Review: Qomet

Introduction & Overview

Create a square of any size connected by lines. Each player starts with 7 stars. On your turn, you can place a new star of your color on the board or move a star of your color that you have previously placed. If you move, you advance to the next space connected by a line. If this space is empty, nothing else happens. If this space is occupied, push the star regardless of its color. You cannot push more than one star. You can push stars off the board.

That is how straightforwardly Qomet is presented to us, a design by Fabrice Puleo (Linx, Bomb5). First published in 2025 by Gigamic in a multilingual edition as part of their abstract games series.

It is distributed in Spain by Mebo (the game is completely language-independent, except for the rulebook). It allows for 2-player games, with a suggested minimum age of 8, and a duration of approximately 15 minutes. The MSRP is €35.95. For this review, a copy of the multilingual edition from Gigamic was used as a review copy.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 28×28×6 cm (a square box with similar dimensions to 7 Wonders or Fields of Green but slightly shallower), we find the following components:

• Board (wooden)
• 14 Stars (7 of each color) (wooden)
• Rulebook

How to Play

Qomet is an abstract game for two players competing to be the first to form a perfect square constellation on the board. At the start of the game, the board with twenty-five connected spaces is placed in the center, and each participant takes the seven stars of their color. From that moment on, players alternate turns to execute one of two possible actions: place a star from their reserve onto an empty space, or move one of their stars already on the board by sliding it along a line to an adjacent space, either diagonally or orthogonally. If the destination space is occupied by another star, the active player has the option to push it in that same direction into the next connected space, even allowing pieces to be knocked off the board from the outer spaces to return them to their owner’s hand. The game ends immediately the moment a player manages to form a perfect square of four stars of their own color connected by straight lines, thus claiming victory.

Key Concepts

Let’s start with the Board. It features a pattern of three concentric squares. Each square has eight positions: four on the perpendicular lines relative to the center and another four on the diagonals. Thus, the orthogonal and diagonal positions are connected to each other by lines converging at the center, which is also a position.

On the other hand, each player will have a set of Stars to deploy or move across the board. The goal is to try to form a square with four of their pieces—meaning four stars that represent the vertices of a square (not a rectangle). The size of this square does not matter. When moving a star, you are allowed to push another star, as long as you only push one and no more.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. The board is set up in the center of the table.
2. Each player chooses a color and receives 7 stars, which they place in their personal reserve.
3. Finally, the starting player is chosen at random.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Qomet is played over an indefinite number of alternating turns between the players, starting with the first player.

On each turn, the active player must resolve one of the following actions:

• Add a Star. If the player has at least one star in their personal reserve, they can add it to the board in any empty position.
• Move a Star. If the player has at least one star deployed on the board, they can move it to a directly connected position. If the position is occupied by a piece (of any color), it can be pushed as long as the next position in the direction of the push is empty or is a position on the edge of the board (in which case the star is knocked off and returned to the corresponding player’s reserve). Pushing more than one piece with a single move is not allowed. Undoing the move that the opponent just made is not allowed.

After this, the turn passes to the opposing player.

Game End

The game ends immediately when a player manages to form a square, claiming victory.

Personal Opinion

At the time of writing this tocho-review, we find ourselves at the most stable point for Gigamic’s abstract games series. This series has been remodeled over the years, with titles that have managed to stay through every cycle, like Quarto (here is its tocho-review), others that have left, like Quads (here is its tocho-review) or Gyges (here is its tocho-review), and some that have entered for the first time in the current cycle, like Squadro (here is its tocho-review).

Today we are going to analyze the title that the French publisher added to the collection in 2025. Let’s see how this Qomet performs on the table, where players will have to try to form a constellation on the dark sky by placing small wooden stars.

Thus, we find a square board with twenty-five positions distributed around a center, around which three concentric squares are laid out, each with eight positions (the vertices and the middle of each side). Each of these positions is connected, in addition to the corresponding points within its own square, to the matching ones in the other squares, forming a grid with diagonal and perpendicular lines.

