Gemini May 21 − Jun 21 Alias: Alias: The Twins September 03 (03/09) daily gemini horoscope: summary gemini daily Star 7/10 If you eat that, youll spoil your dinner. Such words were said to all of us when we were younger. Septemberbe, some of us still hear them. We know our level of hunger was such that whatever snack we were indulging in wasnt going to ruin our appetite. Similarly, you might be rationing something you can afford to enjoy more of. If you have a short-term need that needs fulfilling, then allow yourself to indulge in what you deserve to enjoy as long as you indulge responsibly! Read more... summary gemini tomorrow Star 10/10 Sometimes, what presents itself to us at face value appears to be all we need to consider. It adds up or makes sense and we see no need to scr...
AbbyWeatherford
Fun and Challenging
Love, love, love this game. We found it in a lodge one weekend when we'd forgotten to take our usual games--Scrabble, Mexican Train and Rumikube. It took us a while to learn how to play it, even though there were instructions in the box. Ordered it as soon as we got home. We referred to the pictures in the instructions for weeks and misinterpreted them every way possible. During this hot Arizona summer, we have played it morning and afternoon every Saturday and Sunday instead of doing brutal yard work. Goes well with late afternoon cocktails! This is a strategy game simple enough for children and complex enough for adults. One can play offensively or defensively with different outcomes for each approach. Partially cooperative with opponent or completely disruptive. We have never played with more than the two of us. Each round takes about 30 minutes. We usually play three rounds at a go. (The bag that came in the game will hold all the tiles but is a couple inches too small for mixing the tiles. We tried lots of different ways to mix the tiles until we settled on mixing in a small shopping bag--smaller than a grocery tote. Not a big enough issue to deduct a star.)
FelixiaMarieSantiago
My daughter is in kindergarten and I thought this would be great for her and my preschooler to learn spacial reasoning
I have been looking at games for our family since now our youngest two are finally old enough to play. We live on an acreage in Minnesota and so having things to help pass the time during long cold winters is a must. My daughter is in kindergarten and I thought this would be great for her and my preschooler to learn spacial reasoning, patterns, matching etc. this is also one of the games recommended for the elderly and Alzheimer's which is what I do. We have played this a couple times and the kids love it. My daughter who just turned 4 can easily follow along. The pieces are durable and excellent quality. The colors are vibrant. They love uno type games where game play is matching so this is great. We just play the game at this point with out keeping score and the kids love it. I loved Rummikub when I was young and this is similar. A good introduction to that. Definitely a good purchase for us. It is also great to have games that isn't parent torture that the kids enjoy and want to play.
DanaSueVeach
The Game to Play with Non Gamers
I have been enlightened. Throughout my childhood and for the majority of my adult life I was resigned to the notion that the board gaming landscape was sparse and barren. Populated only by a few unenticing, played out old names like Life, Scrabble and Monopoly (Which to this day, I'm certain has never seen a match played to completion). However, my eyes were opened by a new wave of innovative, engaging titles like Pandemic, Small World, 7 Wonders and many more. I've been a true believer and tabletop enthusiast ever since. Alas there is one big problem... Most people I know have the same narrow minded approach to board games as I once did. It just isn't easy to get a group together. The heavy fantasy and sci fi themes of my favorite games only serve to compound that difficulty as it seems to create an illusion of complexity and carries with it the stigma of intense nerdiness. I can see the eyes start to glaze over when I attempt to broach the subject. Whatever shall I do? Enter Qwirkle! This game relies on such a simple concept of matching colors and shapes that it would be easy to dismiss this as something childish, certainly beneath that of any respectable gamer. But that is the beauty of it. It dumps the polarizing themes that tend to put newcomers off and the rules are so straightforward that the game can be explained in just a few sentences. What little confusion one might have is usually resolved within a couple of turns and suddenly a world of strategy begins to unfold as you subtly try to mislead, block, and steal combinations from the clutches of your beloved opponents. It is truly a wonderful tool for family bonding and better still, it serves as a gateway game to pull loved ones into the world of table top games. That was my fiendish plan all along and the reason I even bought this game to begin with. With little effort, I was able to coax my niece, dad and step mom to give it a try. The result was a super fun evening of laughter and surprisingly stiff competition. I narrowly secured a victory with my last move and that alone is a testament to the excellent game design. The game was so captivating and easy to learn that there was virtually no handicap for newcomers. If you would like to dip your toes into board games or perhaps coerce a particularly resistant individual to give them a try, I cannot recommend Qwirkle enough.
TigistSeid
Fun, well-made, easy to learn
Fun and challenging game. Easy to learn. Great for all ages, even young and old playing together. The blocks are well made and don't feel cheap. We bought this as a birthday gift for one of our children, but it immediately became the property of the whole family because everyone wanted to play it when they had friends over. We've all kind of taken the game over. One thing to note is that if the lighting isn't good where you are sitting it might be hard to distinguish the red from the orange or distinguish the dark colors because they are the background is black, so keep that in mind if playing with someone with poor eyesight. My eyesight isn't poor but I often had to shift my seating to be sure of the color if there was a glare or the lighting wasn't right. Highly recommended!
ChantalFinn
Great game! Great fun!
We bought this game for a couple that we exchange gifts with at Christmas every year. I had never heard of the game before but thought it was worth a try. We get together every couple of months and play games as 2 couples or sometimes adding a few extra. Our friends absolutely love this game. They play it almost every night in their home. They are in their late 60's. We are in our 50's. The last time they came over to play games we added our daughter-in-law who is 25. Together it was such a fun game to play across the age spectrum. 3 of us were just learning and were able to jump in and repeatedly laugh at each other as we learned. The game has great strategy to it in lining up colors and shapes to make 5 in a row but is not overwhelming in trying to learn it. I would highly recommend this as a mid-teen to seniors game!
