Universe
BGG rank
BGG #26,663
BGG rating
5.5

Universe

1966

Rules assistance for Universe

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2–4 players
  • 20 min
  • Complexity 2.5/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Universe

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Universe is a board game released in 1966 for 2–4 players and 20 minutes per game. It was designed by Alex Randolph and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Enclosure, and Pattern Building.

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About the game

Parker Brothers pentomino game for 2 to 4. Play the last piece to win the game. This game is an updated version of the earlier Pan-Kai by the same author, to which Universe adds the three and four players variants. The game box featured publicity stills from the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey." In the movie, one of astronauts plays Universe with Hal (the computer). This scene was cut and replaced with Dave playing Chess with Hal. The director thought it would be more understandable by the audience. The game doesn't mention puzzles, but there are plenty of patterns to try to make with the pentominoes. For example, form a 5x12 rectangle, or a 6x10 rectangle, with one set of pieces. The two player form of this game was published in 1961 as Pan-Kai

Questions and answers

Universe supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.