Double Quick

...colured box has the name Double Quick emblazoned across it in red along with pictures of small 'scrabble' like crosswords on it. It states its 'The Worlds Fastest Word Game'

The game is made by Winning Moves and in 1998 won the Gold Award from Time Out Kids Out Good Toy Guide.

Suitable for 2-4 players age 8 and upwards.


۞ WHATS IN THE BOX? ۞

88 letter tiles - black letters ...
.../> It really is played DOUBLE QUICK!


۞ MY OPINION ۞

I love this game! It is quick and fun and with each game only taking 5-10 minutes you could choose to play just a couple of rounds or 20!

What I like about Double Quick is that it is not about knowing fancy words but about being able to think of simple words quickly. Scrabble is more about knowing lots of words, DQ is more about ... more

As I love playing games and having recently reviewed Pass the Bomb, I thought I'd try and tell you about another game we have played recently. A word game thats quick, fun and very very simple to play. Its concept is very similar to Scrabble although a lot, lot faster.

The aim of the game is to use all your tiles to make words in a crossword style before the end of the round and to score as many points as possible to win the game.

So let me introduce you to .....DOUBLE QUICK.

۞ THE BOX ۞

Approx 9" x 6" x 3", this cream colured box has the name Double Quick emblazoned across it in red along with pictures of small 'scrabble' like crosswords on it. It states its 'The Worlds Fastest Word Game'

The game is made by Winning Moves and in 1998 won the Gold Award from Time Out Kids Out Good Toy Guide.

Suitable for 2-4 players age 8 and upwards.

۞ WHATS IN THE BOX? ۞

88 letter tiles - black letters are worth one point, green = 3 points and red = 5 points.

There are 2 'joker' tiles which are a 'free letter' tile.

An oval shaped timer with the main red button, with a smaller green and yellow one to either side.

A small rules Booklet.

۞ HOW DOES THIS TIMER WORK? ۞

There are 8 rounds to each game and to start press the green button.

The yellow button is to pause the game should there be a dispute. i.e if someone queries a word. All disputes are settled by reference to a dictionary although in all the games we have had this has never been used!

Once the game has started, you would only need to press the red button if you have used all but one of your tiles before the buzzer automatically sounds. If it is pressed or goes off itself you then go on to the next round. There are 30 seconds in each round before it goes off.

۞ LETS START PLAYING! ۞

Place the 88 letter tiles face down. Each player draws 22 tiles and leave them face down. (If you have 2 players the remaining tiles will remain unused.)

From this 22 you then draw 6 to start. Press the green button, turn over your tiles and let the fun begin!

The idea is to use 5 of these tiles to make a word or words crossword style before the timer sounds. If you do then press the red button. This ends the first round. At the same time you each pass a tile of your choice on to the player on your left and draw 2 tiles from your orignal 22. You have to be quick though because as soon as you hit the red button, it starts the next round and you want as much time as possible to make words rather than passing on tiles or drawing them from your pile. You carry on making words, passing and drawing tiles until all 22 are in use, therefore 8 rounds.

A couple of quick examples on a 2 player game:

Player 1 draws A,M,T,E,T,S........they can choose to make MATES (then pressing the red button and passing on their remaining T tile and drawing 2) or they could make TEAM and place the other T under the A to make AT (again pressing the button, passing on and drawing 2)

You would then have the 2 letters you have just drawn, say a R and H plus the one the other player has passed to you, e.g an I.

You then have to place these crossword style into your existing words. You could re-make your crossword as you gain different letters as many times as you like but as each round is so short and only tiles used score points it is not recommended that you re make it too often!

If no players can use 5 tiles then you wait till the buzzer sounds, then pass on 1 and draw 2. You could start each round with as little as 3 tiles but only if you manage to use them each time!

Play continues like this until you draw the final 2 of the original 22 and you have hopefully made lots of words in your mini crossword. Once finished you count up the points depending on the colour of the letter as stated above. Any letter used in two words gets counted twice and any unused tiles count as zero. Should you use ALL your tiles and press red before it automatically sounds then you get an extra 20 bonus points!

It really is played DOUBLE QUICK!

۞ MY OPINION ۞

I love this game! It is quick and fun and with each game only taking 5-10 minutes you could choose to play just a couple of rounds or 20!

What I like about Double Quick is that it is not about knowing fancy words but about being able to think of simple words quickly. Scrabble is more about knowing lots of words, DQ is more about thinking fast!

To be able to fit all your tiles in and at the same time trying to figure out if it is worth 're-jigging' your crossword can be quite a task!

The age of 8 plus is probably about right as a younger child may be able to make all the words but not be able to fit them all together in a crossword in a limited time, but this may not apply to every child so if you have this game and younger children it might be worth trying.

My son is 13 and not really into Double Quick. Mainly because he's not that fond of crosswords so it does not appeal to him. He'd rather play his PS2!

When I play Double Quick, I'm concentrating so much on making words, what letters I can/cannot use, whether I should change part of my crossword etc I don't even have a chance to glance across to see how well or badly my partner is doing!

It's also one of those games where you let out a long breath as you relax after the tension of trying to fit it all together and you'll find yourself on the edge of your chair without even realising it!

It can also be a very frustrating game, especially if you only have a couple of tiles to fit in, but then another player hits that button first, its certainly makes you go Grrrrrr!!!!

You feel quite pleased with yourself if you manage to use the Q,X and Z, just like you would in scrabble. We total our points after each game but also carry a running total each time we play. The average score is about 35-50 for each game and we are currently in the 1200's so we have had quite a few games!

Overall I would certainly recommend it and give it 4/5. It only loses a star because it can be SO frustrating! Don't play if you don't want to spend time going Grrrrrr!!

You could also add your own variations to the game, maybe the person losing the round has to do a dare or a forfeit. Or just to add a bit of cheekyness you could play strip Double Quick!

Please ignore the max no of players in the ratings below, why do Ciao not have a 2-4 player option?!

۞ FURTHER INFO ۞

Made by :

Winning Moves
Intnl Ltd,
Lytonia House,
7-9 Praed Street,
London
W2 1NJ

Tel 0207 2629696 www.winningmoves.co.uk

Available in stores priced approx £14.99

Currently available on Amazon for £9.99 with free delivery

I have also seen a 2nd hand one on Ebay for £3.99 should you be interested.

Thank you for reading xx

 

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