Qwixx
Numbers in four coloured rows are crossed out left to right only, and every number skipped is gone for good.
Everybody has a sheet with four coloured rows. Red and yellow run from two to twelve, green and blue the other way, from twelve to two. There is one thing to do: cross numbers out.
The rule the whole game grows from is that they go left to right only. You need not start at the leftmost number, but everything left of what you cross is gone for good. So an early mark in the middle of a row is not a gain — it is a decision to throw half the row away.
The second thing that makes the game: the rolls and everybody marks. The sum of the two white dice may be crossed by anyone — and left uncrossed by anyone, except that if the active player marked nothing all turn they take a . So somebody else's turn is not waiting: it is the same choice without the obligation.
Qwixx dice
Six dice: two white and one each of red, yellow, green and blue.
The white pair is common property: their sum is announced aloud and anybody may mark it. The coloured dice belong to the turn — the active player adds one white to one coloured die and marks the result in the row of that colour. A coloured die leaves the game with its row: once the row is locked, the die is taken off the table and sums of that colour stop coming up.
Score sheet
Under these rules: One per player.
Four coloured rows of numbers, the penalty boxes and the scoring table at the foot.
The red and yellow rows run from two to twelve, the green and blue the other way. Neither end is arbitrary: the number at the far end of each row is the lock the row closes with. Printed at the foot of the sheet is the table of what a given number of crossed-out numbers is worth. It grows faster than it looks, which is why one long row is worth far more than two short ones.
Rules of Qwixx
What you need
Six dice — two white, red, yellow, green and blue — and a score sheet each.
The basic rule
In each of the four coloured rows, numbers are crossed out left to right only. You need not begin with the leftmost, but numbers skipped cannot be crossed afterwards.
A turn
The active player rolls all six dice. Two actions follow, always in this order:
- The active player adds the two white dice and announces the sum aloud. All players, themselves included, may — but need not — cross that number out in one colour-row. One only.
- The active player, and only they, may add one of the white dice to any coloured die and cross out the resulting number in the row of that colour. This too is a right, not an obligation.
Penalties
If after both actions the active player has not crossed out a single number, they must mark one of the penalty boxes. Each is worth minus five points at the end of the game.
The other players take no penalty: they are free to mark nothing.
End of the turn
The player to the left becomes the active player, and it all begins again from a fresh roll.
Locking a row
To cross out the number at the far right of a row — twelve in red and yellow, two in green and blue — you must already have at least five numbers crossed in that row.
Having crossed it, the player also crosses the symbol beside it. The row closes for everybody: numbers of that colour are no longer marked, and the coloured die is removed from the game at once.
If a row is locked during the first action, other players may lock the same row at the same time — provided they too already have five marks in it. The cross on the lock counts among the marks.
End of the game
The game ends immediately once either of two things happens:
- somebody has crossed their fourth penalty box;
- two dice have been removed from the game, that is, two rows have been locked.
It can happen during the first action that a third row is locked at the same time as the second.
Scoring
Each row scores by the number of crosses in it, the lock included:
| Crosses | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 36 | 45 | 55 | 66 | 78 |
The four rows are added up and five points subtracted for every penalty box crossed. The highest total wins.
Sources
- Qwixx — rules of play · Gamewright Open source
Glossary of terms
- A penalty
- A box the active player must cross if they marked nothing all turn. Each is worth minus five points.
- The active player
- The one rolling this turn. They take both actions; everybody else has only the first.
- The lock
- The number at the far end of a row. It may be crossed only with five marks already in that row, and the row is then closed for everybody.