Welcome to Quod.
The game is currently developed in pure C using SDL2 and OpenGL.
The text below has been taken from the Gnome Quod game that I developed many
years ago: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gquod/.
For your reference there is another old game developed by me for Palm:
http://www.hpc.ru/soft/software.phtml?id=15765
V.
04 Dec 2013
Quod, a game invented by G. Keith Still, has simple rules, but playing well requires sophisticated strategy. The goal of the game is to place pieces on a grid so that they make a square. The player who makes a square first wins. Squares can be any size and orientation, and players have a limited supply of blocking pieces, which adds to the complexity and interest.
Quod is played on a 11 x 11 square grid board with the four outer corners
missing. Players take turns placing pieces on the board. Each player begins
the game with 20 attacking (colored) pieces, and 6 blocking (white) pieces.
The object of the game is to out-maneuver your opponent and be the first to
outline a square, called a quod, by capturing its four corners with your
colored attacking pieces. The blocking pieces are used to block your opponent's
squares, but don't count towards making a square of your own.
On each turn you place one attacking piece on the board. Optionally,
before placing the attacking piece, you can place any number of blocking pieces,
up to the six allotted. If both players run out of attacking pieces before
either has made a quod, the player with the most unplayed blocking pieces is
declared the winner. If each has the same amount of blocking pieces (or if
neither has any), the game is declared a draw.
Here, I've decided to put this old letter, found in the original Delphi's Quod. I want to thank all authors for their ideas and code. Unfortunately, I haven't talk with them about my game yet, but one day, I hope, they will see it and say something good :)
V.
18 Nov 2008
I developed the game of Quod back in 1979 when I was a student at university. My goal was to develop a quick-to-play but complex game with fewer rules than Go. My friends and I at Robert Gordons Institute of Technology in Aberdeen, Scotland played hundreds of games together. It was as a result of these many trials that I came up with this final version of Quod--the 11x11 board, 6 blocking pieces, etc.
I associate Quod with those carefree times when pressure was an exam and life was one long summer day--and with my friend Graham "Ibrox" Mackenzie, who is no longer with us. He and I spent many lunchtimes playing Quod at the Student Union. He was the master of the "Shooting Star" and shall be fondly remembered.
The original board for Quod was handcrafted from chipboard, and we'd often have disputes about whether a declared quod was really a square. We tried using an L-shaped piece of plastic as a guide, but it didn't always help. We even resorted to elastic bands, but that didn't always help, either. Games could often go the distance only to find that a play had won ages ago. Try playing the game without the benefit of the computer declaring the winner and you'll see what I mean.
In 1980, a technician at the school made me a small clear plastic board on a machine tool. It was perfect; it fit in the pocket and used nice small pieces. At last we had a game we could really play. He said "If it ever makes you a million, buy me a box of Havana cigars." I guess he'll still be waiting, but I'm happy that now, after all these years, others will get the chance to play Quod.
Quod remained in a box in my desk gathering dust until a chance discussion with my doctoral dissertation advisor, Professor Ian Stewart. Ian thought it would make a good article for his regular slot in Scientific American. Michael Mefford saw the article in Scientific American, and thought a computerized version of Quod would make a good Utilities column for PC Magazine. Michael has done a great job with Quod, and I hope you enjoy playing it as much as we did back at university.
"All hail the mudsharks - chip roll."
G. Keith Still
May 1996