Four Score – The Dual Connection Strategy Game (English) Kickstarter Preview

Four Score combines strategy and dexterity in a multidimensional space. Use wooden sticks to complete lines of four on both sides of the board to win. To claim victory at Four Score you will need a steady hand, a keen eye for blocking and a passion for strategy.

Our board has a modular, minimalist design and all game components are wooden, sustainable and environmentaly friendly.

Four Score has four rules:

1. Red plays first and can play only on outer holes for their first move.
2. To win, you must complete a line of four on both sides of the board. Horizontal, vertical or diagonal will do the trick

# Sticks can only be controlled from your side of the board (no reaching in to the centre of the board to complete your move)
# If you dislodge a stick on your go, that stick is replaced and your turn is over
Final note: in the rare event of a stalemate, if one player has competed a line of four on 1 side they are declared the winner

Review:

An easy child classics digression

As an adult player without children, when I think about boardgame classics, I tend to think about games like Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Smallworld and other big company family hits.

I somehow tend to overlook other childhood classics like connect 4, war (the card game), battleship, pick up sticks or guess who ? , although I could review that last one with a few digressions on its own.  Back to business, my point being that those games aren’t even considered as gateway games any more by some nowadays but they definitely are.

I would even dare say that they are needed for children, they have simple rules that children can remember and even explain to one another without getting confused and they play under 20 minutes without needing much focus for an adult.  As a child I remember that my mom would actually play some of those with me while she was cooking, because it is possible !

Those games are definitely useful in waiting places like doctor’s waiting rooms or airports in order not to stuck everybody on its phone and limit screen time, also preserving everybody’s eyesight.

Well it just so happened that Four Score is a game that would like to be added to that list of easy to learn play and understood games.

Four Score : The a new connect 4

As you might have understood from my introduction digression, four score isn’t the type of game a “modern boardgame adult” would bring to a party to crack one open with the boys :D, but that definitely a game I would play with my younger cousin and I wouldn’t get bored.

Four Score takes the basic alignement rules people know from tic tac toe and connect 4 to a three dimensional level with fine wooden sticks and holes.  This added dimension brilliantly introduces some motion skills and wood friction parameters in the game.  The purpose stays simple, make a connect four on both side.

How is putting sticks in holes across an “empty cube” fine motion ? You dare say.  Well, I admit I was skeptical at first, but then I realized that in order to let the game progress or to double counter your adversary on both sides with one unique stick you might easily be tempted to try and have stick navigate through the mass, touching up to 8 others, and that my good sir requires fine motion skills !

The kickstarter campaign also comes with solo “challenges” I tried the first one.  Purpose is to reproduce a pattern on both side at once.  As an adult I can’t imagine there would be a pattern I wouldn’t break with a perfect tactic in 5 minutes and I feel like the younger me would find that boring too.  Sorry boys, doesn’t count as a solo game to me.

Nevertheless, that’s also the type of game that can trick you and I may under estimate it.  I wouldn’t be surprised as the 1 on 1 part is the type of game you loose because you under estimate your adversaries, would you pay more attention to what he as in head you would never loose any connect 4 games, why would you loose one with more dexterity ? Well, because you might be that focused on putting the stick without dropping any other that you did not see those three aligned sticks your adversary sat last turn !

All in all four score is a game that I would have enjoyed as a child, it has a far more beautiful table presence than connect 4 or battleship if you ask me, certainly thanks to the 3D aspect.  And I wouldn’t be surprise to see it appear on doctors children waiting room tables in the year to come, even maybe spread like a virus ! (pun intended)  If you want to be able to say “I had that before it was cool” now is your chance.

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Check out Four Score and Ragged Owl Games on: