Gigamic Quarto Classic Game

Product Information

At first glance, Quarto seems to have based its game play off Tic-Tac-Toe. The game is played on a 4×4 grid with 16 unique pieces. The object is to get either a row or diagonal of 4 pieces that share a common trait. The first player to achieve that wins. Game Components: The rules come in about 30 different languages. So far it’s not too scary, right? Now draw a second ‘cube’ next to your first (as below). OK, now—squinting a little—just imagine that your new cube is next to the first one in the fourth dimension!

The suggested age range is 8 and up, and I think that’s about right; players need to be able to look for several potential patterns and adjust to new pieces as they are placed on the board. Actually, this seems to stem from instruction 2, which indicates that one can choose an attribute to win with. That seems to make one focus on one attribute, which I've found to be a way to almost guarantee losing.] So recently, when publisher Gigamic handed us a copy of Quarto Mini, I figured it was time to find out. Quarto Mini is a travel sized version of this decades old game. With some nice looking components and easy to learn rules, it’s time to dive in and see if Quarto was worth a fuss. For clarities sake, we played with Quarto Mini, which is in all respects, just a smaller size of Quarto. So you can consider this review appropriate for either version of the game. Players take turns choosing a piece which the other player must then place on the board. A player wins by placing a piece on the board which forms a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row of four pieces, all of which have a common attribute (all short, all circular, etc.). A variant rule included in many editions gives a second way to win by placing four matching pieces in a 2×2 square. Despite my usual aversion to abstract strategy games, I don’t have much to complain about with Quarto. The components are great, mechanics solid, and the game is highly accessible. You can be up and playing in minutes and it will definitely appeal to the strategic thinkers out there.This is a prime coffee-table game: gorgeous pieces with no words or symbols anywhere. All sixteen pieces are beautiful natural wood in dark and light shades, and every piece is unique. There’s a canvas bag to store them in, and a very simple wooden board. That being said, I think Quarto is pretty fantastic. This is definitely one of those games that’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. Teaching Quarto should take all of about 30 seconds, but it’s a game that can easily turn into a brain burner. If you like thinking four moves ahead, and on different levels, then this is the game for you. Learning to play should take about 30 seconds. The game also has an advanced variant that allows for a player to also win by placing matching pieces in a 2×2 square. The object is to get four pieces in a row that each share one of the game’s characteristics. Game Experience:

At a Christmas party I attended a couple of weeks ago, I discovered a classic board game called Quarto. In fact, the host of the party who's worked for a major gaming company in the past asked me if I knew how to build it as a computer application. I discounted myself as a non-game-developer who only builds business applications, but then followed that by saying that if it is only a 2D game, it was simple to build. So, the challenge was on!!!He creates a line of 4 light pieces or 4 dark pieces or 4 round pieces or 4 square pieces or 4 tall pieces or 4 short pieces or 4 solid pieces or 4 hollow pieces. So far we have changed the size of the board, but there is more we can generalise if we wish. Can you imagine three different heights? Three different colours? A ternary number taking values 0, 1 or 2? Then we can design games where attributes take three values. This game has another way to catch you out too; forget to shout “QUARTO” when you synch that sweet fourth spot, and your tactics will be for nothing. Why? Because your opponent gets to steal your victory for themselves as punishment for your forgetfulness!

With a brush or a piece of cloth, apply some boiled linseed oil (buy it already boiled, as boiling it yourself would require some high precautions and a couple of hours of your precious time) and let it "dry" (it does not actually dry, but hardens through an oxydation process... For our project, though, it will be enough to consider it as drying time without getting into more detail). Caution : if you apply linseed oil with a piece of cloth, you have to wash it afterwards, as its oxidation on cloth rag may in some cases cause it to catch fire. However there is nothing to worry about, as long as you do take care : I have used linseed oil for over 13 years and never had any problem. For me though, it’s one little mechanic that turned this game from just another forgettable abstract game into something really special. If each player had their own color, and were trying to get 4 in a row with them, than I’d call this a tic-tac-toe clone and tell you to move on.

Components

This is a boardgame that I did not invent : it was created by a mathematician called Blaise Müller and is now commercialised under the name "Quarto". I decided it would be fun to make one myself... And I will show you how I did it. With a 5/8" bit, drill each of these points. It only has to be deep enough to underline the places where the game pieces go : it is not even necessary to drill (you could just draw or paint small circles), but I find it gives a nice optical effect, especially if you let the bit slightly burn the wood, for more contrast. Quarto from Gigamic’s Abstract Strategy Games reminded me of an Indiana Jones-esque crypto puzzle when I first saw the wooden pieces. Like I was going to be constructing some sort of dart gun or secure document carrier.

What size boards are possible, if we say that there must be the same number of spaces on the board as there are pieces, and all our pieces are different? That player places the piece on any square on the board; he must then choose one of the 15 pieces remaining and give it to his opponent. - In his turn, that player places the piece on a empty square, and so on... OK. Long winded to get to the point of saying "I don't know a winning strategy." But in a nutshell, 2 tenants that I play by: Here’s the first twist: all the pieces are shared between you and your opponent. You can use any pieces already on the board to make a line.

Rule 2. Know always where properties can potentially win. For the basic game, there are 10 winning areas (4 rows, 4 columns, 2 diagonals). For the advanced game, there are an additional 9 square areas. In the basic game, each piece will be in 2 or 3 of these areas, while in the advanced game it is 4 or 7 areas. As soon as 2 pieces are in the same area, identify all the ways that something could possibly win there. This is critical to know when there are 3 pieces in an area (a property being set up to win). Learning to play Quarto is incredibly simple. Players take turns choosing a piece for the other player to place on the board. A player wins when they place a piece that forms a row of four pieces (either vertical, horizontal or diagonal) that all share a common trait.