Yet another game by ShallowEnigma
Dedicated to my wonderful wife and the love of my life, Donna Bridge-Stryker
© 2025 Tabytha Bridge-Stryker
4-PLAY is a variant of the copyrighted game, Quarto™️, which was created by Blaise Müller in 1989 and is currently published by Gigamic. I highly recommend buying a set, as it is beautiful and fun, and has won countless awards. Blaise Müller is a Swiss mathematician and game designer best known for Quarto, but has also developed other games like Quits(2000).
4-PLAY is a two player game.
The 4-PLAY board is a simple 4x4 grid. There are 16 unique pieces each defined by four binary attributes: blue/white, round/square, shiny/dull and drilled/undrilled. At the beginning of the game the board is empty and the pieces are grouped together off the board into a common pool.
The goal is have 4 pieces in a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) on the board sharing an attribute, so 4 blue pieces, 4 drilled pieces, etc.
One player is chosen to go first, and the players take turns until the game is over.
4-PLAY is unusual in that each player selects the piece their opponent will play.
For the first turn, Player 1 merely picks a piece for Player 2. But from then on, each player places the piece given them on an empty spot of the board, and if they don't win from that placement, selects a piece from the pool and gives it to their opponent to play.
When a player places a piece on the board, and consequently there is sequence of 4 pieces in a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) sharing at least one attribute, they win! A draw is possible if all pieces are placed without a win.
This is where you set up the game you wish to play or observe.
Use your gamepad controller to select and change options. Use Select (or D-pad up and down) to switch between option lines, and D-pad right and left to change the option for that line.
1. Selection of Attributes - standard 4-PLAY uses four attributes, but for kids or learning you can select to have just one (blue/white)
2. Selection of Players - for both players you can select how they are controlled. Options are GAMEPAD 1, GAMEPAD 2, AI NOVICE, AI EASY, AI MEDIUM, AI HARD, and AI BEST
When you have options set as you like, press Start on a controller to begin the game!
This is where the game is played. The 4x4 board is displayed, along with the pool of 16 unique pieces.
1. Selection of Move - generally, you must place the piece given you, and then select a piece to give to your opponent.
Selection is done using a diamond cursor, using the gamepad to position it over the desired piece/location, and then pressing the A button to select it. Follow the on screen prompts under the board. After you have finished your turn, the screen changes color and current player is updated on the right side of the board. If you have selected both players to use the same controller, pass it to them now.
2. Ending the Game - when the game is over, you'll hear a distinctive downward melody and a description of how the won was achieved (common attribute and pieces). When you wish to return to the Selection/Start screen, push A on your controller.
4-PLAY is variant of Quarto by Blaise Müller
Software Design and Programming; Graphics, Sound Effects and Music; Manual, Label Design and Writing: Tabytha Bridge-Stryker
Sound Effects: from NESLIB code examples and Tabytha Bridge-Stryker
NESLIB Programming Library: Shiru (shiru@mail.ru)
Developed using the C programming language, cc65, emacs, bash, neslib, Mesen, yychar, famitracker, NES Assets Workshop, paint.net, GIMP, Collabora Office, Windows 11, Debian Linux, Mac OS 15, Coke Zero and Totino's Supreme.
Want to reward me for making this game? Please send $1,000,001 or perhaps a nice email to tabytha@shallowenigma.com.
Proudly Designed, Developed and Produced in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Special thanks to Donna, Artemis and BearGriz72 for their comments and suggestions. Thanks to nesdoug for his helpful blog on NES programming with cc65.