Qwixx rules

2 to 5 players · ages 8+ · 15 minutes · dice game

Six dice, a score sheet and a pen. That is all you need. Everyone plays along with every roll, so nobody sits around waiting, and after a quarter of an hour you know who has made the most crosses. Playing with a borrowed box and want one of your own? Qwixx is in the shop.

Set up in one minute

1. Everyone takes a sheet from the score pad and a pen. No pencils: in Qwixx, a cross is final.
2. Put the six dice in the middle: two white ones, plus one red, one yellow, one green and one blue.
3. Look at your sheet. The red and yellow rows run from 2 to 12, the green and blue rows from 12 to 2. In every row you always cross off from left to right.
4. Whoever won a game most recently rolls first.

How to play a turn

In short: the roller rolls all six dice. Everyone may add up the two white dice and cross off that total. Then only the roller may also combine one white die with one coloured die. If the roller crosses off nothing, they take a penalty.

1. Is it your turn? Roll all six dice at once.
2. Add up the two white dice. Everyone at the table, including you, may cross off that total in a colour of their choice. You do not have to; you may.
3. After that, only you may combine one white die with one coloured die. You cross off that total in the row of that colour. This is also a choice, not an obligation.
4. You always cross off to the right of your last cross. Numbers you skip are gone for good.
5. As the roller, did you cross off nothing in both step 2 and step 3? Then mark a penalty. Each penalty costs you 5 points at the end. This does not apply to the other players; they can simply pass.
6. Want to lock a row? You can only do that once you have at least five crosses in that row. If you then roll the last number (12 for red and yellow, 2 for green and blue), you cross it off and the lock next to it too. The lock counts as an extra cross. Take the die of that colour out of the game: from now on, nobody may mark anything in that row.
7. Pass the dice to the player on your left.

When does the game end?

The game ends immediately as soon as someone has four penalties, or as soon as two rows are locked. It does not matter who locked the row; as soon as the second die is out of the game, you count the points.

Scoring

For each colour, count your crosses, including the lock if you locked that row. More crosses in one row are worth more and more. The table is at the bottom of your score sheet:

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

Add up the four colours and subtract 5 points per penalty. The highest score wins. In a tie you share the win, and in Qwixx that is more of an invitation to a second game than a problem.

Frequently asked questions

Can I skip a number?

Yes. You do not have to start at the far left and you can always skip numbers. You just can never go back: everything to the left of your last cross is gone.

Does a penalty also count for the other players?

No. You only take a penalty as the roller, and only if you crossed off nothing at all on your own turn. Anyone whose turn it is not can simply ignore the white total without a penalty.

Can I cross off the same colour twice on my turn?

Yes. If you cross something off in red with the white total, you can then add a second cross in red with white plus red, as long as it is to the right of the first.

Can you play Qwixx with two players?

Absolutely. The game changes very little; you just roll more often yourself. Want to make it more exciting? Then play two sheets each.

What if a row is locked and I roll exactly that colour?

That die is out of the game, so you do not roll it any more. Only the white dice and the remaining colours still count.

Tips for experienced players

• Start with low numbers in red and yellow and high ones in green and blue. That way you keep as many options open as possible in every row.
• Placing a cross far to the right to reach the lock quickly costs you all the numbers in between. Only do that if you are already a row behind.
• Keep an eye on what your neighbours are crossing off. Lock a colour in which you are ahead and they still have to catch up.
• Sometimes a penalty is better than a bad cross. Five points is less than what you lose by skipping four numbers.

More dice with pen and paper

Is crossing off your favourite part of Qwixx? Then Clever (published in English as That's Pretty Clever!) is a logical next step. There, too, you roll dice and fill in a sheet, but every box can trigger a chain reaction on another part of your sheet. So you think a little longer about each roll. If you prefer to keep things light, play Flip 7, in which you turn over cards until you dare to stop.

Looking for a gift? Our top 10 Sinterklaas games and top 10 Christmas games list the games by occasion.

Do you play a house rule that is not listed here, or have you spotted a mistake? Let us know and we will update it.