KennethMarcNuestroBercida
Great game! Regarding missing pieces & different packaging...
A lot of people are talking about receiving the game with missing instructions & pouch. Mine was also missing the instructions & pouch. However, I contacted Amazon, and promptly received a replacement along with a free-shipping RMA. To my surprise, the new one was very different. First, the box is much bigger. It also has different labeling on the front. Most importantly, it seems to be made by different companies. The original smaller box (missing instructions & pouch) is made by Smart Elephant, where the new larger one is made by MindWare. There are also a few other differences in the front. The backs are completely different. I won't detail each difference, but I will post pics showing the differences. After seeing the pouch and instructions, I don't see how the Smart Elephant version *could* contain the pouch alone, not to mention the pouch *and* instructions. The tiles are such a snug fit in the box, it would have to bulge in order for the folded pouch -- and particularly the draw-strings -- to fit. And this is even though the bottom-front cover of the Smart Elephant box clearly states "Instructions Included", and the back also lists "1 bag" and "1 instruction booklet" in the list of components. So I'm not sure if this is a counterfeit or if it's just poor production. Regardless, if you don't get the MindWare version, you should probably contact Amazon for a replacement. If anyone has the Smart Elephant version and it contains the instructions and pouch, please post in the comments. As for the game itself, I think it's great. It's sort of a mix between Scrabble and Uno, where you have 6 sets of shapes and 6 sets of colors (36 total unique tiles x 3 of each tile = 108 total tiles). When you place a tile, it has to match *either* the shape *or* the color of the set of all adjacent tiles. You score a point for each tile in any set(s) you create/extend (similar to scoring in Scrabble), plus a bonus 6 tiles for any sets (of 6 colors or shapes) you complete. The set you're creating/extending cannot contain two of the same shape (for a color set) or two of the same color (for a shape set) -- each set has to be made up of 6 or less unique tiles of the same color or shape. Regarding age, the game is rated for six and up, though it could probably be played by an even younger audience. Of course, younger players may not be able to use strategy to the same level older players can, but most will still be able to have a good time. Our six-year-old actually was able to pull off some pretty clever moves against us (beating the three of us in the end), but at other times, he struggles. The other thing to take into account is the level of patience some younger players may need while everyone else is trying to figure out their move. It may make sense to play less strategically in the interest of speed to keep their interest. This may be the biggest issue for us, and depending on the mood, a more fast-paced game may be more appropriate. Regarding quality, the tiles (in the edition as of this writing) are painted wood. We haven't played enough to determine if they will eventually wear, but they seem of good enough quality. The pouch (assuming you get one!) can be used to store the tiles when not being used, as well as being used to draw from during play.
AmmarRaza
Fun for the entire family, our new favorite game!
I have a notoriously picky, highly competitive family when it comes to our holiday board games, and they all love this game! It is easy to learn and great fun, and no two games ever go the same. It's got the gameplay and strategy elements (and scoring) of Scrabble, with the simplicity of dominoes. My family ranges from kids to seniors, and everyone had to have a turn playing Quirkle this year. There are no complicated instructions (more than half the instruction book that comes with it is a sample game), and once it's out of the box, it comes with a drawstring bag to store the tiles in. Other than that, the only things you need to play are a table (floor, counter, or any flat surface) and notepad and pencil to keep score, so this would be great if you are looking for something portable. Highly recommended!
SarahGuerra
A new household favorite
Oh how I love this game! My son and I have over 25 board and card games as part of our homeschool effort. In poor weather we often play 3 games a day. This one is a particular favorite of mine because my 6 year old can play with a bit of help, but we will be able to play this at any age. Also, from a homeschooling perspective, letting my son keep score is a great way to have him practice writing numbers and doing addition without realizing he is learning. I think the box is absolutely enormous and the game is too heavy for us to take anywhere, but this is a frequently reached for game in our house. If you are looking for games with some substance (I hate 90% of the garbage games sold in discount stores) this is a sure bet!
EthanBelgard
It's a fun simple game
I already knew we enjoyed this game from playing it with friends, so I bought one for our own house. It's a fun simple game where you're trying to create "qwirkles" which are a row of six pieces of either the same shape or same color with no repeating pieces. Pieces are placed like dominoes and scored by how many pieces in a row you've created. Simple and fun. I also love that it has nice thick real wood blocks to play with. There's always something nice about the feeling of real wood and having a substantial piece in games. It comes with a cloth bag for holding all the pieces for you to draw from. You'll want to store the pieces in the bag too as that "window" on the game box is a cut-out that risks losing a piece. No problem though, we still keep it in the box just with the pieces in their bag. We also toss in a notebook and marker for scoring. The rules are simple to explain so it's easy to get new people to play. The game can be quite complex as you might play shrewdly by never placing a 5th piece and therefore giving an opponent the chance to qwirkle it. You might also track what pieces remain out by knowing that there are three of every piece in the game. It's as simple or complex as you want to make it. You'll see an example of my husbands game-smashing TRIPLE qwirkle in my photo. Notice he is completing a row of diamonds, a row of orange, and a row of green.
BrendaJoiner
FUN, CHALLENGING, AND ADDICTING!
My wife and I were introduced to this game by a friend of ours. We were 'hooked' in no time. We invited other friends over to play and one of them made the purchase on her cell phones while she was playing. It's really fun, challenging, and addicting. The red and orange colors are a little difficult to differentiate as are the blue and green colors. We got a sheet of small 1/4" sticky labels to affix to the tiles and wrote 'R', 'O', 'B', and 'G' on them. That helped tremendously.