Award-nominated games often bring to mind beautiful production, deep gameplay and incredible experiences. This year's Spiel des Jahres bucked that idea in style, especially when they chose to shortlist Qwixx...
Having already taken a look at the other two nominees for this year's Spiel des Jahres, it'd be remiss of me to not write about the third game that was up for the award. Think of it as part of the gamer's need for completeness - after all, isn't having piles of games sitting in rooms around your house just a glorified set collection mechanic? We've already covered Augustus and eventual winner Hanabi, but what about Qwixx? The aim of the SdJ is to promote good quality games that families can play together - accessible rules, nothing too heavy theme-wise, yet still engaging enough for all levels of gamers to at least give it a shot. Qwixx fits all three of those areas well, and yet... well, you'll see.
Qwixx is a complete abstract - no theme whatsoever in this tiny little box - which may initially turn a lot of gamers off. After all, doing maths is homework, not entertainment, isn't it? However, as a firm believer that all games are worth at least one play, I encourage you to give it a try if the opportunity arises. It's incredibly quick to play and very simple to understand - think of it as a glorified form of bingo with some added decision making and you'll pretty much be there.
Between two and five players can get involved, each of whom are given a scoring sheet (though you'll need to provide the pens yourself). The sheets are divided into four numbered, coloured rows; red and yellow at the top going from 2 to 12, green and blue running downwards from 12 to 2. The game's objective is simple - to fill in as many of these numbers as possible to score points. There's also a coloured padlock at the end of each of the rows too, as well as four grey boxes labelled "Fehlwurfe" - Fail Dice. More on these shortly - for now you just need to get one person to grab the dice (of which there are six, two white ones and one in each of the four colours). The roller is given the title of Active Player, they fling the dice and the game begins.
First of all, everyone at the table checks out the total made by the pair of white dice. You may mark this number once on any of the rows on your score sheet. The Active player also gets a second opportunity to combine one of the colour dice with a white one, marking off a second number on the row of that same colour (so, using the blue and white dice only allows for marking the blue line). Now, there are a few things to consider before you start scribbling down crosses all over the number rows before you. All players, Active or not, are actually limited in where they can place their crosses on the sheet. Any numbers to the left of one that has already been crossed off are out of bounds and may no longer be touched. As an example, if you've marked the 5 on your red row, you may not mark the 2, 3 or 4 on subsequent turns. You're looking to move slowly from left to right, getting rid of as many numbers as possible from each of your coloured lines. If you manage to get at least five marked off and happen to roll the number that's furthest to the right, you also get to mark the padlock, removing that coloured dice from play for the rest of the game and screwing your opponents over in style. Once two dice have been padlocked out of the game, that's it.
The second thing of note is only for the Active Player, but this is where those Fehlwurfe boxes come into play. Should whatever you've rolled leave you unable to mark anything, one of those boxes are checked off instead. Should all four boxes be filled on any one player's sheet, the game is over no matter how many dice have been removed from play. However things have finished, players must then total their points up, with more marks on a row meaning more points. Any Fail boxes that have been filled in take five points from your score, then whoever has the highest total is the winner. And really, that's all there is to Qwixx.
Now, despite having played it a fair few times, I'm finding it hard to come to a solid opinion on it. It's a great little filler, ideal to kill a bit of time at the end of the night or while you're waiting for another group to finish up something, and I find myself coming back to it time and time again. However, I'm not entirely sure why. There's not much to it - roll dice, mark number, pass dice round, repeat - but perhaps it's this simplicity that appeals? The fact that it can be played with little to no explanation means that it could well be the ultimate gateway game. Literally anyone can play it. Yes, there's a lot of randomness to deal with - this is a fact in any game where dice are the main element - but there's just enough decision making in there to ensure that you're not just rolling and scribbling eternally. I don't think that it's got an award-winning vibe, but Qwixx is a decent game. Not incredible, not amazing, but it's far from terrible. It's just... well... it's just alright. That feels like I'm damning it with the faintest of praise, but really it's never going to be a game that I'll throw onto the table and demand everyone plays it immediately - however, with a few minutes to pass and a bunch of people whose attention may be wandering, it's an ideal way to kill the time.
