Solo word game a fine time filler

This review is perhaps a touch off-brand in the sense it’s really not exactly a game.

Q-Less is a solo ‘game’ without time limit, and without exactly a ‘win’ condition past an inner feeling of satisfaction when you manage the game goal.

So what is the goal with Q-Less?

Well inside a tin that reminds of one good peppermints might come in, you find 12, six-sided dice. The faces of the dice are letters.

You roll the 12 dice and then go at it to create words which use all 12 dice. The words must connect like those in the class Scrabble, and words must contain at least three letters.

The brief rules suggest not all rolls can be ‘solved’ -- I got one with a single vowel that makes success unlikely – but most should be managed.

The game helps a bit in the fact there is no ‘Q’ to deal with.

Oh, and there in no time limit, so you can sweat over a given roll as long as you have the patience.

This one from designer Tom Sturdevant and publisher Grand Isle Games has some age to it created in 2018 according to data at Board Game Geek.

Now there is nothing exactly new here.

Scribbage released in 1963 by E.S. Lowe was the same idea, except it is a competitive game for two. Players roll out the lettered-dice and create words using the same process as Q-Less, except you race against an ‘egg-timer’. In Scribbage letters are valued as in Scrabble so you score words created to a particular point value.

Scribbage was later released as Ad-Lib Crossword Cubes.

Earlier still was the 1956 release Spill and Spell. It is a word dice game where players make words to score points. Scoring is determined by squaring the number of letters in the words spelled (e.g. making a three-letter word and a four-letter word would net 25 (9+16) and subtracting the square of unused letters.

While Q-Less is not particularly innovative in terms of games with lettered-dice, it has merit based on a few factors.

To begin with it is accessible, where others mentioned are basically thrift store finds or online auction buys. You can find Q-Less at qlessgame.com

The presentation with Q-Less is great too. The dice are a good size, and the tin small enough to pocket and take anywhere.

And, while I admit my skill at this one could use some improvement, it is a rather addictive experience. For some that will mean extended study to get all 12 letters into words per the rules, and others it will be a case of ‘surrender’ and a fresh roll. Either way this is a fine time eater that fits when having coffee, or even during commercials of a sport event you are watching.

Well worth looking into as a stocking stuffer for someone a bit hard to buy for.