The best prices on the best toys for Christmas

Qwirkle Board Game Review

Qwirkle Board Game

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $34.99

Amazon Price: $16.60

Family game night can get dull sometimes without a fresh infusion of new games to play. If you haven’t already added Qwirkle into your mix, here’s something new that will keep everyone entertained regardless of their age. And that’s a key component right there. It’s always challenging to find games that are entertaining for both kids and adults. Qwirkle does it well.

The game is designed to be played by two to four players and is recommended for ages 6 and up. Even the young ones will stay interested since the game lasts about 45 minutes. That’s not so long that they will become bored. Every tried playing Monopoly with a 6 year old? It takes a good strategy to line up coordinating shapes and colors using the 108 wood blocks that are included.

And here’s another thing that makes this game unique. In 2007 it won the Mensa Best Mind Game Award and that same year it also won the Major fun award. That’s a great combination to have; both challenging and fun. And while we’re talking awards, Qwirkel also won and award from Games Magazine as the Best Family Game Runner-Up in 2007 as well.

So what is it exactly? Qwirkle is a tactile block game combining logic an strategy on a set game with a unique multi-manerver gameplay not too different from Scrabble. It’s easy to learn as you would expect for a game that 6 year olds can play. What you do is create rows and columns of matching shapes and colors. You’ll have to look closely for the chance to place a tile that will touch multiple other pieces or matches both colors and shapes. That’s where you score the big points. Naturally at the end the player with the most points wins.

Sounds simple and it is. But Qwirkle allows both adults and children to use logic and strategy in an effort to win the game. And in any given game, anyone can win. When Qwirkle captured the Parents’ Choice Gold Award it became obvious that it was going to be loved by children and families. If you are looking for a way to get your child away from the video games that they can play endlessly, a family game night will do the trick. And entertaining games will keep them coming back allowing you to make family time a priority time in your household.

MindWare Qwirkle Cubes

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $24.99

Amazon Price: $16.96

If you already have Qwirkle, you can always take things to a new level by playing Qwirkle Cubes. It’s the follow up to the award winning original and plays much the same way. The difference is you have more control over your hand because you can roll and even re-roll the dice in an effort to get all the shapes you want to have. And everyone’s hand is open. By seeing what your opponent has you can try to guess his future moves, adding an additional element of strategy. The object remains the same, creating columns and rows of matching colors and shapes while trying to score the most points.

Look, we know this won’t be high on your child’s wish list this Christmas, but that’s OK. Once the whole family gets together for a game they’ll be asking when the next family game night is.