Qwirkle
| Qwirkle | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Susan McKinley Ross |
| publishing company |
MindWare (2006) Schmidt Spiele (2010) Iello (2010) u. a. |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| Art | Placement game |
| Teammates | 2 to 4 |
| Duration | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Age | from age 6
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| Awards | |
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Qwirkle is an abstract combination and placement game by Susan McKinley Ross . It is played with 108 pieces on which there are symbols in six different colors and six different shapes. The gameplay is reminiscent of games like Scrabble , Rummy , Domino or Ishido . A good balance between luck and tactical possibilities makes it suitable as a family game , but also has elements of a strategy game . It is played with two to four players and a game lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. The name is derived from the English word quirky ("subtle", "torn").
history
The author of the game is Susan McKinley Ross , who lives in Petaluma , north of San Francisco, and has her own company there that sells games and toys. Qwirkle was their first "big" game. The game first appeared in the United States in 2006. In addition to other awards, it received the US Mensa Select Game Award in 2007, which honors games that primarily require intellectual skills. The game has been marketed by Schmidt Spiele in German-speaking countries since autumn 2010 . In 2011 it received the prestigious game of the year critics award and was named a game hit for families in Austria . In France, the game is on since March 2010. Iello distributed where it for the As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année 2011 nominated was.
Rules of the game
Game material
The game consists of 108 square pieces. A symbol is printed on each token. These symbols come in six different colors and six different shapes, making a total of 36 different stones. Each of these 36 stones appears exactly three times in the entire game.
In addition, the game is delivered with a bag in which the game pieces can be placed for drawing.
Style of play
The basic idea is to create rows from given stones. To do this, stones are placed horizontally or vertically next to each other on the gaming table. A row consists of stones that are either all printed with the same shape or all of the same color. At the same time, a second condition must be met: in a row with stones of the same color, all stones must have a different shape; and vice versa, in a row with stones of the same shape, all stones must have a different color. One of the two characteristics shape / color must therefore always be identical, while the other characteristic may only appear once within a single row. The maximum length of a row is limited to six stones.
Each player starts with a hand of six stones, which are set up so that the other players cannot see them. In your turn you have two options: You can
- either exchange any number of stones from his hand with the supply, or
- place one or more stones next to stones in a row.
Each piece played must always have contact with at least one piece that is already on display. All pieces played must either have the same color or the same shape. And all stones that are placed next to an already existing row must match the stones already laid out in terms of their characteristics. If stones are laid on existing rows, then you can either lay them horizontally or vertically. At the end of the move the hand is refilled to six stones. The game ends when the supplies are empty and the first player has placed his last stone.
Rating
The aim of the game is to collect as many points as possible over the course of the game. You score points for each stone in a row to which you have placed your own stone in the course of a turn. The stones that were already on the table before your move (in the row in question that you placed on) all count. If a stone is part of two different rows (horizontal and vertical), then it counts the points for stones from both rows. There are special points if you manage to complete a row of six pieces - such a “Qwirkle” yields twelve points (six points for the pieces on display plus six special points for completing the row). The points are continuously recorded and added up. If you place your last stone and thus end the game, you also receive six special points.
Characterization of the game
Due to the hidden moving of game pieces, Qwirkle has a considerable luck factor - but due to the numerous tactical possibilities it does not have a dominant effect. A promising game strategy is to recognize points-worthy placement possibilities and not to provide the opponents with templates for a "Qwirkle". In tactically demanding games, it is important to keep track of the parts that are already in place and to calculate the probabilities with which a certain stone can be drawn from the supply, as well as to block points worthy of points that you cannot use yourself.
The easy-to-learn game promotes abstract thinking and analytical and combinatorial skills. With increasing strategic depth, tactical knowledge is also trained.
Extensions and offshoots
The game Qwirkle was published in 2006 by the American game publisher MindWare and was translated into numerous languages in the following years. With Qwirkle Travel , a travel version was released in 2012, themed versions of The Simpsons and Walt Disney characters were published in 2014 and a Star Wars edition in 2015 , and a limited edition was also produced for the insurance company Berkshire Hathaway .
There are two extension boxes, each of which contains several extensions that can be combined with one another. The first expansion includes the game variants Qwirkle Select and Qwirkle Connect in addition to a victory point counting track and corresponding markers . It will u. a. new stones and new rules introduced, e.g. B. make it possible to remove stones that are already on display or to receive special points. Expansion 2 contains six Actio tokens that can be used in the game.
In 2012, an independent game was released under the title Qwirkle Cubes , which takes up and varies the game principle of Qwirkle. Instead of flat stones, dice are drawn. Each cube shows all six symbols of one color, distributed over the six faces. The dice may not be exchanged like the stones in Qwirkle, but may be rerolled every round. So it is possible to roll other symbols of the same color, but not symbols of other colors.
In 2015, Qwirkle Cards was also released, a card game version in which the game pieces were replaced by playing cards . The players have to form “Qwirkle” in the table display by placing their hand cards or by moving cards that are already on display.
Web links
- Qwirkle at Schmidt games (with instructions)
- Qwirkle in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
- Qwirkle in the Luding games database
Individual evidence
- ↑ page of the author
- ↑ tom .: “Qwirkle” is game of the year 2011. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . No. 152, July 2, 2011, p. 68.
- ↑ tom .: "Qwirkle": genes of a future classic. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . No. 60, March 12, 2011, p. 78.
- ↑ Qwirkle on the website of the Spiel des Jahres eV
- ↑ Description Quirkle Extension 2 ( Memento from January 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ https://www.schmidtspiele.de/de/produkte/details/product/qwirkle-erweiterung-1-49271.html