In Qvadriga, you manage a team of chariot racers. The races are turn based with the action playing out simultaneously.
The options you choose from are context sensitive. If you aren't at your maximum speed, you can choose to Accelerate or you can also gain speed by choosing to Whip your horse. This option allows you to exceed your normal top-speed but at the risk of hurting your horses. The overall speed is based on their health, so it's a risk that you have to consider and use it only when you have the option of overtaking or to guarantee a result.
You can use your whip to Lacerate your opponents or Ram them with your chariot. Lacerating can stun the driver which means they cannot make a decision next turn, or can do damage to their horses. Ramming can deal damage to horses or the Chariot, reducing top speed. There is an option to look out for such attacks which negates them completely.
As you go around the corners of the arena, you need to navigate them at the appropriate speed, or else you risk damage to your horse or chariot. Using the outside lines takes longer to travel around them but allows a faster speed, whereas the inside lanes obviously have a shorter distance but are less forgiving for speed. Your sensible options here are to Brake or Control. The penalties are severe though; going too fast can completely break your chariot, even if it hasn't previously taken any damage. Other consequences are that your horse or chariot take damage, or you simply slide into the next lane.
When your chariot breaks, your rider is dragged along the ground. You can still finish the race if you are close enough, otherwise you must flee. However, if you get hit by another racer whilst fleeing; then it results in death. Therefore, sometimes you need to hold on for a few turns in order for other chariots to clear the area, then choose to flee.
Dead horses and broken chariots remain on the track. Running over them causes damage to your chariot and horses. You must pay attention to current obstacles and predict when other racers may fall in front of you. In these cases, you can switch lanes by choosing Minor/Medium/Large Left/Right Displacement options. Switching lanes in front of an opponent is a great way to slow them down and prevent them overtaking you, possibly dealing damage to them as they run into the back of you.
Managing your team of 3 racers over many races is a tough job. You must spend your money fixing/replacing chariots, replacing dead horses or tending to injured ones, or resting your team and hiring new members. It's extremely costly to do this if you end up breaking chariots or causing death to your horses or team members.
As you win races and increase your reputation, you can travel to different cities. These will feature tougher races but will offer greater rewards. Your opponent's have different skills, so sometimes the chance of winning is low given their horses, chariots or rider skill could all be better than yours.
The races always take place on a track with two corners and two straights. Depending on the location you are in, the tracks have differing widths and aesthetics. To prevent each race feeling the same, there is always a random event stated before the race. These tweak some aspect of the game, be it an extra lap, extra damage to your chariots, existing obstacles on the course, preventing attacks, and many more.
The graphics are simplistic which I felt was fine for the actual racing. On the other hand, the menus look completely baffling and you need to click around and experiment to work out what things mean.
Overall, I think Qvadriga has enough depth to provide several hours of entertainment. After that, the races do start to feel 'samey' because you tend to apply the same strategy.