gameplay is not beyond grasp for a six-year-old, but there is so much to it that the first many games are just about learning how the pieces move. It takes many more beyond that to begin to visualize what happens if you move a piece to a certain spot. I'm not saying not to play it...just that it's probably not a great vehicle to convey the concept of 'strategy'.

For that, I'd suggest a game like Blokus. It's dead simple to learn; I've taught five- and six-year-olds how to play in just a few minutes. Games also go quick, so you can play more than one in a row even with a kid with a short attention span. My kids pretty easily grasped the difference between our strategies using that game, and have figured out how to change them up based on who they're playing.

Qwirkle or Blokus.

Is it a board game? I had something similar called Blokus. Is that the game you are referring to?

https://www.amazon.com/Mattel-BJV44-Blokus-Game/dp/B00FBWBM3G