MindWare Qwirkle Board Game

Nice

Enjoy playing this game. Suggest adding a board so the tiles do not move.

I purchased Qwirkle for Christmas for my son. Dad and I have played the game more than he has, though he seems to enjoy it as well. The game is not too long to play with 3 or more players, however, it is noticeably longer (and seems a bit harder?) with only 2. I like this game and other MindWare games/products we own. My only qualm with this particular title is that the game is poorly made. Qwirkle consists of a set of painted wooden tiles, a convenient canvas storage bag, and instructions. The box is quite a bit bigger than necessary for the pieces contained within, perhaps to keep it in size with other games. The Qwirkle tiles are quite a bit thicker than Scrabble tiles and, thus, will stand up on their own to protect the privacy of your hand. The wood of which the tiles are made is fairly light-weight, but they feel substantial enough in hand. The tiles do not make a significant clacking sound when the tiles are laid on the table or poured into the storage bag. Game-play is fairly straightforward once you understand the concept and we did not find it necessary to refer back to the instructions after our initial reading. Qwirkle is like a mixture of dominoes and scrabble, but with colors and shapes. Now, to my problems with the game. The game tiles come packaged together in three separate sheets. Apparently, the tiles are painted as a sheet because it was necessary to snap the tiles apart to break the paint joints between pieces. After snapping the pieces apart I found that many small pieces of black paint had fallen off or were hanging from the edges of the tiles. This is still happening, even after playing the game four times. This could be a problem for those with small children who could potentially ingest the paint flakes. After snapping apart the tiles, I found that, while all the sides of all of the tiles are black, only the fronts and backs of all the tiles are *completely* finished. This fact is particularly noticeable because the tiles are extra thick and these unfinished, rough edges are plainly visible when the tiles are upright forming your hand. To be accurate, while most tiles have no edges finished, one or two edges of *some* of the tiles are finished. This seems dependent on whether (and where) the tile was along the edge of the sheet when the sheet was painted. I would think, given that the game is only a bunch of fairly simple painted wooden tiles, the company could go the extra mile and finish the sides of all the pieces with a smooth, glossy coating like the fronts and back. The difference in finishing on the edges of the tiles makes the game seem cheap and cheesy. Also, these tiles are not nearly as nice to handle as a Scrabble tile. The last problem actually affects game play: We find it difficult to differentiate between the colors red and orange when the pieces are standing upright in our hands. Once the pieces are laid down and played, it is easy to make the distinction between colors. This problem was experienced by every member of our family; we constantly find ourselves tilting our pieces to determine whether a piece is red or orange. This, unfortunately, tells any opponent that you have a red or orange piece in your hand. By the way, we play the game in a well-lit (certainly normally-lit) dining room. We would probably not experience the same problem if we played the game in an extra-bright supermarket. We are planning to modify either the red or orange tiles to make the colors easier to differentiate. All this said, I would probably still buy Qwirkle if I had it to do over again. It is a fun and simple game that is easy to set-up and easy to break down. I would not, however, pay anywhere near the list price for this game - it is just too shabbily made for that price. Also, I would hesitate to buy Qwirkle as a gift for the same reason.

This is a fun game that may be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. The rules offer simple play, but the game maintains a complex enough element to keep adults both challenged and engaged. My likes: ● the rules are very simple ● the game is complex enough for competing adults ● the entire family can play ● play is best with 3 or 4 players ● the strategizing aspect of the game ● the game playing time is reasonable ● the game gets more interesting as play goes on ● there is a luck aspect to the game which makes things more equitable and satisfying

Fun for all ages!

This has quickly become a family favorite! I would call it a mix between sudoku and dominos where you have to match colors and/or shapes without repeating any color or shape in a row. If youre lucky enough to get all 6 of either a shape or color in one turn, you get the maximum points which is called a Qwirkle. There is a lot of strategy involved and you have to look in all directions to make sure you are getting the most points possible. A couple of times weve noticed that someone had actually repeated a shape or color and no one noticed for a couple of turns which was quite funny, but we kept on and finished anyway. There are 6 shapes and 6 colors with 3 of every tile so the possibilities are endless!! It takes about 20-30 minutes to play depending on how fast or slow some of the players are, so it doesnt take forever. Weve found even some young kids are able to pick up on this although they might need a little bit of assistance. Great family game!

This is my all time favorite game! I have gifted it about 5 times and everyone loves it. They even have a mini version for travel that comes in a zippered pouch and the tiles are smaller. This is a really easy game to learn but you can play with strategy as you get to know it and it gets really fun. It is sort of like scrabble mixed with sudoku. Even my 9 year old nephew plays it. It is also one of those games that is just as fun for 2 players as it is for 6. Also great for any age. My only critique is that in lower light everyone has a hard time differentiating the red and orange tiles and sometimes the blue and purple tiles. I wish there was more contrast or a pattern or something instead of the colors being so close. Otherwise, 10 out of 10!!

This game has very simple rules. You can only play tiles in a single line. That line has to either be all of the same symbol, but different colors, or all different symbols of the same color. You score points based on how many tiles are in a line when youre done playing your turn. Thats it. Trust me, its easier than it sounds. Once you get the basic rules down, you can participate in the game. After about 8-10 turns, the rules will become second-nature...and thats when the fun begins. Youll stop thinking about can I make this move? and start thinking, WHY should I make this move? After your first game, youll begin thinking, If I make this move, can I build on it later? Can my opponents? Should I make this now, or wait until someone else makes a play on that line?...and so on. Just like Go or Tsuro, this is a very simple game with surprisingly deep strategy. Its a perfect gateway game to get non-gamers into playing real games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassone, and other non-Parker Brothers games. You can then use those games to gateway them into more complicated games like Lords of Waterdeep, Pandemic, Puerto Rico, etc. Soon youll have generated another gaming fan, and lets face it...the world needs more gamers!

Qwirkle: 2-4 Players, Ages 8+, Average Play Time = 45-60 Minutes* *You can shorten the game’s length by removing some/half of the tiles from the game at random during setup. Firstly, let’s get the few complaints I have out of the way. Some of the colors tend to blend together, like red and orange. While there aren’t that many alternate colors to choose from, I do feel that different shades would have worked better. It’s not a game-breaker, but you may sometimes experience eye-strain if a source of light is hitting the tiles in just the wrong way. Colorblind folks may also have issues playing this game. I personally would have had each tile etched with a small “R”, “O”, “Y”, “G, “B”, or “P” so that affected players could determine which color they were looking at. Color issues aside, this game is fantastic. The pieces are fairly hefty and the bag is most certainly large enough to handle all the tiles. I did remove the box inserts to make the game easier to put away. The gameplay is simplistic but encourages strategic play and critical thinking. Players might earn a lot of points laying down two or three tiles on their current turn, but sometimes that opens the door for someone else to finish of the line and make a “Qwirkle”. This makes the idea of playing one low-scoring tile to screw up a potential “Qwirkle” for someone else a valid one. All in all, this game is family-friendly and an easy recommend, though the colorblind should beware. So as long as others in the group are willing to help their colorblind friends out as needed, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

This game was easy to learn and I was able to play it with adults and children