Beating the Computer at Qwirkle

Journaling reads: Qwirkle is a game I learned about from a friend I have known for many, many years. She posted a picture of her family playing it during a game night at church. She said it was a fun game that the whole family enjoyed. So I bought one since Mark and I enjoy playing games. And now I am trying to teach the game to my two dear friends, Ilene and Carolyn.

The object of the game is to, in scrabble form; connect a set of 6 blocks of the same shape in 6 different colors or a set of 6 blocks of the same color in 6 different shapes. You can see examples of both in the picture. When you complete a set you score a Qwirkle, or 12 points. Normally, each block you add/create a row/column with is 1 point each. If you add a block and it is included in, say a row and a column, then that block gets 2 points. So the object of the game is to score as many Qwirkles as you can. When you Qwirkle a row/ column, that row/column is complete and the only thing you can do is build another row/column off to the side of the Qwirkled row/column because you cannot have duplicate blocks in the same row/column.

I found the game online. Only thing is that you have to play against the computer. I don’t win many games playing with the computer. But the game shown in the picture is a game I won! And with a couple of blocks from my “hand” I was able to double-Qwirkle! And I did so not once, but twice! Each double-Qwirkle earned me at least 24 points, depending how many extra blocks were touching the blocks I added. I’m amazed at my accomplishment because I didn’t see either of the double-Qwirkles as I quite often miss the opportunity to Qwirkle a row/column!

It’s a fun game! You should try it before you buy it! 11/10/22