Following up on my previous post on a family friendly (and easier to play and learn) game of Qwirkle, I wanted to share another game we recently discovered.

The Genius Square is a 1-2 player, puzzle game. You can play single player where the goal is to solve the board, or you can play with another player and see who completes the board first. Both modes are fun and it makes for a great solo non-screen activity.

Here are the basics for the game:

You have a simple 6 x 6 grid (A-F down the side and 1-6 along the top). The goal of the game is to place the nine colored blocks (they vary in size and length) onto the grid. Think of this as a screen-free Tetris.

Sounds simple, right?

The game comes with seven small discs (blockers) and seven dice that are labeled with coordinates (A1 through F6). At the start of each round, you roll the dice, and place the blockers throughout the board accordingly. Now game play begins, and you are tasked with placing your colored blocks on the grid, but you cannot move the blockers to do so. This obviously makes the game challenging and allows for replayability as the blocker combinations are essentially endless.

While this makes for a great solo game – and I am always looking for games that are great for solo play – this is a lot of fun for game night. Game play goes pretty quick and so we will have two people play each other, and then take turns playing that round’s winner. And while it is a ton of fun, it is also a game that includes little in the way of setup and cleanup, which makes it an excellent option for a quick after dinner game without a huge time commitment or effort on your part.