Square One

• Designers: Jan Soukal and Patrik Chleboun
• Publisher: boardcubator
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 9+
• Time: 30-60 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/43owCsV
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Square One is an engine-building strategy game, similar to its predecessor Project L. Its easy-to-learn yet hard-to-master mechanics offer high replayability for the whole family.

In Square One,  players match tiles with patterns to pattern cards on the board. Build more patterns and make more combos to earn points. The person who completes all their patterns first, wins the game.

Each player starts with two yellow level 1 tokens and a green level 2 token. They also get a player aid that outlines the possible actions in the game.  The market is set up with the easy white deck of sequence cards being shuffled as well as the harder black deck.  Each of these decks has four cards laid out on the table.

On a turn, the active player gets three actions.  Actions can be done in any order and can be repeated (well, except for the “Master Action”).  The options include:

• Gain – gain a single Yellow Level 1 chit from the supply
• Take – take one of the sequence cards from the market and place it in your area. Replenish the market with an appropriately colored card.  If the black deck is now exhausted, the game end is triggered.  You can have no more than 4 sequence cards in front of you.  In general, white sequences are easier to complete and they provide you with bonus building tiles when completed.  Black sequences are harder to complete but they give you points at the end of the game for completion.

• Place – Choose any one of your sequence cards and place tiles to complete the topmost empty row of that card. You must be able to place all the tiles in that row.  If you complete all the rows on the card, it is resolved. Remove all the tiles from the card and return them to your supply, you can use them again.  White cards are placed in the discard pile and you take the bonus building tile as indicated in the upper right corner.  Black cards are kept and they are worth a number of VP equal to what is shown in the upper left corner.
• Merge – return tiles from your area to the supply for a single tile of level equal to the value of the discarded tiles 
• Split – return a single tile from your area to the supply for two or more tiles whose combined levels equal that of the discarded tile
• Master Action – this action can only be done once per turn.  You may Place tiles in the topmost available row of any or all of your sequence cards.  If you complete cards, resolve them as normal.  Additionally, if you complete multiple cards with this action, you take a combo scoring marker equal to the number of cards you completed with this action.  This is one way in which you can score points from completing white cards.

Once the three actions have been taken for the turn, the next player goes.  This continues until the game end is triggered – when the last black card is placed into the market.  The current round is completed and each player gets one more turn.  

Players sum up their points – only the completed black cards in their area added to any bonus tokens collected from Master Actions. The player with the highest total wins.  Ties broken in favor of the player with the most points from combos.

My thoughts on the game

Square 1 is the successor to Project L, a 2020 release (https://opinionatedgamers.com/2020/07/14/dale-yu-first-impressions-of-project-l/) . In the original game, you actually used the tetris pieces to fill in different shaped indentations in the scoring cards.  Here, in Square 1, you no longer need to worry about the geometry of the bits, you simply put the needed chits onto the sequence cards.

The game is mostly about efficiency in your actions. You only get 3 actions per game, and while you can freely convert your pieces back and forth – each transmutation eats up one of your valuable actions.  Thus, trying to generate the right pieces (or choosing the right sequence cards that match the pieces you already have) is key to a successful game.

You may also want to keep your eye on the cards in the market to see if you can set up nice combos that use the same building tiles.  Of course, you can only hold four cards at a time, so once your area is full – you have to hope that your opponents don’t choose the sequence card from the market before you do!  

If you had room, you could of course choose the card early and let it sit there – but if the tiles you need are locked into other cards, you’ll not be able to progress on that card until you have the tiles back in your supply…  In opposition to the title, you really never go back to Square 1 in this game as you get to keep all the building tiles from your completed cards; you can immediately place them as soon as they are free from their previous building site.

One of the most interesting decisions is trying to gauge when it is the right time to transition from the white sequence cards to the black ones.  In order to win, you likely will need to finish the black cards as they are the only ones which grant VPs for completion.  However, the easier white cards are great engine builders as each gives you an extra building tile.  And, if you are able to time things correctly, you can actually score bonus points from these white cards with your Master Action.

Square 1 is a nice puzzle game, and one that I have enjoyed playing.  It’s fairly relaxing to play, it’s easy to teach, and the rules are so simple that they are pretty much fully summarized on the small player aid.  The game itself has almost no interaction – other than a bit of indirect competition for the sequence cards in the market – so each player is off working on their own puzzle in their own space.  The turns move pretty quickly in the game, and I find that most of the time between turns is simply spent planning out my next three actions, and then I quickly take them when it is finally my turn to go.

Is it better than Project L?  Honestly, it’s very similar – but I do think that it is a touch more streamlined and plays at a faster speed – so I prefer this newer release.  Of course YMMV, why not try them both and see which one you like better?

 Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it! 
• I like it. Mark Jackson, Dale 
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/43owCsV