Qwarks
Qwarks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
All Qwarks hunters play simultaneously in this feverish game that will put your reflexes, your memory, and focus to test. Prove that you are the best scientist in the lab: cover a card of strong value (1 - 5) with your hand, then answer a compulsory question and confirm whether the card depicts a Nootron or a Prooton to claim it permanently.
Component List
- 22 Prooton cards
- 22 Nootron cards
Setup
Shuffle all 44 Qwarks cards. Deal them fairly between all players, "question side" up, and discard any remaining cards. Each Players place their deck "horizontally" in front of them. The first player is randomly designated and the game is ready to begin.
The Game
A game of QWARKS will last as long as players have cards in their deck. A turn is divided into two phases and players are only allowed to use their guiding hand during the duration of the game.
First Turn
Phase 1
At the first player's signal, all players simultaneously reveal the "Qwarks side" of the first card of their deck, putting the card down towards the center of the table. The top of each player's deck now displays the "question side" of the next card (the one on the 1st player's deck will determine the compulsory question to be answered this turn, see "phase 2"). Then, each player has a maximum of 10 seconds to choose a card and cover it with their lead hand (it can be their own card), making sure the illustration is completely hidden. As soon as a card is covered, it is forbidden to remove the hand, even if tickled.
(see example below)
Players reveal their first card. They cover a card of their choice.
Phase 2
Starting with the first player and moving clockwise, each player answers a question related to the card they chose. The question is the same for all players and is determined by the illustration on the top card of the first player's deck.
The symbol indicates the question to be answered.
There are 4 different questions:
- How many eyes are there?
- How many tentacles are there?
- Which colors are the Qwarks?
- How many Qwarks are sad / happy?
But that's not all. To claim a card permanently, players have to identify it: is it a Prooton card or a Nootron card? As a reminder: a Prooton consists of two Qwarks with tentacles and one Qwark without tentacles while a Nootron consists of two Qwarks without tentacles and one Qwark with tentacles. Those who answer correctly, proudly place the obtained card next to them, "Qwarks side" up. whereas those who failed the test discard their card pathetically. This ends the first turn and the game can move on to the next one.
The Second Turn and the Following Ones
The first player duty is passed on to the next player in clockwise order. This second turn and the following ones are played exactly as the first one. Amnesic readers can refer to " phase 1 ".
Game End
When all the cards have been played, the game is over. Players count their points by adding the numbers on the cards they obtained (claimed permanently) throughout the game. The player with the highest score is proclaimed best scientist of the laboratory. In case of a tie, the concerned scholars share the title of best scientist.
Variants
For the Young Scientists or Beginners
If in spite of all your diplomas the game seems too difficult for you, you can choose to ignore the identification of the cards. You will just have to answer the mandatory question without specifying if the card that you covered is a Prooton or a Nootron.
For Color-Blind Scientists
When the question of the turn deals with the colors of the Qwarks, consider the question of the player to the left of the first player. If the question is the same, consider the one of the player following clockwise and so on. If all the visible questions concern colors, the first player chooses a question among the three other types.
2 Player Variant
Make four equivalent decks of cards. The players face each other and both place two decks "horizontally" in front of them, "Question side" up. The first player is randomly chosen. The deck to the 1st player's right will indicate the question for the first turn. On the second turn, it will be the deck of cards to his left, then the deck of cards in the right of his opponent and so on (basically going from deck to deck in clockwise order).
At the first player's signal, both opponents flip simultaneously one card from each of their two decks (with each of their hands), and the game begins. Each can cover only a single card among the four revealed. The game then proceeds as described above.
At the end of the turn, revealed cards that were not claimed are discarded and a new turn begins, identical to the previous one.