My 8 year old son came across the Blokus game during a week at math summer camp. His group played this game almost every single day. He could not stopping talking about his games and his results of what happened and why it happened. He kept begging us to purchase this game so he could play and challenge us and his friends. It was super surprising that he wanted a board game so bad because all the kids now a days just want games that revolve around some type of electronics. We have never heard about this game before and did some research and found such glowing reviews about it. This game is really great and suitable for any young elementary school kid and up. It certainly does promote healthy brain activity and deliver friend competition to keep the mind sharp. My son is always excited to play anyone in a quick game of Blokus especially against me or my wife, and the amazing part is that he definitely beats us more than we beat him. It gets all of us super competitive and thinking about game strategy all the time. I see that there has been a lot of negative reviews and complaints on Amazon lately but the game that I purchased seem like it was standard size and came with 84 total pieces. I have nothing but positive things to say about this amazing game. A MUST ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION OF BOARD GAMES!!!