Tetroku

Tetroku is a really simple (but devilishly complex) roll and write. I entered it into the 10th BGG Roll & Write Contest in 2021. Despite having a really simple ruleset (so much so that all the rules fit onto the gamesheet), it is rich with meaningful decisions. Even though its rules are so straightforward, in many ways it is one of the games I am most proud of.

It requires a single game sheet per player, and just one six-sided die for the whole group. It plays in about half an hour, regardless of the number of people playing.

The game involves filling tetromino shapes into a 9x9 grid, and the scoring system was inspired by Sudoku puzzles - hence the name Tetroku.

The original version I made for the BGG contest involved an end-game process designed to (a) increase player interaction, and (b) prevent some players waiting for the game to finish, after they had done so themselves. However, I have since found that some players find this end to be somewhat convoluted. Worse, some also find it a little frustrating, because they still had space for more shapes; they felt penalised due to another player having played less efficiently.

With this in mind, I have designed an updated version of the rules, with the aim of encouraging optimised placement of tetromino shapes. This version includes a bonus for any player that is able to entirely fill their 9x9 grid.


Here are a few nice comments from BGG users who tried it out:

"Very nice. The sudoku part comes through nicely."
"The flow of the game works well and it is super easy to learn."
"Great game! Easy to play and a lot to think about!"
"Really cool game"

File downloads:

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