Katamino

About the game

What is Katamino?

The game consists of 12 different pieces constructed of right angled blocks so each piece is made of 5 "squares". (Think Tetris pieces, but 5 squares instead of 4.) An old version of the game had only 10 pieces; the completely straight 5 square and the 5 square "plus sign" were not included. Both versions also have a bunch of "filler" pieces of 1 or 2 squares. The gameboard is constructed with a movable divider so one can take sets of 4 up to the whole set of 12 pieces and form them into a 5 block by X rectangle. (Where X = the number of wood blocks in your set.) The two or three player strategy game is accomplished on a square board divided into 64 smaller squares. Players take turns to place a piece on the gameboard. The first player who cannot place a piece anymore loses. (Similar to Blokus) The two player puzzle game mode is accomplished by dividing the board into two sections, each player chooses five blocks and are also given 4 small "filler" blocks of 1 and 2 squares. The first one to fit all their blocks perfectly into their half of the rectangle board, wins.

How it plays

Mechanics

On the shelf

Categories

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

• How do setup and the first turn work in Katamino?
• When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
• How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?