Quixo board game review & giveaway!
Gathering the whole family together to play a fun board game is a great way to spend an evening.
However, in today’s hustle and bustle world that can sometimes prove difficult. With school and extracurricular activities competing for our time, it can be difficult to gather the whole family together for games.
Luckily, there are plenty of board games designed for just 2-players.
They can be fantastic for spending time one-on-one with a spouse, child, or sibling.
When we think of one-on-one time with a child, we often think about engaging them in conversation — discovering more about their thoughts and feelings. But face-to-face conversations can sometimes put them on edge. So it’s great to have somewhere else to focus our eyes while talking about such topics. They find it less intimidating and tend to open up more when we’re not staring them down.
In these situations, 2-player games are more than just fun — they become a way to connect.
And the best games we’ve found for such situations are ones that only take a few minutes to play and don’t require too much deep thinking.
A game that fits this perfectly is Quixo by Gigamic.
How to play Quixo
Quixo is a “5-in-a-row” game with a unique and fun way to play.
The game is made up of 25 cubes in a 5×5 grid. Each cube has an X and an O as well as 4 blank sides.
Players first determine who will be X, who will be O, and which person will take the first turn.
The game begins with blank sides showing on top of all the cubes.
On a player’s turn, they must remove a cube from the perimeter and move it to another location. They can only choose a cube showing a blank or their own symbol.
Then they place it, with their symbol showing on top, at an end of the now incomplete row and push the other cubes in the row to fill the gap. The player can choose which end of the row.
For example, if they take it from the middle spot on the edge, they will have 3 places where they can place it — in either of the two corners on that row, or from the other side.
Players alternate turns until one player has lined up 5 of their symbols in a row either diagonally or orthogonally.
Once they’ve done so, they win the game.
Playing with 4 players
A great thing about Quixo is that it can also be played with 4 players!
Playing with 4 players can be a bit more tricky.
When doing so, players split into teams of 2 and sit opposite their teammate so that turns alternate between players and teams.
The catch in a 4-player game is that the dots on the symbol sides of the cubes come into play.
When it’s a player’s turn, they can choose either a blank cube or one showing their symbol as long as the dot next to the symbol is on their side of the cube.
This little change can make a huge difference in how the game plays out. Instead of just watching the symbols get pushed around, players also need to pay attention to which of their own cubes they’ll be able to move on their turn.
Likewise, when placing a chosen cube, players need to evaluate which way they want to orient their cube. Do they want the dot to face them or their teammate?
It may sound like a slight change, but this one element creates a cool twist on the game when playing with 4 players.
What we enjoy about Quixo
We enjoy playing Quixo for a number of reasons.
For starters, it’s a relatively quick game to play.
And because of that we never play just one game. We’ll usually play the best 3 out of 5 or 5 out of 7 games.
We also love that it requires some strategic thinking.
While it doesn’t require deep strategy, players definitely need to think a couple turns ahead. They’ll have to pay attention to make the most of their opportunities.
But we also like that you can’t plan too far ahead.
There are so many options an opponent has, that players must also be able to adjust on the fly and move to the defensive when necessary.
Another thing we love about Quixo is the quality of the components in the game.
The wooden cubes look and feel nice to play with. And since the game comes with its own base, you can play it almost anywhere.
And lastly, like we mentioned in the beginning, while playing Quixo we can still carry on a conversation. We don’t get so immersed in the game that we can’t think of anything else. Instead, it’s a game that we can play while talking about other things.
Quixo is a solid family board game we’ll gladly recommend.
Thanks Gigamic for this quality family game.
Another Gigamic game we’d recommend is one of the first board games we reviewed many years ago — Quarto. You can see our full video review of Quarto here.
Game Giveaway!
Now, what you’ve all be looking for — a way to win a copy of Quixo for your family!
No – we’re not giving away our copy because we’re hanging on to that one. We’re giving away a brand new, in-shrink copy of the game for one lucky winner.
And that could be you!
To enter, or get multiple entries, simply complete the options in the Giveaway Contest box below.
THE QUIXO GIVEAWAY CONTEST ENDED OCTOBER 24. SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO KNOW WHEN WE OFFER NEW GAME GIVEAWAYS.
This game looks great! Thanks for the review!
This game looks fun. I think my wife will play it with me.
I do enjoy a good game of chess from time to time, though. She is not a fan of that!
Dave – This could be just the game to play with her.
My favorite 2 player game is chess 🙂
Emanuel – Chess keeps your mind sharp for sure.
Our favorite 2-player game is Telepathy–which we found out about here… My game wish list has grown so long, and it’s all your fault!
Jennifer – If it means you’re having fun times with your family, feel free to blame us all you want. 🙂
awesome!
My Favourite 2-4 player game is Five Tribes!
Zoltan – Five Tribes with 2 players is a great mental challenge.
can’t wait to play
and my favorite 2-player game is Imperial Assault
Mark – It’s hard to argue with Imperial Assault. Very fun.
looks like a fun game. So far my favorite 2 player game is Zombie Dice.
Paul – And what a great month to be playing Zombie Dice.
Looks like a fun game to add to our collection
Looks interesting! I haven’t played a lot of pure, two player games recently – mostly four+ player with just two. Back when I did, two of my favorites were Grand Mastermind, and The Awful Green Things from Outer Space.
Dean – We’re not familiar with The Awful Green Things from Outer Space. But Mastermind is a great 2-player challenge.
I do love abstract games, thanks for the contest!
Takenoko is my favorite two-player lately – but it changes often, depending on my opponent.
We are huge fans of Quarto. We like the quick set up and fast play that keeps our eight year old’s attention and doesn’t give his little sister too much time to get into trouble!
this is a blast! 😀
Sounds like a fun game. We’ve played Quarto and Quoridor (also by the same company) and have a good time with both of them. Will have to check this one out. It adds a new twist to our other five-in-a-row game Pente.
Thanks for the review. 🙂
Interesting looking little game
7 Wonders Duel is lots of fun
My favorite 2 player game is Scrabble.
Elizabeth – Looks like you’re a word lover.
Very cool!
My favourite 2 player game is Go, but from time to time we enjoy playing something lighter and fun like Speed Cups or Tiny Epic Galaxies etc.
Duarte – Go is a very solid 2-player game that goes back so so long.
Thanks for this nice giveaway
7 wonder duel 🙂
Miguel – That’s a great 2-player game.
Seven Wonders: Duels 🙂 Favorite two player game!
7 Wonders Duel is coming up a number of times in these comments. We’re also on track to film our review of it next week.
Qwirkle is a really fun two player tile game. A variety of ways to earn points, and gets more fun the more tiles are laid down.
Mr T – Qwirkle was one of the games we reviewed our first year doing reviews. But we haven’t played it with just 2 players. I guess we’ll have to try it that way.
Favorite two player game is Fields of Arle.
Jeff – We haven’t played Fields of Arle yet. Thanks for the tip.
What a fun game.
My favorite two-player game is still Boggle.
Marty – I still really enjoy playing Boggle as well. Though I prefer Big Boggle.
Looks like fun! I really enjoy 7 Wonders Duel
Dots is my favorite two player game. This looks like a lot of fun!
Zombicide