Quarto and SET are built on the same idea: every item is a unique mix of four features, and you score by spotting a group that matches. The difference is the number of values. A Quarto piece has 2 options per trait, so there are 24 = 16 pieces. A SET card has 3 options per feature, so there are 34 = 81 cards. That one change gives different rules for a match, different odds and a different game: Quarto is a turn-based duel of hand-offs, and SET is a race to spot patterns. Both came out in 1991.
About us: we make Quads, an independent game built on the same hand-your-opponent-the-piece mechanic as Quarto. It isn't affiliated with Gigamic or the makers of Quarto.
Side by side
| Quarto | SET | |
|---|---|---|
| Designer | Blaise Müller | Marsha Falco |
| First published | 1991, by Gigamic | 1991, by Set Enterprises (designed 1974) |
| Components | 16 wooden pieces, 4×4 board | 81 cards |
| Features | Height, colour, shape, top | Number, shape, shading, colour |
| Values per feature | 2 | 3 |
| A match is | 4 pieces in a line sharing at least one trait | 3 cards where each feature is all the same or all different |
| Players | Exactly 2, taking turns | Any number, all at once |
| Luck | None: perfect information | The order of the shuffled deck |
| Solved? | Yes: a draw with perfect play (1998) | Not a turn-based game, so not in that sense |
Facts on SET are from Wikipedia's SET article, and on Quarto from Wikipedia's Quarto article and Gigamic. The counts below are our own, computed by listing every case, and they match the published SET figures.
What counts as a match
The rules for a match look alike but run in opposite directions:
- Quarto asks for any one thing in common. Four pieces win if at least one trait is the same on all four: all tall, or all hollow, or both. Other traits can be anything.
- SET asks for every feature to be all-same or all-different. Three cards with one red, one green and one purple are fine for colour, but two red and one green breaks the set. "Two of a kind" is never allowed.
With only two values, "all different" can't happen across three or four items, so Quarto's rule had to be looser. With three values, SET can demand that every feature behave.
A Quarto win: all four are tall (and round), whatever their colour and top.
The odds, computed
| Quarto | SET | |
|---|---|---|
| Possible groups | 1,820 groups of 4 pieces | 85,320 groups of 3 cards |
| Groups that match | 536 | 1,080 |
| Chance a random group matches | 29.45% (about 1 in 3.4) | 1.27% (1 in 79) |
| Given all but one item of a group… | Three pieces: 0, 5 or 9 of the other 13 pieces complete it | Two cards: exactly 1 of the other 79 cards completes it |
Chance that a random group is a match
A match is about 23 times likelier in Quarto. That's why the games feel so different. In SET, finding any match is the challenge. In Quarto, matches are everywhere, and the challenge is not giving one away.
The way groups match is telling, too. In SET, of the 1,080 sets, 108 differ in one feature, 324 in two, 432 in three and 216 in all four (10%, 30%, 40% and 20%). In Quarto, 512 winning groups share exactly one trait and only 24 share two. Almost every Quarto win hangs on a single trait.
How they play
- Quarto is a slow duel. Two players take turns, and each turn has two decisions: where to place the piece you were given, and which piece to give back. You can take as long as you like. The skill is reading every line and counting which pieces are still safe to hand over. Our strategy guide covers it.
- SET is a fast race. Twelve cards are dealt face up and everyone looks for a set at the same time. Speed of pattern recognition is the skill.
Both are good with a mixed-age group, and both teach the same thinking: sorting items by features. Gigamic marks Quarto for ages 8 and up.
Which to play
- Two people, quiet table: Quarto. You can play it in your browser as Quads, or see every way to play Quarto online.
- A group: SET.
- Teaching: both. Our classroom guide uses the 16 pieces for sorting, Venn diagrams and binary numbers, and the math of Quarto shows why the pieces form a 4D cube.
Frequently asked questions
Is Quarto like SET?
Both use items that are unique combinations of four features. Quarto has 2 values per feature (16 pieces) and is a two-player turn-based game; SET has 3 values per feature (81 cards) and is a real-time pattern-spotting race.
How many cards are in SET?
81: every combination of four features with three values each (3 x 3 x 3 x 3).
How many pieces are in Quarto?
16: every combination of four traits with two values each (2 x 2 x 2 x 2).
Which is harder, Quarto or SET?
They test different skills. SET rewards speed at spotting patterns; Quarto rewards careful counting and planning two decisions per turn.