Play Quoridor Online — Strategy Board Game with Walls

Q: How many walls do you get in Quoridor?

Each player gets 10 walls in the standard twoplayer game. Once you place all 10, you can only move your pawn.

Quoridor on Arcadia

Quoridor was created by Mirko Marchesi and published in 1997 by French game company Gigamic. It won the Mensa Select award and multiple other honors for its elegant simplicity.

The game distills abstract strategy into two clean choices each turn: move your pawn or place a wall. That simplicity makes it easy to learn but remarkably deep once you start thinking several moves ahead.

How to Play

On your turn, either move your pawn one square orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) or place a wall.
Walls are two squares long and block movement through those squares.
Each player has 10 walls total for the entire game.
You cannot place a wall that completely blocks your opponent from reaching their goal row.
The first player to reach any square on the opposite row wins.

Key Rules

Movement: One square per turn, orthogonal only (no diagonals).
Wall placement: Walls span two squares and can be horizontal or vertical.
Wall limit: Each player gets exactly 10 walls for the whole game.
Path rule: Every wall placement must leave at least one path open for both players to reach their goal.
Jumping: If pawns face each other, you can jump over the opponent.

Winning Strategy

Early walls near center: Central walls affect the most possible paths.
Force long detours: Place walls that add distance to your opponent's shortest route.
Balance advancing and walling: Saving walls for the endgame is powerful, but waiting too long lets your opponent race ahead.
Count shortest paths: Before each move, calculate both players' shortest paths to decide whether to move or wall.