Gibsons have published some classic board games but they are known as much for their puzzles as their games. With Pixit, designed by David J Mortimer, Gibsons have bridged the gap between the two.
Pixit comprises two sets of 16 dice-like cubes. One set is black and white, the other black and grey. Each of the cubes is identical, with each face showing a different mix of black and non-black quadrants. These can be used with the pattern cards to play any of several two-player, multiplayer or solitaire puzzle-like pattern-making games.
In the basic head-to-head game, for example, a card is turned over showing a picture that can be made with the 16 cubes. Players each take a set and race to be the first to complete the pattern.
It's a simple idea but it works surprisingly well as a fun filler. It's also a game in which children and adults can compete on equal terms.
Because of their shape, you'll find players instinctively want to roll the cubes as if they were dice. That's not required or intended in any of the game rules included in the box but it's a simple matter to devise your own more challenging variants where shapes have to be constructed from cubes that are rolled...