If this looks too much like my review from yesterday at first glance, there is good reason. This is another Gigamic game which the proprietor of my friendly local game shop introduced to me by means of a thorough trouncing.
And I had to have it.
So here it is.
Like Quarto, this game includes 16 pieces and a board with 16 spaces. Unlike Quarto, each player has a different color, and starts with two pieces in each of four shapes: cone, cylinder, cube, and sphere. The pieces each have a socket on the bottom so they can be placed on the grid of bosses.
That's the technical term for small protuberances, by the way, especially when used to locate parts in an assembly. Honest.
The goal is to win by placing your piece to complete a row, column, or corner region with one of each unique shape. Diagonals do not count in this one! Players alternate placing pieces, and the only restriction is that you cannot place the same shape in a row, column, or region where your opponent has already placed a piece of the same shape.
In the image above, I played white, and my opponent played red. She won by placing the red cylinder in the back row because I completely overlooked the obvious win I gave away by trying too hard to cleverly set up my next move.
Oops.
Note that although we happened to split the board with all white on one side and all red on the other, this is just how we happened to play our pieces this round. This has nothing to do with the rules themselves.
In short, this game is absolutely brilliant. The rules are simple, and all the pieces and options are visible to each player. Can you properly use the information available to achieve victory?
The simplicity belies incredible depth and incredible opportunity to trip yourself up. The game is also short enough to play several rounds in very little time.
I absolutely love it.
If this interests you in the slightest, see if your local game shop carries this gem!