Quarto Mini (Travel Version) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Quarto! travel edition board is fairly small, 7 inches to a side. While the base of the board is metal, it is trimmed in a cherry stained wood. The pieces are magnetized, in normal "travel" fashion. They're of a nice wooden nature, however, and pretty enough.
On the game board there is a 4×4 grid of circles surrounded by a larger circle, which in turn is inside of the square of the game board. While the base of the board is metal, it is trimmed in a cherry stained wood.
The object of the game is to be the person who completes a line of 4 pieces, each sharing a common aspect. There are 4 aspects in the game that the pieces may share: height, shape, solidity, and color. The person who makes that line calls out "Quarto!" and notes the line that he made and the aspect that they share. He's the winner.
There are 16 pieces in this game, each unique. There are:
* 8 circular pieces and 8 square pieces
* 8 dark pieces and 8 light pieces
* 8 hollow pieces and 8 solid pieces
* 8 tall pieces and 8 short pieces
So, for example, one of the pieces is a tall dark hollow round piece. Another is a tall dark hollow short piece.
To start, the first player selects one of the 16 pieces and gives it to his opponent to place. After placing that piece, the other player selects one of the remaining pieces and gives it to his opponent. In this way, the game proceeds until someone has created a line of 4 pieces sharing the same aspect (say, 4 dark pieces or 4 square pieces).
The game is simple. It's ingenious, really. It goes quickly at first, because you're not running into any possibilities that you might have 4 in a row that share the same aspect. But before too long, 3 in a row with the same aspect start popping up.
Should you leave them there, or close them up so they can't be used? I guess it all depends on what's left out there, and the rest of the board. If you leave them there, it gives your opponent a chance to fill it in. But it also gives you a chance to fill it in. So if you can figure out a way to confound your opponent into giving you what you want, you're in good shape.
You'll look down at the pieces on the board and be like "Hmmm, I can't give him a square piece, because there's a line of 3 square pieces. And there's also a line of 3 hollow pieces, so I can't give him that either. So I need to find a piece that's solid and round." So you look at the remaining pieces and discount all of the hollow and square pieces, choosing one and giving it to him. He can then either "close out" one of those lines, hence freeing that aspect so he can give it to you (if he's been painted into a corner), or try and ride it out and force you to give him the piece he desires.
When you first start to play there'll be a lot of Homerish "D'oh!"s. A lot of forehead slapping fun. But then you'll start to see how the game is played, and try to maneuver so that your opponent has limited choices as to what to give you. And then your placements will reflect that as well.
The game is tactically rich, and opportunistic. It plays very quickly, provided the players don't suffer too bad from AP. Piece selection is very careless in the beginning, when it doesn't matter. But thereafter it's just as important, if not more important, than where you actually place the piece.
Quarto is an excellent game, and the travel edition fits the bill perfectly. This is an outstanding game to play if you're waiting for your meals to arrive at a restaurant, for example. The board is small, it plays quickly, and it's easy to set up and break down. It's found itself a home in my backpack =)

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This miniature version is about 2/3 the length/width for about 1/2 of the surface area - highly suitable for travel. The most awarded game in the world challenges players to create a line of 4 pieces that share a common characteristic-tall or short, dark or light, round or square, hollow or solid. But it is the opponent who chooses which piece to play and vice versa. With 2 levels of play for 2 players, ages 8+, concentration skills are an asset to win the game.

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