Players will deploy stars onto this board. Each player has a set of seven stars with which they must try to form a square with four of them—meaning each star is perpendicularly at the same distance from two others with which it would form a right angle if an imaginary line were drawn to connect them. I might have explained it in a somewhat convoluted way, but the truth is that sometimes it is not so easy to spot the fifteen possible squares that can be formed on this board.

Mechanically, the game could not be simpler. On each turn, the active player chooses between adding one of their stars to an empty position, or moving a piece already deployed along one of the lines on the board. Pushing any piece found in the destination position is allowed, as long as the next space in the direction of the push is empty, or if the pushed piece is on one of the edge positions, in which case it is knocked off and returned to its owner. In this way, players alternate turns until the end of the game is triggered when one of the contenders manages to complete the target square.

And that is all there is to it. As you can see, Qomet is an abstract game that maintains the core parameters of Gigamic’s line of abstracts: designs that allow for fast and dynamic games (do not expect to find a deep design with games that could even exceed the half-hour mark), combined with a production that relies on high-quality, minimalist components, giving them a premium and timeless aesthetic.

This last point usually creates a dilemma, since we are dealing with abstract games that could be classified as “fillers” due to their low rules overhead and short duration, but they come with a relatively high price tag. Even though it is justified by its wonderful production, it might not satisfy the expectations of players looking to maximize the cost-to-fun ratio.

But anyway, you already know that on this humble blog, when analyzing a design, we set aside the monetary aspect, just as we relegate production aspects to the background. The design is what matters, and a game is just as good in a Print & Play version as it is in a deluxe version with every bell and whistle.

And in this sense, Qomet seems like a quite decent abstract game that presents a race dynamic to develop a simple pattern before the opponent does, either by positioning pieces in spaces the rival would want to occupy, or by generating threats so that the opponent has to act defensively to avoid defeat.

The key here lies in the pushing mechanic, since two pieces connected to each other form a solid, immovable block in the direction of that connection (unless one of the pieces pushing is acting on the other and that second piece does not form a connection with another piece). Because of this, the first few turns of the game will be about positioning, with the true tactical battle beginning once players are forced to move because all stars have been deployed on the board.

At this point, managing to retrieve a piece can be fundamental to avoiding defeat or completing an epic victory. It can be interesting to move a piece that pushes another one of our own color off the board, sometimes leaving you with the sensation of being in a race to complete one of those sliding puzzles where there is one free space and you can only push an orthogonally adjacent piece into it—a system that Pakal already used very effectively back in the day (here is its tocho-review).

All in all, do not expect a design that will blow your mind either. It is an abstract game similar to those that already make up the collection. If you enjoy designs like Qawale (here is its tocho-review), Quixo (here is its tocho-review), or Pylos (here is its tocho-review), where the combinatorial calculation is simple and suitable for all audiences, this Qomet will surely be satisfying for you.

Let’s move on to production. As always with Gigamic, we find a beautiful wooden board, in this case lacquered in black with an incredibly elegant piano black (glossy) finish. The wooden star-shaped pieces have a small hemisphere at the base so they stay in position without locking rigidly into place, allowing them to be moved comfortably. The rulebook is well-structured and leaves no room for doubt.

And let’s wrap this up. Qomet presents itself as a straightforward and dynamic abstract game supported by a subtle placement and movement mechanic through pushes over a grid of concentric squares. The interesting part of the design emerges when the board gets crowded, transforming the peaceful initial positioning into a tense tactical race of blocks, ejections, and mutual threats to try and shape that elusive target square. It offers constant interaction and a highly agile game pace that keeps players engaged in a non-stop mental tug-of-war, where every defensive move is crucial. On the downside, it is a title that does not look to break the mold or offer overwhelming strategic depth, opting instead for a more accessible and intuitive combinatorial calculation. A very decent tactical proposal, ideal for those who enjoy quick, clean confrontations without excessive conceptual complications. For all these reasons, I give it a…