GAME REVIEWS: MENTAL BLOCKS

Mental Blocks is a cooperative puzzle game in which each player is dealt a card that shows one perspective for the block tower they are building.

- Naomi Laeuchli

During setup, each player is dealt a card that shows either a gray isometric view from the side of the tower (showing no colors or lines) or a colored, two-dimensional view of one side. You keep this card secret during gameplay. Depending on the difficulty you choose to play, each player may also be dealt a restriction card which they must follow (such as only being allowed to touch black blocks or square blocks) or a glitch card may be in play that affects everyone (such as not allowing you to move around the table or swapping block colors).

You set a timer and the game begins. Except for any limitations imposed by restriction cards, players are allowed to freely talk about their perspective and restriction cards, move around the table, and work together to build the block tower. If the majority of players vote that they believe the structure is correct, they reveal the answer card and check if their tower has the correct shapes and colors forming the correct structure. If they are right, they win the game. If they are wrong or run out of time, they lose. There is also an optional hidden traitor variant in which one player secretly knows the correct structure. In this game mode, the traitor wins if the time runs out, the wrong player is accused of being the traitor, or the block tower is not successfully built. The other players win if they correctly build the tower or if they vote on the traitor and correctly identify them.

Mental Blocks