A surface-variable pixilated visual block display system includes a pegboard having a regular array of apertures, arranged in perpendicular rows and columns, and a plurality of blocks, each of which has six faces. A generally square base face is equipped with a central peg having an axis that is normal to that face, and that fits within any of the apertures. The base face is surrounded by four intersecting quadrilateral side faces. A sixth generally rectangular top face, which intersects the side faces, is non-parallel to the base face. It is contemplated that the blocks can be colored differently. Intersecting edges of the faces are preferably radiused and corners of the block are preferably double radiused. Pegboard apertures are spaced so that each block can spin about the peg axis without physically touching adjacent blocks whose side faces are either mutually perpendicular or mutually parallel.