Xe Queo
Designed by: Alex Randolph
Xe Queo is a fascinating abstract game for two*, combining a race with deduction, bluff, double-bluff… and triple-bluff.
The board is a simple grid around which seven coloured wooden pieces can move, either a step at a time, or hopping over each other like the counters in draughts/checkers. In each round, one player will place a ring somewhere on the board, and then both players secretly choose the colour piece they want to reach the ring first – using their own set of matching coloured discs – before taking turns moving the pieces. If the piece you backed reaches the ring first, you win that round.
…Or do you?
Not necessarily, because if both players have chosen the same colour piece to back in the same round, then whoever didn’t move the piece into the ring wins. This doubt-infusing possibility is really what gives Xe Queo it’s tantalising teeth. The winner of a round claims the ring, and the first player to take four rings wins the game.
*more recent version Museum Heist plays up to four players
Sam says
A game distilled back to its essence, which may make it too one-note for some. I love it – not to play for a whole evening, but Xe Queo (-I haven’t played the 2-4 player version, Museum Heist) makes frequent appearances on the table and is always brilliant fun, like a poker tournament reduced to a ten minute table-reading challenge. The simplicity just works so well.
-
Take That!
None to speak of really, unless being conned into winning the round for your opponent smarts too much.
-
Fidget Factor!
Extremely low, although the game can reach micro-dramas where someone is trying to work out whether someone else is trying to tempt them into a move
-
Brain Burn!
The rules are so, so, simple it feels like a game from another (genius) age. What makes it engaging is the hidden information and opportunity for bluff.
-
Again Again!
It’s not a game with huge variety. Each play feels abstract and there’s no strategic depth to speak of. But if you enjoy the first play, then you’ll probably enjoy it many times over.
