Collect four cards of the same rank, tip off your partner with a sign only the two of you know, and let them shout “Quatro!” Your opponents, meanwhile, watch for your signs so they can counter you.
Quatro is played in teams of two. To score, one player has to hold four of a kind — all four of their cards of the same rank — and their partner has to call it at the right moment.
The whole game lives in that gap: the player who has four of a kind can’t say so, and the player who can say so can’t see it. Between the two there is only an agreed sign, which the opponents try to crack.
The game is played by four, six or eight players. Your partner is the player sitting across from you; with four players that makes two teams, with six it makes three, and with eight, four.
The deck holds only what is needed: one more rank than there are players, four copies of each. With four players that makes twenty cards, from the ace down to the ten; with six, the nine and the eight are added; with eight, the seven and the six. Only the rank counts: the suit is mere decoration.
Everyone is dealt four cards, and four more are laid face up in the center. There is no draw pile and no discard pile: every card is in play from the deal onward.
A hand dealt with three cards of the same rank would be almost won before play begins. So it is immediately replaced with another, and the table is told about it without learning which rank it was.
Before each round, each team picks its sign from twenty-four emojis — a pineapple, a rocket, a turtle… The first of the two partners to pick one sets it for the team, and the other sees it appear. Nobody else knows it.
The round opens once everyone has declared themselves ready, or after thirty seconds. A team that hasn’t picked anything in time gets a sign drawn at random. The sign changes every round: last round’s is worth nothing now.
There are no turns: everyone plays at once. To swap, select a card in your hand, then a center space. The two cards trade places in a single move, and the one you put down becomes visible to the whole table.
After each successful swap, you have to wait two seconds before the next one. There is no other limit: you can swap as often as you like.
The center is contested. If someone takes the card you were aiming for a split second before you, your swap is refused and costs you nothing: you don’t have to wait before trying again.
Your only way to tip off your partner is your channel. Take control: the whole table can see that you have taken it. Then choose an emoji, and it is shown to everyone, every five seconds, for as long as you keep control.
Nothing goes out on its own: until you have chosen something, nothing is sent. And nothing forces you to send your real sign — a well-placed decoy makes people shout “Counter!” when they shouldn’t. Between two changes — taking control, giving back control — you have to wait two seconds.
“Quatro!” looks at your partner’s hand, never yours. If they hold four of a kind, your team scores a point. If not, every other team scores a point.
So never call your own four of a kind: make the sign, and let your partner do the talking. The screen reminds you if you try.
“Counter!” accuses an opposing team of holding four of a kind. With four players there is only one; with six or eight, you pick which.
If either player on that team holds four of a kind at that instant, your team scores a point. If not, the point goes to the accused team — even if another team was holding four of a kind at that moment.
Sometimes nobody wants the cards in the center any more. The center can’t be renewed on its own, since every card is already in play; but the table can reshuffle everything, hands and center.
One player asks for it, and every other connected player has to agree within twenty seconds — bots don’t vote. Staying silent means no. It can happen only once per round, and you have to wait thirty seconds between two votes.
The round carries on after the reshuffle: same teams, same signs, same timer, and no point scored.
The round stops at the first call or the first counter, right or wrong. All the hands are then turned face up, and every four of a kind is shown.
If nobody has said anything after three minutes, the round is a draw: nobody scores. A thirty-second break comes before the next round, which the host can start earlier.
A disconnected player keeps their seat and their hand, and nobody plays in their place. Their partner can still call, and their opponents can still counter them.
The table doesn’t wait for them forever: the round opens without them, runs its course and ends, at the latest, when its three minutes are up.
The first team to reach five points wins the game. A point once won is never taken away.
With six or eight players, a wrong call gives a point to several teams at once. If several teams reach the top score together, they win together.