Friday Favorites...Qwirkle

We have a new favorite game around here.  It's called Qwirkle.  And it's something that everyone loves, which is rare these days.

The kids are at ages where it's hard to always agree on movies and games.  Chris has definitely grown out of most cartoons. He'd rather be watching Jurassic Park or something with a lot of action.  As you can imagine, he's not a big fan of playing the Curious George board games or Go Fish.  He's into games that I enjoy, like Cranium, Munchkin, or Bang!.  Analiese is also growing up a little, and though she's still a fan of most Disney animation, she really prefers watching movies like A Little Princess or Annie.  She's outgrown Candy Land, but still really likes Guess Who.  Sicily on the other hand loves Curious George board games.  She also loves "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" the game.  She loves cartoons, especially Tangled, and has no interest in what she calls "real people" movies.

I love all of these stages for different reasons.  I love playing games with Chris.  I love listening to the music of Annie with Analiese.  And I love watching Tangled almost as much as Sicily does.  But you can see how this is a bit of a dilemma when it comes to family time.  Trying to decide what to do when we were all hanging out had become incredibly frustrating. Then we found Qwirkle.  Actually, it was a Christmas gift this year.  And it has been a wonderful gift.

The object of the game is to match patterns of blocks.  If you place the 6th block in a pattern you make a qwirkle and get bonus points.  It's simple enough that a 7 year old can play it.  But it has enough potential for strategy that an 11 year old can play it.  And if I'm honest, I really enjoy playing it as well.  7 to 30, we all really  like this game.  I have gotten up some Saturday mornings to find the kids already up and playing Qwirkle around the dining room table.  All three of them!  I think that says a lot.  It's become a Friday night regular around here.

 I highly recommend this game.  We have yet to get tired of it, after several months of continuous play.  And anything that promotes time spent together as a family is worth every penny.