Review: Quarto (Gigamic, Hachette)

There are luck games and pure strategy games. There are simple games and complex ones. There are visually plain creations and beautiful designs. But precious few games manage to tick as many boxes as Quarto from Gigamic and Hachette Games.

This 2-player strategy game first landed on our shelf over 20 years ago. It’s still a family favorite today thanks to its simple rules, quick play, and adjustable difficulty levels. And as an added bonus, it looks so interesting that you can leave it set up on your game table and use it as a conversation piece when friends visit.

Let’s look at the top five things you need to know about Quarto.

How It Works

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Quarto plays on a four-by-four grid that’s carved (not printed) into its wooden board. The 16 playing pieces range from 1.5” to 2.25” tall and come stored in a drawstring bag.

Each piece has its own unique mix of four attributes: tall or short, round or square, light or dark, and hollow or solid. For example, there’s only one piece in the game that’s tall, square, dark, and solid on top. Likewise, only one piece is short, round, light, and hollow on top.

Although there are two colors of pieces in this two-player game, Quarto defies the standard “you get one color and I’ll take the other” approach. Instead, players share the entire pool of pieces throughout the game.

Winning with Attributes

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Quarto works similarly to tic-tac-toe. You’re trying to get four matching pieces in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. At first blush, this seems impossible since each piece in the game is unique, so Quarto messes with the definition of “matching.”

Here’s where things get crazy. When Quarto says “matching,” it means “shares a single attribute.” So you could win if four pieces in a line are all tall, all dark, all hollow, or all of any other single attribute.

Tracking those four attributes as pieces are added to the board is your key to winning. It’s also your key to picking which piece your opponent will play.

Quarto’s Piece-placing Twist

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Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. You select a piece from the supply, then you give it to your opponent and watch as they add it to the board.

It’s very easy at first, but things get complicated about 8 or so pieces in. You have to focus on the board, look for all of the possible matching lines of pieces, and choose something that won’t let your opponent win the game.

This simple mechanic makes Quarto utterly brilliant. It flips the normal dynamic of how two-player games work by putting you on the hot seat during your opponent’s turn. Hand your opponent the wrong piece and they’ll win. But if they hand you the wrong piece, you take the game.

Easy to Learn, Hard to Master

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Thanks to the limited number of playing pieces and board spaces, along with the game’s very simple rules, it takes one minute or less to learn Quarto. Getting good at the game is another thing entirely.

Relaxed, casual players can enjoy Quarto as a light, replayable diversion to enjoy over coffee and conversation. More serious competitors will study the board and make the most strategic choices in piece selection and placement. Luckily, Quarto rewards both playing styles equally.

Changing the Challenge

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The game’s instructions include two options for adjusting the difficulty level to match your audience.

When teaching younger kids how to play, they suggest starting with one or two attributes as options for the winning combinations instead of all four. Using light versus dark made the most sense when our kids were little, but they quickly wanted to move on to considering more attributes or just playing the full game.

To increase the challenge for advanced players, the game offers a “square” option. In this scenario, you can still win with a line of pieces, but you can also succeed by making a two-by-two square of pieces with the same attribute. That adds nine more possible winning positions, which definitely ratchets up the game’s strategic challenge.

Verdict

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There’s a reason this game sold over a million copies so far and earned awards like the Mensa Select. Quarto is fast to learn, quick to play, and has a high “one more game” quotient that keeps players coming back.

The newest printing carries Quarto’s legacy forward in style. The game’s physical board and 16 pieces are beautifully finished wood. The pieces feel good in your hands and deliver a satisfying “clunk” as you make your plays. Since everything is made of natural fibers, leave a desiccant packet or two in the box to prevent the wood from warping due to moisture.

Quarto deserves a spot in everyone’s game collection. We wholeheartedly recommend it for all ages, skill levels, and decorating styles.