EvenQuads Game and Error-Correcting Codes

EvenQuads is a new card game that is a generalization of the SET game, where each card is characterized by three attributes, each taking four possible values. Four cards form a quad when, for each attribute, the values are the same, all different, or half and half. Given $\ell$ cards from the deck of EvenQuads, we can build an error-correcting linear binary code of length $\ell$ and Hamming distance 4. The quads correspond to codewords of weight 4. Error-correcting codes help us calculate the possible number of quads when given up to 8 cards. We also estimate the number of cards that do not contain quads for decks of different sizes. In addition, we discuss properties of error-correcting codes built on semimagic, magic, and strongly magic quad squares.