Benjamin Choi : Automatically-Generating Blokus

This is a set for the popular 4-player board game Blokus. What makes it unique is that it is algorithmically generated and parameterized: a Python program takes the board size and maximum playing piece size, and automatically generates the DXF files for laser cutting.

The playing pieces in standard Blokus consist of all polyominos from size 1 to 5, and rather than hardcode these shapes they are generated by a search algorithm. This makes it generalizable: for instance, the game can easily be scaled up by increasing board size from 20x20 to 30x30 and the maximum piece size from 5 to 6 cells.

DXF files with the game board and with all the pieces neatly laid out for cutting are automatically generated, and all that remains is to bring the files to the laser cutter. Once cut and cleaned, each piece and its mirror (which is also provided as part of the layout in the DXF files) must be glued back-to-back to make a double sided piece which can fit either way on the game board.




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