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According to my stats, I have played Qwirkle Travel 35 times. It’s a game that we take everywhere, from Bingo to holidays and from restaurants to board game nights. It's perfectly sized, easy to understand and has a nice chunky dose of game to boot. Qwirkle is about laying tiles to form sets and trying to eke out those elusive Quirkles, which is what gives the game its name and are worth a shed load of points.
Gameplay: The Setup
Setup in Qwirkle is trivial, each player collects 6 tiles from the bag and you are good to go. It does not get more simple than that! I do love a game that gets right down to the nitty-gritty and Quirkle certainly does that! Once you are ready, whoever can form the biggest ‘set’ goes first.
Sets
In Qwirkle your turn is a simple task. Lay tiles on the table, that form a ‘set’, it could be 1 tile, all the way up to 6 tiles and that juicy Qwirkle. When laying tiles they must either be all 1 colour or 1 symbol and you can link with already placed tiles on the table. You get a point for every tile in the set and any other sets that branch off it. Be aware though, duplicate tiles are not allowed in the same set, so be vigilant!
Branching sets, multiple sets and Quirkles are how you score big points. For example, putting down 2 greens that also connect to a set of triangles will score you twice. In the same vein finishing off a Qwirkle of all 6 colours with a branching set of squares will score the Qwirkle and the set of squares, it's all rather juicy. The key is holding onto tiles that could possibly finish Quirkles and not leaving open Quirkles for your opponent to finish.
Qwirkles
As I stated above, getting Qwirkles will be what wins you the game. Completing a set of all 6 colours or all 6 shapes will get you 12, yes 12 points. You get even more if you can branch the Qwirkle off another row, you can even get multiple Qwirkles in 1 turn if you are very careful and plan thoroughly.
The key s=as I stated earlier is not to leave sets of 5 colours or shapes lying around for other players to finish. If you have a nice set of tiles, hold onto them until you can complete the Qwirkle. Even if it means having a few sub-par turns, it is certainly worth it.
Once you have placed a set, you draw back up from the bag. The first player to run out of tiles gets a bonus 6 points and then scores are compared. It's a cosy time that rewards planning and careful tile placement.
Components
Qwirkle Travel is a lovely little package. It's a small bag, a set of wooden, brightly coloured tiles and an instruction booklet. (I have added some small racks to put my tiles on too, just to make playing a tad easier but they are certainly not required). It's such a great little game in a lovely portable form factor.
The wooden tiles are tactile and printed in vivid colours. They feel nice, are beautifully made and are a lovely size for travel games of Qwirkle. The components and package here are perfect for what they are trying to achieve and that's why we take it everywhere.
Final Thoughts
There's just something about Qwirkle. It's fast, simple and has just enough choices and nuance to keep it interesting. The Qwirkle Travel version is a lovely size and comes in a cute little bag you can take everywhere with you. It's the perfect travel game.
The real game is about saving tiles and blocking your opponent. When you pull that tile that you know you need for a Qwirkle it is great, as is hoping the same does not happen to your opponent. Qwirkle is awesome, can be taught to anyone and the travel version is a version you can take anywhere. It's a win-win.
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