Quickset
Original · an enclosure duel for two
A meadow of sixteen folds — the fourth hedge closes one, and closing never passes the hand.
Ready to play now.
A demonstration of Quickset, played by the computer against itself.
Quickset — playing itself
Ways to play
Alone, against the computer
Your own pace, no arranging anything. Take a move back whenever you like.
Play alone5 opponents, weakest first
- The GreenhornAny undrawn hedge, by the seed. 0.8 berries and 0.5 folds a meadow — the Hedger shuts it out 80–0. Random hedges close meadows for whoever is watching.
- The HedgerCloses what is closable, richest first; otherwise any hedge at all. 80–0 over the Greenhorn, and then 6–74 under the Grazier — closable is not the same as wise.
- The GrazierKeeps safe hands — never a third side while a two-side fold is free — and gives the poorest fold when the meadow forces a gift. 74–6 over the Hedger; 14.6 berries and 8.0 folds a meadow.
- The ReevePrices every hedge by a greedy reading of the whole meadow after it — what it banks, what the chain leaves, what the rival takes back. 80–0 over the Grazier, and the heaviest basket on the ladder: against that same Grazier it takes 23.8 berries and 12.8 folds a meadow.
- The StewardA deeper read from the first hedge — it takes the best few hedges by the Reeve’s own price and asks what the rival’s best ANSWER does to each, taking the one whose best answer hurts least — and then the last eleven hedges solved exactly, negamax on the berry margin with alpha-beta and a table that remembers only the truth. 53–27 over the Reeve. Against the Grazier it carries a LIGHTER basket than the Reeve does — 19.9 berries to 23.8, 10.8 folds to 12.8 — and it beats the Reeve anyway, which is the whole of this game in one line: the margin is the meadow, not the harvest.
Together, in the same room
2 players. One device goes round the table, or everybody plays off the same screen.
Play in the same roomOnline, at a table
A room code, joinable from anywhere. Pause tonight and pick it up next week from your device.
Play online
About
An enclosure duel for two — the shelf’s only one. A 4×4 meadow of folds, each bearing berries in the open: ones, twos and threes, twenty-nine in all. On your turn you set one hedge on any undrawn edge; the fourth hedge of a fold closes it, and its berries are yours — and closing does not pass the turn: you set another hedge at once, for every fold you close. The meadow is read when all sixteen folds are shut, and the berry count decides it — three folds of one lose to one fold of three. Equal baskets stand level, the meadow shared, said plainly.
How it feels
- The hedge that hands the rival nothing
- A chain of closes, hand after hand
- The three-berry fold left open on purpose
What the design is for
The shelf’s first enclosure
Hedges on a lattice, folds between them — the fourth side closes, and the closed fold is gone. The mechanism dots-and-boxes made famous, weighed here by what the folds HOLD, not how many there are.
Closing never passes the hand
The chain is the engine: close a fold and you set another hedge at once. A long chain is a gift you gave away three sides at a time — and the rival will walk it to the end.
Berries, not folds
Every fold bears 1–3 berries in the open, twenty-nine on the meadow. The reading is by berries alone: the cheap folds are the ones you give, and one fold of three outweighs three of one.
Every hedge is a gift waiting
A third side is a fold served to whoever draws fourth. The whole craft is timing the giving — open the cheap folds late, and never touch the rich ones first.
Taught hedge by hedge
Six steps: the rim hedge, the fourth side, the chain, the gift, the reading by berries — and then a whole meadow to yourself. The reading step is a real position, played out of a real meadow: seven folds each, thirteen berries to twelve, two hedges left, and the tests re-solve it exactly to check that one wins by five and the other loses by three.
- Best at
- 2
- Kind
- Strategy
- Table
- Competitive
- Studio
- Board.game Originals
The opponents
The Greenhorn
Any undrawn hedge, by the seed. 0.8 berries and 0.5 folds a meadow — the Hedger shuts it out 80–0. Random hedges close meadows for whoever is watching.
The Hedger
Closes what is closable, richest first; otherwise any hedge at all. 80–0 over the Greenhorn, and then 6–74 under the Grazier — closable is not the same as wise.
The Grazier
Keeps safe hands — never a third side while a two-side fold is free — and gives the poorest fold when the meadow forces a gift. 74–6 over the Hedger; 14.6 berries and 8.0 folds a meadow.
The Reeve
Prices every hedge by a greedy reading of the whole meadow after it — what it banks, what the chain leaves, what the rival takes back. 80–0 over the Grazier, and the heaviest basket on the ladder: against that same Grazier it takes 23.8 berries and 12.8 folds a meadow.
The Steward
A deeper read from the first hedge — it takes the best few hedges by the Reeve’s own price and asks what the rival’s best ANSWER does to each, taking the one whose best answer hurts least — and then the last eleven hedges solved exactly, negamax on the berry margin with alpha-beta and a table that remembers only the truth. 53–27 over the Reeve. Against the Grazier it carries a LIGHTER basket than the Reeve does — 19.9 berries to 23.8, 10.8 folds to 12.8 — and it beats the Reeve anyway, which is the whole of this game in one line: the margin is the meadow, not the harvest.
Achievements
0 of 5 earned
The Heavier Basket
Win a meadow.
Wider Than the Hedge
Win holding ten folds or more.
A Heavy Basket
Win with eighteen berries or more.
Fewer Hedges, More Meadow
Win while setting fewer hedges than the rival.
From Behind the Quickset
Win after trailing by six berries at the meadow’s half.
Key art
Key art — Board.game art system
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