Love Quarto? You'll Love Quads — Play Free in Your Browser
If you searched "play Quarto online," you're probably picturing a specific moment: your opponent hands you a piece, and it's already too late — you have to place it, and it might be the one that beats you. That single mechanic is the whole game, and it's the reason Quads exists.
A quick, honest note: Quads is an independent game and isn't made by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the makers of Quarto — we just love that style of game and wanted a free, modern way to play it. "Quarto" is mentioned here only for comparison, to help you find what you're looking for.
The mechanic you already know
Quads uses the same core idea that made the classic hand-your-opponent-a-piece games so sharp: 16 pieces, each a mix of four traits — tall/short, dark/light, round/square, and solid/hollow. You never choose the piece you place — your rival hands it to you. Win by completing a row, column, diagonal, or 2×2 square where all four pieces share at least one trait. Every piece you hand over could be the one that beats you.
What's different
Quads is a free, from-scratch app built for how people actually want to play today:
- Play instantly, no install. A full web version runs right in your browser — see the button below.
- Five AI difficulty levels, from a forgiving Rookie to a genuinely tough Grandmaster, for solo practice.
- A new daily puzzle — the same hand-crafted position for everyone, solvable in a couple of precise moves.
- Offline pass-and-play for two people on one device, and async "Challenge a Friend" codes for two people on different devices.
- No account, no server, no data collection beyond what's needed to show ads — everything runs on-device.
- Free, in 8 languages, on iPhone, iPad, Android, and now the web.
| Classic Quarto | Quads | |
|---|---|---|
| Core mechanic | Hand your opponent the piece | Same |
| Pieces & traits | 16 pieces, 4 binary traits | Same |
| Price | Physical set, one-time purchase | Free app + free browser play |
| Solo play | Needs a second player | 5 AI difficulty levels |
| Daily puzzle | — | New puzzle every day |
| Play online instantly | — | Yes, no install |
Why we built it this way
The physical version of this game has been a fixture of game nights for decades for good reason — the rules are simple to teach and brutally hard to master, because every move gives your opponent information and every piece you hand them is a small trap you're setting for yourself. We wanted that same tension available for free, on any device, without needing a second person in the room or a board to set up. That's Quads.