A Newcomer's Manual to Tiddlywinks

The objective of Tiddlywinks is to shoot as many winks into the pot as possible. 'Squidge' refers to the action of flicking the small plastic discs towards the pot using the squidger. To squidge a wink, place your squidger on it, apply pressure, and flick it forward. Squidging can be challenging if another player's wink is on top of it.

• If a wink is covered by another wink, it's 'squopped.' You're only allowed to touch the top wink in your color sequence. If all winks are squopped, the game ends.

Set up the gaming area with the pot positioned at the center. Select a flat surface such as a table or floor, and unfurl your 3 ft × 6 ft (0.91 m × 1.83 m) game mat. Place the shallow pot or cup from the Tiddlywinks set at the center of the game mat.

• If your Tiddlywinks set doesn't include a pot, use a cup measuring 1 ¹⁄₂
  inches (38 mm) tall and 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter.

Arrange the winks by color and position them in the mat's corners. Each Tiddlywinks set contains blue, green, red, and yellow winks—2 large and 4 small winks of each color. Sort the winks by color and place them behind the baselines in the corners of the mat. Arrange the winks in clockwise order: blue, green, red, and yellow.

• If there are no baselines marked on the mat, use a straightedge to draw lines from the center towards each corner. Measure 3 feet (0.91 m) from the center along each line, then mark perpendicular lines extending to the mat's edges to indicate the baselines.

Form teams with the players. In a 2-player game, one player handles the blue and red winks while the other manages the green and yellow. For a 4-player match, each player selects a color, but teams remain blue/red and green/yellow. With 3 players, 2 form a team, and the remaining player controls the leftover colors. Sit close to your winks for easy access.

• When players are in teams, it's a 'doubles' match. If a single player controls 2 colors, it's a 'singles' game.

Determine the starting player by shooting the closest wink to the pot. Begin with the blue winks and proceed clockwise around the table. Place a wink behind the baseline of a corner, then take a squidger, a small disc for shooting, and press its edge against the top of the wink. Slide the squidger towards the back of the wink to flick it towards the pot. Each player shoots 1 disc, and the one closest to the pot starts.

• This initial shootout is known as a squidge-off. Afterward, retrieve the discs and return them behind the baseline.
• Hold the squidger firmly but comfortably, positioning your fingers high to avoid interfering with your shot.

Set a timer for 20–25 minutes. Typically, singles rounds last 20 minutes, while doubles go for 25. Just before the first player's turn, start the timer.

• For 3-player games, set the timer for 22 ½ minutes.

Shoot a wink towards the pot during your turn. Initially, players must shoot 1 wink from behind their corner's baseline. Choose a wink of your color, press the squidger's edge into its center, and slide it back to pop it towards the pot. Take turns clockwise.

• In subsequent turns, players can shoot their color's wink from behind the baseline or a free wink on the mat—those not covered or underneath another piece.
• If a wink is shot off the mat, return it as close as possible to its exit point and skip the next turn for that color.
• For optimal shooting, angle the squidger at 45 degrees to flick the wink. When the wink is about 2 inches from the pot, hold the squidger vertically.

Earn an extra turn for sinking a wink into the pot. If a player successfully pots a wink during their turn, they can immediately take another shot with a different wink of their color. Players can continue taking turns until one of their shots misses the pot.

• An experienced player may manage to pot all 6 winks in a single turn.

Thwart your opponent by covering their wink. Angle the squidger towards the wink you want to cover. If your shot lands on another wink, the bottom one is squopped. Squopped winks cannot be played until the top one is removed. Players may aim at squopped winks instead of the pot.

• If your opponent is close to potting all their winks, try squopping their remaining ones.
• You can still shoot your wink if it's on top of a stack and not fully covered. Attempt a boondock to displace your opponent's wink below yours.

Secure victory by potting all 6 winks of a color. The game ends as soon as a player pots all their winks. In singles, only one color needs to be potted, while in doubles, one player potting all their winks secures victory for both team members.

Tally scores for potted and free winks if the time expires. If the timer runs out before all winks are potted, play 5 more turns per player. Then, award 3 points for each potted wink and 1 point for each free wink on the mat, excluding squopped ones. The player with the most points wins!

• In multi-round play, award additional points. The top-scoring team earns 4 extra points, while the next team earns 2.

• Enhance your shot accuracy by practicing with the squidger. Aim to pot winks from 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm) away and squop them from 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) away.

• Due to their small size and hard material, winks pose a choking hazard if ingested. Keep them out of reach of young children and pets, and ensure all components are accounted for when storing the game.

• Tiddlywinks set
• 3 ft × 6 ft (0.91 m × 1.83 m) game mat