Gigamic Quarto Classic Game

Product Information

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! Now, I always make silly mistakes in this game which cost me dearly – and not just failing to spot a win! I can’t seem to see the patterns as they begin to emerge, and that is my husband’s chance to zip in and snooker me. For him, the advanced mode is the sweet spot, and that just gives me another excuse to blame when I lose to him!

For example: Create on the board a line of 4 pieces of the same color. (just one feature chosen). Variation For Advanced Players 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!!!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. In 1991, a Swiss mathematician named Blaise Müller invented an abstract strategy game called Quarto. It’s been over two decades since this award-winning title has been released and, to be 100% honest, I had never heard of it until now. To be fair, I rarely gravitate towards abstract strategy games, but if it has won awards, it has to be good, right?

You may have noticed there’s still a pesky number in our equation: the 2, reflecting the fact we are on a two-dimensional game board. You can get Quarto in either the regular size or Quarto Mini if you’d like more of a travel version. I actually think I prefer the mini size as the smaller components work fine and I like the portability it offers. If you are looking for a game that you can play with just about anyone, then give Quarto a look. You can now smoothen the surface of the board by rubbing in circle motion onto a sheet of sand paper placed on a flat surface. I would typically use sand paper grit 180, then 220, 280, 400 and 600 (I might leave it a bit coarser, or go with even finer sandpaper, depending on my mood). different pieces each with 4 characteristics: light or dark, round or square, tall or short, solid or hollow.

Keeping track of the pieces

But that’s not the case. In fact, it’s the mechanic that has you choosing a piece for your opponent that’s absolutely genius. This forces you to not only think about what you are giving your opponent and all the places they can drop it, but also in what position that will leave you. You also need to consider which pieces your opponent will have left to hand you. Rule 1. Realize that every piece is (potentially) a winning piece. Don't focus on such things as "this piece is tall," because one tends to forget that that same piece is also light, square, and solid. The components in Quarto are minimal, but still expertly crafted. The game board is made out of wood and contains 16 circles to place the pieces in. The only other components are the 16 wooden game pieces, in two different stain colors. In addition to their stain color, each piece will contain some of the following aspects: tall or short, square or circular, hollow-top or solid-top.

If none of the players sees the alignment during the move during which it is created, it loses any value and the game continues. 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. 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!The players throw dice to see who starts. The first player selects one of the 16 pieces and gives it to his opponent. 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: It’s certainly possible to imagine playing on a three-dimensional board. You might have seen a 3D noughts and crosses puzzle, or be imagining Star Trek’s 3D chess. 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.

Andrew] So, in this example, I’m placing a piece, and then I choose a piece for Anitra and hand it to her. 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.] 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. And, standard disclaimer. This is only what I've seen. I again do not consider myself an expert, and have lost badly to some opponents. (Yeah, still fresh in my mind is the loss I had 6 pieces in. That stung. http://en.boardgamearena.com/#!gamereview?table=7425275 At least the rematch lasted longer...) No warranty, express or implied. Your mileage may vary. 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.

End of the Game

If this player has not noticed the alignment and passes a piece to the opponent: The latter may "at that moment" call "QUARTO !" and indicate the alignment: He wins the game.