Blokus

The concept of Blokus is simple. Try to place as many of your pieces on the board and they have to placed on a corner of one of your own pieces. A game for all ages and it's fun. It's a strategic puzzle competition. Decisions will be made: Rush to the center of the board? Try to stay in your corner isolated from others to organize your pieces as efficiently as possible? Or be the jerk to invade the opponents' space as quickly as possible?

While it's fun with four players (more begging and pleading for opponents not to play a certain piece or alliances form), it becomes even more strategic when it's two players, each controlling two colors; the total number of blocks of both colors for each player determine the result of the game.

Depending on how quickly each player places a piece, the game can take up about 10 minutes to complete. It is a straightforward game that always seems to get an encore.

I won't lie. After my first attempt, I've gotten insanely good at this game. It's really enjoyable and can be played without the fear of having to explain rules to people barely paying attention.