Quoridor

Quoridor won the 1997 Mensa Select award and the Concours International de Createurs de Jeux in Paris. Mirko Marchesi designed it, and Gigamic published it that same year. The game gives each player a single pawn and a stack of wooden walls. Your job is simple: reach the opposite side of the 9x9 board before your opponent does. The twist is that you can spend a turn placing a wall to block their path instead of moving. A 2009 study in the journal IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games analyzed Quoridor's branching factor and confirmed it rivals chess in strategic depth. Start a game in your browser and see how deep a simple wall can go.

1. Pick a game mode: play against the CPU at three difficulty levels, or share one device with a friend in 2-player or 4-player mode.
2. On your turn, choose between two actions: move your pawn one square, or place a wall on the board.
3. Click your pawn to highlight all valid moves. Click a highlighted cell to move there.
4. Toggle between horizontal and vertical wall orientation, then click between two cells to place your wall.
5. If your opponent's pawn sits directly next to yours, you can jump over it to the square beyond, as long as no wall blocks that square.
6. When a wall blocks the square behind your opponent, you can move diagonally past them instead.
7. The first pawn to reach the opposite edge of the board wins the game.

• The board is a 9x9 grid. Each player starts on the center of their edge.
• In 2-player mode, each player gets 10 walls. In 4-player mode, each player gets 5 walls.
• Pawns move one square orthogonally: up, down, left, or right. You cannot move through walls.
• Walls span exactly two cells and can be placed horizontally or vertically between squares.
• Walls cannot overlap or cross each other.
• You can never place a wall that completely blocks a player's path to their goal. A valid path must always exist for every player. This is the golden rule.
• The first pawn to reach any cell on its target edge wins immediately.

• Save your walls for defense, not offense. A wall placed early to slow your opponent often backfires because you lose forward progress and burn a limited resource.
• Count your opponent's remaining walls. If they have zero walls left, your path is guaranteed open and you can sprint forward without fear.
• Place walls at an angle to your opponent's direction, not perpendicular. A diagonal wall forces them to detour in two directions, which costs more steps.
• Use the jump mechanic aggressively. If you can position your pawn adjacent to your opponent, a jump gives you two squares of progress in one turn.
• Think about path length, not just walls. The shortest path to your goal changes every time someone places a wall. Recalculate your route each turn.

• Quoridor Classic (2 players): The standard edition. Each player has 10 walls and one pawn. The most common tournament format.
• Quoridor 4-player: Four pawns start on the center of each edge. Each player has 5 walls. The first pawn to reach the opposite edge wins. Alliances and kingmaking add social strategy.
• Quoridor Kid: A simplified version with a smaller board and fewer walls, designed for younger players to learn the core mechanics.

• Rules take under two minutes to explain, but the strategy scales with experience.
• Every game produces a unique board state because wall placement creates an endless variety of mazes.
• The golden rule (path must always exist) prevents stalemates and keeps games moving.
• It works equally well as a 2-player duel or a chaotic 4-player free-for-all.

Play Quoridor directly in your browser. No downloads, no registration. Choose CPU difficulty or local multiplayer, place walls with a click, and race to the finish. The board renders smoothly on desktop, tablet, and phone. Use the undo button to take back a move and experiment with different strategies.

Quoridor distills strategic thinking into a board of 81 squares and a handful of walls. Every turn forces a choice between progress and disruption. Whether you play the CPU or challenge a friend, each match teaches you something new about timing, path planning, and resource management. Pick a mode and start racing.

• Quoridor - Wikipedia
• A Study on Quoridor Game AI - IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games