Ubongo

Ubongo is a board game designed by the Polish-born Swedish game designer Grzegorz Rejchtman, first published in Sweden by Kaernan under the title Pyramidens Portar, where it won the 2003 Aarets spel award for game of the year. A German edition under the name Ubongo followed in 2005 from the publisher Kosmos, going on to place fourth in the annual German game of the year competition and reach the finals of the International Gamers Award. Two to four players race against a shared timer to fit a set of pentomino-style puzzle pieces into an outlined shape on their own individual board, similar in spirit to Tangram or Tetris but played as a real-time speed contest against other players rather than against a fixed target alone. Correctly and quickly completed puzzles earn gemstones that determine the eventual winner, with simplified rules available for younger players.