How to Play Quoridor Online: A Beginner's Guide

What Is Online Quoridor?

Quoridor is a strategy game for two players on a 9×9 board. Online, you play it in your browser against another person, with no downloads and no account. There are no dice, cards or hidden information, so you win by thinking ahead.

On your turn you can walk toward your goal, or place a wall to make your opponent's walk longer. Choosing between the two, turn after turn, is the whole game. The server checks every move, so nobody can cheat or play an illegal one. This page teaches the basics step by step; the Quoridor rules page is the full reference.

The Quoridor Board and Pieces

Everything you need is on the game screen.

• The board. A grid of 9×9 squares (81 in total) with thin grooves between them.
• Pawns. Each player has one pawn. Player 1 is the filled cyan circle and Player 2 is the white ring, so they differ by shape as well as color. Your own name is marked (you).
• Walls. Each wall is two squares long, sits in the grooves between squares, and blocks movement across it. The player cards show how many walls each of you has left.

How to Set Up an Online Game

1. Open Play Online and choose a username.Use 2 to 20 characters. It is only a display name your opponent will see. You don't need an account.
2. Press Find an opponent.You are paired with the next player who is searching, and the game opens on its own. You can cancel the search at any time.
3. Check your side.On your screen your own pawn always starts in the middle of the bottom row, marked (you), and your goal is the top row. Each player has 10 walls, shown as Walls: 10.
4. Wait for the first turn.The server chooses at random who moves first, and the turn bar tells you whose go it is.

Playing a specific friend

Choose Create a Room, then send your friend the invitation link or the short pairing code. They open the link, or enter the code on Join a Room, pick a username, and the game starts as soon as they arrive. An unjoined room expires after 30 minutes.

How to Move Your Pawn

On your turn you do one thing: move your pawn or place a wall. This section covers moving.

Step one square

1. Wait for Your turn.Moves are only accepted from you when the turn bar says it's your go.
2. Stay in Move pawn mode.The squares you can legally reach are highlighted. Walls and the board edge are already taken into account.
3. Click or tap a highlighted square.Your pawn moves one square and the turn passes to your opponent. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys and Enter.

A pawn moves up, down, left or right, one square at a time. It can't move diagonally (apart from the special case below), through a wall, or off the board.

Jump over the other pawn

If the opponent's pawn is on the square right next to yours, you can't share the square, so you jump straight over it and land on the square directly behind. The game highlights that square for you, and the jump counts as your whole move.

Step diagonally when a jump is blocked

If a wall or the edge of the board sits right behind the other pawn, you can't jump. Instead you may move to a square beside the opponent's pawn, as long as no wall blocks that step.

How to Place Walls

Instead of moving, you can place one wall. A wall makes your opponent's route longer, which is just as good as getting you closer to the goal.

1. Press Place wall.The board switches to wall mode. Press Move pawn to go back.
2. Pick a groove.Point at the board and the nearest groove shows a preview. Press Rotate wall to switch between across and up and down.
3. Check that it's allowed.A wall can't overlap or cross another wall, and it can never take away a player's last route to their goal. If the preview isn't legal, a message under the buttons says why and the wall can't be placed.
4. Place it.With a mouse, click the groove. On a touch screen, tap it to select it and then press Place selected wall. Your wall count goes down by one.

Walls are final. They can't be moved or picked up again, and an online game has no undo, so take a second look at the preview first.

An illegal wall

The dashed wall below isn't allowed. The white pawn in the corner would have no way out, and a wall may never take away a player's last route.

How to Win Quoridor

The first player whose pawn reaches any square on the opposite edge wins immediately. You don't need to land on a particular square.

An online game can also end if a player presses Resign, leaves the game, or stays disconnected for more than a minute. In each case the other player wins. Afterwards you can request a rematch.

Beginner Tips

1. Count both routes.Before each turn, work out how many steps you need and how many your opponent needs. Whoever is ahead should usually keep moving.
2. Plan one step further.Ask what your opponent can do in reply before you commit to a move or a wall.
3. Spend walls where they hurt most.A wall that adds one step costs you a turn and a wall. Look for walls that force several steps of detour.
4. Balance moving and blocking.Only moving lets a good blocker catch you out, and only walling leaves you no closer to the goal.
5. Keep an eye on the timer.Online turns last 15 seconds. Decide early, and keep the tab open so you don't forfeit by disconnecting.
6. Practice first.Play the computer on Easy to get used to the controls before you meet a person.

When you're ready for more, read the Quoridor strategy guide.

Play Your First Online Game

Frequently Asked Questions