NOTE: Entry in "Contest X 2019" Please comment on the rules in the discussion on BGG
Line up 3 cards with matching background colour, edge colour or technology to win!
Components[]
- 27 tiles
- 27 cards - split the 54 card deck in two sets (Green/Yellow/Black edges and Red/White/Blue edges) and use 1 set for a game
Setup[]
Place the tiles face down to make 3 boards that is each a 3x3 grid.
- Sort the 27 cards in groups of 9 by background colour (Beige/Pink/Lime)
- Make rows by edge colour (Green/Yellow/Black or Red/White/Blue)
- Make columns by symbols of each technology (Lumber Mill / Oil Pump / Sewing Machine.
The starting player is decided by the player that last cut wood, pumped oil or sewed cloth.
Play[]
- On your turn, the player to your right selects one of the cards and gives it to you.
- Place the card on a free tile on any of the 3 boards, and check if you won.
- If you didn't win, the turn passes clockwise. In other words, select a card and give it to the player on your left.
Winner[]
A player wins immediately when placing a card that completes a 3-in-a-row with matching background colour, edge colour or technology. If there is no 3-in-a-row when all 27 cards have been placed, the game is a tie.
Designer's comment for 3 or 4 players[]
- Quarto is designed as a 2-player game, but in my experience it works well with 3 players also - with a completely different strategy since you can't just force the next player to give you a winning pawn. In Quarto, you play on a single 4x4 grid board using 16 pawns with 4 different attributes that have 2 values each (hort/tall, square/round, solid/hollow and light/dark)).