Have you tried any of this year's SdJ Nominees? Inquiring minds want to know your thoughts!
Having already taken a look at the other two nominees for this year's Spiel des Jahres, it'd be remiss of me to not write about the third game that was up for the award. Think of it as part of the gamer's need for completeness - after all, isn't having piles of games sitting in rooms around your house just a glorified set collection mechanic? We've already covered Augustus and eventual winner Hanabi, but what about Qwixx? The aim of the SdJ is to promote good quality games that families can play together - accessible rules, nothing too heavy theme-wise, yet still engaging enough for all levels of gamers to at least give it a shot. Qwixx fits all three of those areas well, and yet... well, you'll see.
Qwixx is a complete abstract - no theme whatsoever in this tiny little box - which may initially turn a lot of gamers off. After all, doing maths is homework, not entertainment, isn't it? However, as a firm believer that all games are worth at least one play, I encourage you to give it a try if the opportunity arises. It's incredibly quick to play and very simple to understand - think of it as a glorified form of bingo with some added decision making and you'll pretty much be there.
Between two and five players can get involved, each of whom are given a scoring sheet (though you'll need to provide the pens yourself). The sheets are divided into four numbered, coloured rows; red and yellow at the top going from 2 to 12, green and blue running downwards from 12 to 2. The game's objective is simple - to fill in as many of these numbers as possible to score points. There's also a coloured padlock at the end of each of the rows too, as well as four grey boxes labelled "Fehlwurfe" - Fail Dice. More on these shortly - for now you just need to get one person to grab the dice (of which there are six, two white ones and one in each of the four colours). The roller is given the title of Active Player, they fling the dice and the game begins.
First of all, everyone at the table checks out the total made by the pair of white dice. You may mark this number once on any of the rows on your score sheet. The Active player also gets a second opportunity to combine one of the colour dice with a white one, marking off a second number on the row of that same colour (so, using the blue and white dice only allows for marking the blue line). Now, there are a few things to consider before you start scribbling down crosses all over the number rows before you. All players, Active or not, are actually limited in where they can place their crosses on the sheet. Any numbers to the left of one that has already been crossed off are out of bounds and may no longer be touched. As an example, if you've marked the 5 on your red row, you may not mark the 2, 3 or 4 on subsequent turns. You're looking to move slowly from left to right, getting rid of as many numbers as possible from each of your coloured lines. If you manage to get at least five marked off and happen to roll the number that's furthest to the right, you also get to mark the padlock, removing that coloured dice from play for the rest of the game and screwing your opponents over in style. Once two dice have been padlocked out of the game, that's it.
The second thing of note is only for the Active Player, but this is where those Fehlwurfe boxes come into play. Should whatever you've rolled leave you unable to mark anything, one of those boxes are checked off instead. Should all four boxes be filled on any one player's sheet, the game is over no matter how many dice have been removed from play. However things have finished, players must then total their points up, with more marks on a row meaning more points. Any Fail boxes that have been filled in take five points from your score, then whoever has the highest total is the winner. And really, that's all there is to Qwixx.
Now, despite having played it a fair few times, I'm finding it hard to come to a solid opinion on it. It's a great little filler, ideal to kill a bit of time at the end of the night or while you're waiting for another group to finish up something, and I find myself coming back to it time and time again. However, I'm not entirely sure why. There's not much to it - roll dice, mark number, pass dice round, repeat - but perhaps it's this simplicity that appeals? The fact that it can be played with little to no explanation means that it could well be the ultimate gateway game. Literally anyone can play it. Yes, there's a lot of randomness to deal with - this is a fact in any game where dice are the main element - but there's just enough decision making in there to ensure that you're not just rolling and scribbling eternally. I don't think that it's got an award-winning vibe, but Qwixx is a decent game. Not incredible, not amazing, but it's far from terrible. It's just... well... it's just alright. That feels like I'm damning it with the faintest of praise, but really it's never going to be a game that I'll throw onto the table and demand everyone plays it immediately - however, with a few minutes to pass and a bunch of people whose attention may be wandering, it's an ideal way to kill the time.
Have you tried any of this year's SdJ Nominees? Inquiring minds want to know your thoughts!
