Gigamic – QAWALE – Classic Wooden Game

Product Information

Rawan, one of the marketing reps from the team at Gigamic, asked if I wanted to try the new abstract puzzle game Qawale while standing with me at their booth at SPIEL ‘22. It was clear that I was in trouble right after I accepted Rawan’s offer to play. Each player starts with 8 pebbles of their color in their hand, while there are 8 neutral pebbles on the initial board. And a full game takes 10 minutes. Win, lose, or draw, resetting a game of Qawale and going again is simple.

This game reminds me a little of the two-player stone-moving dance SHŌBU, but with a lighter ruleset. I know that Qawale, like other abstracts from Gigamic such as Quoridor and Quarto, is just as beautiful as SHŌBU and I will always welcome a chance to move past Tic Tac Toe and into a handsome tabletop duel with someone from my family. For such a simple ruleset, the game will reward players who think a few steps ahead. I played with a few friends this past weekend, and players who made moves with their next move in mind were consistently beating players who took more direct paths.

Qawale