Block ‘n’ roll

No shortage of board games have attempted to bring the quadromino-dropping satisfaction of retro puzzler Tetris to the tabletop, whether through actual 3D shapes slotted into a ‘screen’ or more abstract use of tiles and grids. Brikks might be the first to transform its line-clearing charm into pure pen-and-paper, though.

Behind the upcoming roll-and-write is Wolfgang Warsch, creator of divisive social card game The Mind and triple-nominee at this year’s Spiel des Jahres.

Warsch’s unique take on Tetris involves players rolling dice – one determining shape, the other orientation – to randomly generate the tetrominoes ‘falling’ from the top of their grid, which they must then slot into the frame from the bottom up, as if dropped from above.

As they build up their tower of blocks, players can earn energy by covering over specific squares, which can then be expended to ‘rotate’ the bricks or even choose the perfect shape to slot into their pattern. A limited number of bombs presents the chance to blow up awkward shapes instead of placing them, at the cost of points.

Points are collected by gaining energy and forming horizontal lines – a la Tetris, minus the clearing – which can then double and quadruple scores the higher up they go.

Brikks officially supports up to four players, although like many roll-and-writes it can be tackled solo or in a separate ‘duel’ mode.

It’s due out later this year.