  A review is presented of past and recent attempts to build multiquark states
within current models already describing ordinary mesons and baryons. This
includes: coherence in the chromomagnetic interaction, tetraquarks with two
heavy quarks, Steiner-tree models of confinement, and hadronic molecules, in
particular in the hidden-charm sector. Some emphasis is put on the difficulties
encountered when extrapolating toward higher configurations the dynamics of
confining forces, starting from the simple case of a quark and an antiquark, or
three quarks in a colour singlet.
