Highly awarded · 2 organizations

Qwirkle

Susan McKinley Ross · MindWare · 2006

Match wooden tiles by color or shape in a Scrabble-like grid. Place tiles to extend lines of matching attributes, scoring points for each line you contribute to. A Qwirkle — completing a line of all six — earns bonus points. Elegant abstract strategy for all ages.

Players

2–4

Time

45 min

Ages

Difficulty

Light

Buy Now

Why you'll like it

Wooden tiles are satisfying to handle
Rules are immediately intuitive
Works across generations — kids to grandparents
Strong spatial reasoning exercise
No language dependence

Why you'll love it

Recognized by 2 award organizations, including the Spiel des Jahres (2011 winner) and the Mensa Select (2007 winner).

Like Scrabble with colors and shapes
Quick to learn and works for all ages
A great family classic

How it plays

Qwirkle is a tile game a bit like Scrabble but with colors and shapes instead of letters. Each tile has one of six shapes in one of six colors. On your turn you place tiles in a line where all share either the same color or the same shape, with no duplicates.

You score a point for every tile in each line you add to, and completing a line of six earns a Qwirkle bonus. It's quick to learn and works for all ages.