- Designer: blue orange games
- Players: 2-4
- Playtime: 15 minutes
- Ages: 8+
Block Ness by blue orange games is a lightweight game for 2-4 players, ages 8+ that plays in about 15 minutes. In Block Ness you are fighting over control of the Loch by piecing together the segments of your monster. You have to strategically plan where you will place your differently sized pieces to grow your monster, while simultaneously stunting the growth of the other players. I personally hold fabled monster Nessie in high regard, so I had to check this one out!
What’s in the Box?
- 1 Loch Board
- 4 Monsters made up of 12 parts in purple, orange, black and green
Setup
Each player will take all of the parts for one of the monsters. The Loch Board sits nicely in the box. Put any pieces of monster colors that are not being played to the side. You are now ready to play Block Ness!
Gameplay
The size of your play area depends on how many players you have for Block Ness. The Loch Board is divided into different shades of blue. If you have 2 players, use the smallest section. For each additional player, spread out a section. The first player then attaches the head and tail segments to their starter segment and places it on the board. In a clockwise fashion, the other players do the same. Once all starter segments are placed, play begins. On a turn, a player will choose a segment of their color to add to their monster on the board. There are several rules to how a segment can be placed. A new segment must be placed in front of or next to an existing segment. The new segment can never be placed diagonally. A player may place a segment that crosses over their own head or tail, if they are able to move their head or tail by the end of their turn. A player can cross over the body segments of another player, but not the head or tail. A player is not able to place their body segment underneath another player’s monster. Finally, a player cannot cross the body of another player if the monster segment is of the same height. Turns move around the table until each player can no longer place any monster segments.
Objective
The objective of Block Ness is to create the largest monster in the lake. You accomplish this by following the game play rules established above. If a player cannot place a new monster segment on their turn, their turn is skipped. The players with the least remaining monster segments wins the game. If there is a tie, the win goes to the player with the tallest monster head. If there is still a tie, the players share victory!
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed Block Ness! It is a lightweight game that would be excellent to play with younger kiddos. The game play is straightforward and honestly, kind of hard to mess up. We got some laughs out of this one. While not a game of complex theorycrtafting, we did enjoy our play through and love the Loch Ness Monster theme.
Do you have a favorite cryptid?
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