Qwirkle Board Game: Rules for How to Play

Setup

You need a piece of paper and a pencil/pen in order to keep score.
Place all of the tiles in the bag, and mix them up.
Each player draws six tiles. You will stand them in front of you where only you can see them. These tiles are your “hand.”
All of the players look through their tiles to find the largest group of tiles they have that either match the same color or shape. You do not count duplicate tiles when determining how many tiles you can play. The players compare how many tiles they can play. The player that can play the most tiles, starts the game by playing the matching tiles. If there is a tie for the most tiles, the oldest tied player gets to take the first turn. After playing the tiles, they will score points for them (see Scoring below), and will draw a number of tiles so they once again have six tiles in their hand.
After the first player plays the starting tiles, play passes to the next player clockwise/left.

Playing the first tiles — One of the players had four tiles of the same color. They place all four tiles on the table to start the game.

How to Play Qwirkle

On your turn you can choose to take one of two actions.

Play tiles.
Trade some or all of your tiles for new tiles.

Playing Tiles

On most turns you will play tiles from your hand to the table. You can play one or multiple tiles on your turn. If you want to play multiple tiles, all of the tiles you play have to either be the same color or shape. All of the tiles also have to be played to the same vertical or horizontal line. The tiles don’t have to be played next to one another on that line though.

Choosing which tiles to play — This player has three starbursts in their hand. As there is already a blue starburst on the table. They likely will want to play those three tiles from their hand.

When you have chosen what tile(s) you want to play, you will have to figure out where you want to play them. There are a few rules you must follow when choosing where you want to place a tile(s).

You must play at least one of your tiles next to a tile already played to the table. To play next to a tile, it has to be the same color or symbol. When two or more tiles are played next to one another, you have created a line. All tiles in a line either have to be the same shape or color. When you add tiles to a line that has already been started, they have to match the same attribute (color or symbol) as the rest of the tiles already in the line.

Playing tiles in Qwirkle — The current player choose to play the red and purple starburst tiles above the blue starburst already on the table. They also played the yellow starburst below the blue tile.

You can never add a duplicate of a tile that is already in a line. A line based on color can only have one of each shape. A line based on shape can only have one tile of each color.

Can't play a duplicate tile — The current player tries to add a yellow starburst to this line. They are unable to play the tile to the line because there is already a yellow starburst in the line.

It is possible to place your tiles in a way that they add to two or more lines. When this happens each tile you add has to work with the line that it is being added to.

Playing tiles to two lines — The current player decided to play the blue, orange, and yellow squares. They ended up adding a tile to the blue line, and created a new line of squares.

After you have played a tile(s), you will score the tiles you played. See the Scoring section below for details on how you score the tiles you play. You will then draw tiles until you have six tiles in your hand again.

Trading Tiles

If you are unable to play any of your tiles or you don’t want to play any of them, you can choose to trade in tiles. You can choose any number of your tiles to trade in. You can even choose to trade in all of your tiles.

Trading in tiles — This player either couldn’t or didn’t want to play any of their tiles. They can choose how many of their tiles they want to trade in to get new tiles.

Set aside any tiles that you want to trade in. Then draw the corresponding number of tiles from the bag. After adding the new tiles to your hand, return the tiles you set aside to the bag.

Scoring

When you play a tile(s) to the grid, you will score points. If you created a new line or added to a line, you will score one point for each tile in the line you created/added to. You score points for the tiles that were already on the table that were part of the line you played to.

Depending on how you played your tiles, it is possible that you created/added to two or more different lines. You will score each line that you create/add to. A tile that you played that is part of two lines, scores one point for each line.

Scoring two lines in Qwirkle — This turn the player played the purple clover. They ended up playing to two different lines. First they score the purple clover and starburst line for two points. They then score the purple and blue clover line for another two points. They score a total of four points this turn.

Scoring three lines — This turn the player is adding the purple and blue crisscross tiles. They ended up playing tiles to three different lines. They will score three points from the purple line. The blue line scores twelve points for completing a Qwirkle (see below). Finally they will score two points for the line they created by playing the two crisscross tiles. They will score a total of 17 points this turn.

Scoring example — This turn the player is playing the red and yellow clover tiles. While they aren’t touching, they can be played like this because they are a part of the same line. The player scores two points for the red line at the top, two points for the yellow line at the bottom, and four points for the clover line. They score a total of eight points.

A scoring example in Qwirkle — This turn the yellow crisscross and yellow circle tiles were played. The player scores three points for the three crisscrosses in a row, three points for the three circles in a row, and two points for the two yellow tiles they played which created a new line. They score a total of eight points this round.

As the game progresses, a player may complete a line. Each line can have a maximum of six tiles in it. For a color line, it can have one tile of each shape that matches the color of the line. For a shape line, it can have one tile of each color that matches the line’s shape. When a player adds the last tile needed to complete a line, they have created a Qwirkle. A Qwirkle is worth a total of twelve points. It scores six points for the six tiles in the line, and a bonus six points for completing the line.

Creating a shape Qwirkle — This turn the player played the three green tiles at the top. They will score three points for the green line they created. At the same time they also created a Qwirkle as they played the sixth different starburst to the line. They will score twelve points for completing the Qwirkle. The player scores a total of 15 points this turn.

Creating a color Qwirkle — A player has added the sixth different color shape to this line. They have completed a color Qwirkle. They will score twelve points for completing the Qwirkle.

Winning Qwirkle

When there are no tiles left in the bag, the end game of Qwirkle is triggered. Players will still take turns normally. They can no longer trade tiles, and they will not draw new tiles at the end of their turn.

The game ends when a player is able to play the last tile from their hand. As a bonus for playing their last tile, the player scores a six point bonus.

The players then total the points they scored in the game. The player that scored the most points, wins Qwirkle.

Components

108 tiles (3 of each tile)
Draw Bag
Instructions

Year: 2006 | Publisher: MindWare | Designer: Susan McKinley Ross

Genres: Abstract, Family, Tile Placement

Ages: 6+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light-Moderate | Luck: Moderate

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.