Qwixx is a dice game that entered into the market as a small, light board game for entry-level players. It takes about 15 minutes to play, and can take 2-5 players, but is best with 4-5 players.
The game consists of four colored dice, two black and white dice, and a sheaf of score sheets. Each score sheets consists of four rows of numbers, one for each color. Red and yellow ascend from 2 through 12, while green and blue descend from twelve to two. The object is to collect as many numbers as possible; this is made harder by the fact that all numbers must be collected in order, left to right, and any numbers skipped over can no longer be counted towards your score.
To play, players take turns rolling the dice. The two white dice are added together, and that number is a 'free' number that anyone at the table may choose to cross out in one of their rows. The player who rolled the dice may take a second number; this second number can be either number on the white dice (but not both), plus any one number on any of the colored dice. The caveat here is that if you take, e.g., white + blue, that number must then be played on the player's blue row. The player then passes the dice to the next player, and the process is repeated.
Once a player plays the last number in a row, that row is locked, and that die removed from the game. The game continues until two dice are removed from the game.
There are a few other wrinkles; a player who rolls but does not want to take either of the two possible numbers takes a penalty, and if someone takes four penalties, that also ends the game. The scoring is a bit counter-intuitive, but the game walks you through it. There are just enough rules to be slightly confusing to someone who does not enjoy puzzles, but not enough that anyone needs to be excluded.
Overall, this is not a hard game to learn and is fun to play. While it is a lighter game, it is worth owning simply to have something light, cheap, and quick. It is currently selling for about $10.00, so I would generally recommend giving it a try, but I have found that people who do not like puzzles or math may not enjoy it much, so YMMV. Those who do enjoy light mathematical puzzles will find it surprisingly engaging.
Iron Noder