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Squadro
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Description
To win Squadro, you need to be the first player to make a return trip with four of your five pieces.
Each player starts with their five pieces in troughs on their side of the game board, with players sitting perpendicular to one another. When you move a piece, you move it a distance based on the strength indicated in the trough that you're leaving. Once the piece has made its way across the board, you move it back based on the strength on the other side. If you pass over an opposing piece while moving, then that opposing piece must return to its last departing base and your moving piece advances one cell further than where the opposing piece was.
Although it is easy to reach a situation where moving any piece implies putting it at risk — therefore making you not want to move — it is important to note that having some of your pieces taken and making your opponent advance is often beneficial to you, since it reduces the amount of possible moves your opponent can perform and gives you extra moves. So do not be afraid or reluctant to place some of your pieces in front of your opponent's, because it can be good for you.
Sit next to your rival and have fun!
All I had to do was get there and back. 4 out of 5 pieces across the board and back to me again. In straight lines. Did I manage it? Not a chance! Gigamic’s newest instalment, Squadro, in their purely abstract collection has bested me like a beast!
But, before you mock me mercilessly, it’s not so easy when you don’t set the pace – or have any say over the pattern for moving your pieces! Oh, plus your opponent can send your ships back to their starting docks whenever they intersect with one of yours.
Yep, that’s a rule in Squadro – should one of theirs sail over the top of one of yours en-route to their own side of the board, your boat is going to be backtracking. Oh, and to add insult to injury, they then get to advance one space ahead of your recently vacated space.
(Okay so they aren’t technically ships but, to me, they look like little ships traversing the wooden waves, so I am going to name them such for the purposes of this review!)
The other rules are equally straightforward but no less spikey. Each dock shows how many spaces each ship can move every turn (1,2, or 3). This switches up in the second half, as the opposite ends of the board have different speed “strengths”. You have to predict where your opponent might go next (so that you can avoid putting yourself somewhere worth hopping over), look for opportunities to send their ships back, and race back to your own home base with four of your wooden wave riders.
So far, I have seen my ships sent back more times than they have reached the finish line first. But that’s okay because I know my husband is a master of spatial strategy! It doesn’t lessen the sting, but it definitely doesn’t put me off. If you are against someone who is very good, I won’t lie; it can feel one-sided – a bit like Chess or Go. But the games are short, which means plenty of time to try again. And each game is an opportunity to practice and hone your strategic skills for next time!
Squadro is an easy to learn, quick to play, beautiful looking abstract strategy game. The pieces are chunky and the sustainable wood finish is lovely. And, although I call the pieces ships and they look like they are riding the wooden waves, there is zero theme in this game. But pure abstract strategy doesn’t need bling or bits. It just needs you, your brain, and a game plan!
Zatu Score
You might like
- Wooden components.
- Easy to learn.
- Quick to Play.
Might not like
- How often you might lose!