instructables

Quarto Game

by Opifex

This is a boardgame that I did not invent : it was
created by a mathematician called Blaise Müller and is
now commercialised under the name "Quarto". I
decided it would be fun to make one myself... And I
will show you how I did it.
- a hardwood round stick, 11" long, 1/2" thick
- a hardwood square stick, 11" long, 7/16" thick
- some walnut husk dye or any dark dye or paint

But, rst, you probably want to know about its rules. - some boiled linseed oil
Well, these are actually pretty simple. There are 16
pieces, each of which is either short or tall, either The tools you need (of course, you may replace any of
black or white, either round or square and either these with another tool or machine) :
hollowed or plain... In such a way that each piece is
- a blockplane/apronplane
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 - a blockplane/apronplane
unique but shares one or more characteristics with
some of the other pieces. Taking turns, the two players - a scraper
place a piece on the 4x4 board, the goal of the game
being to complete a line (either vertically, horizontally - a pair of dividers
or diagonally) of four pieces that have at least one
characteristic in common. Now, there is one last - a coping saw (or a bandsaw)
subtlety : you cannot just pick up the piece you want
to place : your opponent is to choose the one you will - a at rasp
play, and vice versa. In other words, player 1 chooses a
piece and gives it to player 2 who places it onto the - a at le
board. Then player 2 picks up a piece he gives to
player 1 who places onto the board. Then player 1 - a disc sander (optional)
repeats that, and so on until, eventually, one of the
two players succeeds in forming a row of four pieces - some medium and ne sandpaper
that share at least one of the eight characteristics. For
instance, if by playing her/his piece, player 2 succeeds - a pillar drill or a hand drill
in completing a line of four black pieces, player 2 wins
the game. The variety of possibilities and the necessity - a handsaw
of keeping all parameters in mind make this simple
game interestingly complex. - a scriber

Supplies: - a handsaw
The materials you need :
- a ruler
- a piece hardwood for the board, 5" wide and 1/4"
thick (thicker if you need to atten it)

- a square (optional)

Step 1: Making the Board, Step 1

Take a piece of wood, about 5"

wide and 1/4" thick (more if you need to atten it). I used pearwood for the whole set of pieces and gameboard. Put
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it onto a at surface and see if it lies at : if it rocks, you must atten it, using a blockplane.

Step 2: Making the Board, Step 2

Once you are happy with it, it is time to make it circular. Get your dividers, and pointing it to the centre of your piece
of wood, draw a 2 5/16 radius circle. Mark the centre of the circle with a pencil : you will need it later on.

Step 3: Making the Board, Step 3

Using a coping saw or a bandsaw, cut carefully along
the line... As close to it but being careful not to come
inside the line. The more accurate and regular you are,
the less work and time you will have to spend with
ner tools in the next steps.
table disc sander), making the board as perfectly
circular as possible. If you do things correctly, with
every ner tool you use, you should get rid of all
marks left by the previous : only then you may go on
to the next one.

Clean up the side, using rasp, le and sand paper (or a

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Step 4: Making the Board, Step 4
It's time to mark the position of the holes. Mark a line
crossing the disc and passing through its centre. Mark
another line that runs perpendicular to the rst and
that also passes through the centre. Set your dividers
to 1 11/16 in and, on those two lines, mark four points
1 11/16" away from the centre. We will name them A,
D, G and J for ease of explanation. Draw light pencil
lines between points A and D, between D and G,
between G and J and between J and A. Dividing the
length of segment [AD] by 3 will give you the right
measure for positioning all other points : if you are
using the same scale as I did, it should be about
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13/16" . Setting your dividers to this measurement,
mark points B and C between A and D ; points E and F
between D and G ; points H and I between G and J ;
and points K and L between J and A. There should
always be the same distance between two close
points. Draw a light pencil line between B and I, and
another one between C and H : their intersections
with line segments [AG] and [DJ] will give you the
position of to the four other points... You now have all
sixteen points drawn on.
Step 5: Making the Board, Step 5

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With a 5/8" bit, drill each of these points. It only has to
be deep enough to underline the places where the
game pieces go : it is not even necessary to drill (you
could just draw or paint small circles), but I nd it
gives a nice optical e ect, especially if you let the bit
slightly burn the wood, for more contrast.
You can now smoothen the surface of the board by
rubbing in circle motion onto a sheet of sand paper
placed on a at surface. I would typically use sand
paper grit 180, then 220, 280, 400 and 600 (I might
leave it a bit coarser, or go with even ner sandpaper,
depending on my mood).
With a brush or a piece of cloth, apply some boiled
linseed oil (buy it already boiled, as boiling it yourself
would require some high precautions and a couple of
hours of your precious time) and let it "dry" (it does
not actually dry, but hardens through an oxydation
process... For our project, though, it will be enough to
consider it as drying time without getting into more
detail). Caution : if you apply linseed oil with a piece of
cloth, you have to wash it afterwards, as its oxidation
on cloth rag may in some cases cause it to catch re.
However there is nothing to worry about, as long as
you do take care : I have used linseed oil for over 13
years and never had any problem.

For a better look, and in order to protect the board, Congratulations : you are done with your gameboard.
smoothen the edges by applying a chamfer to it, with
a le and some sand paper.

Step 6: Making the Pieces, Step 1

Take your square stick : cut four 1" 7/16" long pieces out of it, and four 15/16" long ones.

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Repeat the same procedure with the round stick.

File and sand the extremities so they do not rock when placed upright.

Step 7: Making the Pieces, Step 2

With a 3/16in drill bit, drill the ends of two long
square pieces and two short square pieces, as well as
of two long round pieces and two short round pieces.
You do not have do drill very deep : only as much as to
look hollowed, in comparison the the plain pieces.
Separate the sixteen pieces into two groups, each of
which is composed by a short and a long plain square
pieces, a short and a long hollowed square pieces, a
short and a long plain round pieces, and a short a
long hollowed round pieces.

Sand the pieces and smoothen the edges as for the

board.

Step 8: Making the Pieces, Step 3

Set one group aside and dye the pieces of the other group with walnut husk dye or any dark dye or paint. Let it dry.

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Apply some linseed oil to all sixteen pieces as for the board.

Step 9: Your Quarto Game Is Finished !

Congratulations, your quarto game is nished : you can now carry on having fun and play with it !

If my explanations lack clarity, please do feel free to let me know : I shall be glad to answer any question.

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