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Quoridor and Quoridor Kid Review
When its raining outside!
Family fun!
| In brief: |
Quoridor pits two to four players against each other in a race to cross the board. Each player crosses in a different direction and you can choose to either move your mouse towards the cheese or place a wall to slow your opponents (or perhaps help yourself). It will take about five minutes to learn to play and a typical game will last anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour. |
| Fun Factor (4-6yrs): | 8
Quoridor kid is a guaranteed lasting hit for any family or group with four to six year old children in it. While the strategy is surprisingly deep for such simple rules, the younger ones will quickly grasp the nature of the game and often work together to make sure that Mum or Dad come in last! |
| Fun Factor (7-10yrs): | 8
Juniors love Quoridor kid. At some stage in this age range, depending upon the individual child and how much they've expanded their minds by playing thinking games, they are likely to want to 'graduate' to Quoridor, although its often just because they want to feel a little more 'grown up' and the individual Quoridor kid games can be over a little too quickly for their liking. |
| Fun Factor (11yrs up): | 8
Quoridor often surfaces at Uni where it can result in students spending a little too much time focussing on playing it rather than 'doing real work'. The truth is that Quoridor kid with its smaller 7x7 grid and fewer wall pieces is quite deep enough to keep pretty much anyone entertained if playing in two player mode but its a little to 'cute' in appearance for this age group. For three or four players predominantly in this age group, the larger 9x9 Quoridor is preferable in any event because it makes it a little harder to gang up on other players too early in the game. |
| Smart Factor: | 7
Quoridor is an excellent thinking game. In addition to needing to plan ahead, the strong patterns created by the mazes let players build up a repertoire of quick responses. However, the twists from additional players and the difficulty of factoring in the benefit of jumping over other mice to move more quickly will keep even the most hardened gamer on their toes. |
| Longevity: | 9
When we visit friends we're always surprised if they don't have a copy of this great game. Its so much more practical to play and fun than traditional board games like Monopoly or Risk. Quoridor should be in everyone's game cupboard. Better still, put it on display by the TV. That way the TV will stay off more often and you'll all have more fun while saving electricity to boot! |
Quoridor | |
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Quoridor Kid | |
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$45.95 |
Jane says:
Our boys and their friends love Quoridor kid. I don't know if its the delightful bright colours and simple shapes or if its the clear goal of getting your mouse to reach his cheese but everyone just seems to get the rules in minutes and then want to play it over and over.
The rules are very similar no matter how many play. Here's our home version (wikipedia has the detailed version) -
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Choose a mouse and sit behind it. Your goal is to finish first by getting your mouse to any square along the far side of the board.
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Share out the wall pieces as best you can amongst all the players.
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Starting with the youngest player (or last loser), each player moves in turn.
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On your turn you must either move your mouse or place one wall piece -
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Placing your wall pieces
The walls go in the gaps and must take up exactly two squares. You can put walls anywhere so long as you don't put them around the edge and you don't completely cut anyone off from their goal. Sending them all the way back round the board is fine though!
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Moving your mouse
You can move your mouse one space vertically or horizontally (not diagonally) as long as there is no wall in the way. If there is a mouse in the way you can jump straight over it to the empty square behind it as long as there is no wall in the way. If there is a mouse or a wall in the way when you are jumping over another mouse, you can choose an alternative empty square next to the mouse so long as you aren't jumping over another wall.
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Its OK to call someone a 'meanie' when they put a wall in your way so long as you smile at them!
Quoridor has deservedly won lots of awards too.
Paul says:
Quoridor is a classic game that deserves to sit with the likes of Chess, Backgammon and Go. For most of us its more fun! I wont bore you with its history or variations... You can go to the wonderful wikipedia for that if you like.
When I'm working at home, my two young boys often leave for school shouting 'Can we play you at Quoridor when we get home?'. Right now, if I try very hard I sometimes win but when the boys work together one of them generally comes in first, much to their great delight. The tough thing is getting them to try the other new games I want to review!
Quoridor is almost two games in one -
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If you play with a single opponent, its a surprisingly deep and involving educational game that warrants a lot of analysis. Played to its highest level, Quoridor approaches the complexity of chess.
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On the other hand, playing with three or four still involves strategy but like a lot of board games, it becomes a game of politics as players barter for a well placed wall or passage across the board. Temporary alliances form and dissolve, particularly as the mice can double their rate of movement in a particular direction by hopping over each other.
There are no award logos on this page because I'm having trouble in finding authorized ones to use. Quoridor has been around for quite a long time. It won US Games magazine's "Game of the year" in 1997 and also won the Mensa mind games award in that year. Its apparently also won numerous prizes elsewhere in Europe but my online searches have just revealed the names - Grand prix du jouet, France and Toy award, Belgium.
There are plenty of web references to Quoridor, which enjoys lasting appeal because of its deep strategic gameplay. Here are some of my favorite links:
| Play on your PC | Play Quoridor against each other or against some pretty challenging bots on this neat little java program. Its nowhere near as much fun as playing with the wooden pieces and it doesn't support more than two players but it gives you an idea just how entertaining Quoridor is! The program is a good place to test strategies and try out openings if you are focussed on the two player game. |
| wikipedia | A detailed description, with history and the rules. |
| Board Game Geek | Reviews and comments from this American site. It also has a great range of Quoridor pictures. |
Quoridor | |
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Sorry |
Quoridor Kid | |
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$45.95 |
