Gigamic Games Quarto Classic

Who would have thought that a game with such simple rules could be so fascinating to play?This game is satisfying for all levels of players - from little tykes to brain-heavy mathematicians.When you find an opponentwho is about as careful or alert as yourself, you will be surprised howaddictive this game can be."OK, just one more game..."

Notonly is this game mentally stimulating and fun, but it is very attractiveand well made.The size and finish of the wooden pieces make it somethingyou will want to leave out for guests to notice.Perhaps they will ask youwhat it is, so that you can teach them the game!

This would make anexcellent gift.

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I wrote this review in the year 2000, and at that time, I had only the experience of playing the game at a friend's house.Many years later, I purchased one for myself, and was disappointed with the reduction of quality.The original pieces were probably made with maple, and were tooled and finished with a high degree of craftsmanship.I think they also had felt bottoms, which is a nice way to ensure that you place the piece right-side-up.The set that I ordered had pieces made of some cheaper softer wood, and the finish was rough and uneven.A clever player can now cheat by placing a "hollow" piece upside-down to conceal the fact that there

were no solid pieces left to play.That is, no felt bottoms.

I still love the game, but am tempted to throw away the pieces and turn out some of my own in by basement workshop.

April, 2010

Quarto has given our family of 5 (kids ages 13, 11, 7) hours of great play time. It is challenging enough for a Mensa adult and easy enough for our 7-year old to play. Besides warranting all the awards it has received, it looks lovely enough to keep out as an "art" piece in the livingroom... thus luring erstwhile TV viewers. The company that makes this also makes other games that are just as fun and attractive. I considered giving it a 4 for educational value because it doesn't go much farther than develop conceptual thinking/outside-the-box skills (a feat in itself). Scrabble might be more "educational." But in its category, it's a definite 5.

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This game is very easy to learn.Each of the 16 playing pieces has 4 attributes, height (tall & short), color (white and brown), shape (circle & square), and hollow/solid.

The goal is to get 4 of the same attributes in a row (for example, you could have 1 tall white circle, 1 short white circle, 1 tall brown circle, and 1 short brown circle in a row, and that would be a winning set because they are all circles, even though they vary with respect to the other attributes).

The catch is that your opponent picks the piece you have to place on the game board.

This game is similar to SET, in that you are trying to make winning patterns across several attributes.It is different because you are also trying to block your opponent from making winning patterns.

I do wish this game were less expensive so that more people can enjoy it.Not everyone can drop $30 for a game.It is a beautifully made wooden game, but it would be just as much fun if it were made of something inexpensive and priced under $10.

Nevertheless it is a game worth owning. And, for trivia buffs, this game was futuristic enough to appear in an episode of Star Trek Voyager :)

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Quarto will remind you of Tic Tac Toe, until you actually play it. Like Tic Tac Toe, you're trying to get all your pieces in a row. And that's about it, Tic Tac Toe-wise.

There are 16 pieces. Eight blond pieces and eight dark pieces. But if you look a little closer, you'll notice that each piece is different. Nobody's a "color." Each has an attribute (size, color, shape, hollowness) that it shares with three other pieces. So your tall square blond solid piece is like the tall round dark piece that has a hole in it, because they are tall.

Your object is to add the piece that completes a row, column or diagonal of 4 pieces, all of which have the same attribute. Not necessarily all blond pieces or all short pieces, and certainly not all "your" pieces. Maybe all round pieces or all solid pieces. Or all pieces with a hole.

So things are not, as they say, merely black or white. To win, you have to continually change what attribute your looking for. Much more like life, strategically-speaking.

And then there's one more intriguingly life-like rule you should know about: You decide what piece your opponent will play next. Really. That's what you do. When your turn is over, you hand the piece of your choice to your opponent. And now that we're speaking about strategy, suddenly everything becomes much more subtle, even more interesting. Because you're trying everso hard to give your opponent the very piece she really wouldn't want. A piece, in fact, that might very well be the one piece that will make you win.

It's a unique concept in the world of strategy games and uniquely welcome. Because you have to think even more closely about what your opponent might be thinking.

The designer, Blaise Müller, suggests a variation for those who need yet more strategic depth. How about counting 4-in-a-square as well as 4-in-a-row? Ah, how subtle. How challenging. Which makes you wonder about 4-in-an-L, or 4-in-a-zig-zag, even.

In other words, Quarto, like the majority of games in the Gigamic line, has just about all the elements that make a game Major FUN. It takes maybe 5 minutes to learn and maybe 5 minutes to play, and yet it's deep enough to be worth playing over and over. It's as easy to learn as it is because it's based on something familiar. It's as intriguing as it is, because it offers something unique. It's elemental enough to be easily modified to increase or decrease the challenge. It's made of wood. It's durable. It even has a drawstring bag to house the pieces. And, for a modest mailing fee, Fundex will replace any lost piece.

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I got this game in Holland several years ago, have never seen it in the States, and was looking for a replacement after my dog chewed up a few of the pieces. It is really a great game, deceptively simple. The second image is totally wrong; you don't stack pieces on top of each other in this game. Recommended. Smaller children love being able to beat older relatives and friends of the family.

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