Quatuor is a recent abstract strategy game designed by Louis-David Raymond, a Canadian.
As a Canadian designer and a fan of abstract strategy games—which is my favorite genre—this one excited me upon its arrival.
To begin with, Quatuor is a self-published effort, and Raymond has created a nice-looking game. The pieces are wooden crokinole discs—nice and chunky. The board, a 4×4 grid, is made of acrylic, which again is very nice. Each player has eight pieces, and you win by getting four of them in a row. There is nothing new in that regard—there are plenty of games with similar goals.
In Quatuor, a player slides a piece onto the board from the outside edge. If that pushes other pieces, that’s fine—at least up to three of them. You cannot push four, as that would force a piece off the board. In terms of getting a piece onto the board, Quatuor feels a lot like Quixo, a game I like quite a lot, largely because it’s one of those rare abstract strategy games I can get my better half to play on occasion.
Initially, Trevor and I expected the game to be drawish. You have only eight moves to win, and yes, we did end in a draw once. We still think the more you play, the more lackluster draws may occur. But what often saves Quatuor is the ability to push other pieces by entering on the diagonals. That simple rule is critical in opening the game to force situations where you have two paths to victory, knowing your opponent can only block one.
Trevor likens Quatuor to Xs & Os, and there is that vibe, but I feel there’s a bit more to it than that—maybe because I won far more than I lost with this one. I also like that it plays quickly, and it always left me willing to play “one more,” which is about all you can ask from a game that practically screams “play me over coffee”—with a monthly Quatuor coffee being a reasonable expectation.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
Diagonal moves lift Quatuor above the norm
As a Canadian designer and a fan of abstract strategy games—which is my favorite genre—this one excited me upon its arrival.
To begin with, Quatuor is a self-published effort, and Raymond has created a nice-looking game. The pieces are wooden crokinole discs—nice and chunky. The board, a 4×4 grid, is made of acrylic, which again is very nice. Each player has eight pieces, and you win by getting four of them in a row. There is nothing new in that regard—there are plenty of games with similar goals.
In Quatuor, a player slides a piece onto the board from the outside edge. If that pushes other pieces, that’s fine—at least up to three of them. You cannot push four, as that would force a piece off the board. In terms of getting a piece onto the board, Quatuor feels a lot like Quixo, a game I like quite a lot, largely because it’s one of those rare abstract strategy games I can get my better half to play on occasion.
Initially, Trevor and I expected the game to be drawish. You have only eight moves to win, and yes, we did end in a draw once. We still think the more you play, the more lackluster draws may occur. But what often saves Quatuor is the ability to push other pieces by entering on the diagonals. That simple rule is critical in opening the game to force situations where you have two paths to victory, knowing your opponent can only block one.
Trevor likens Quatuor to Xs & Os, and there is that vibe, but I feel there’s a bit more to it than that—maybe because I won far more than I lost with this one. I also like that it plays quickly, and it always left me willing to play “one more,” which is about all you can ask from a game that practically screams “play me over coffee”—with a monthly Quatuor coffee being a reasonable expectation.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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