The game of tiddlywinks
Tiddlywinks is a game of strategy and dexterity for two to four players.
In the popular children's game of tiddlywinks, the aim is to flick small counters (which we call "winks") into a pot with a larger disc (which we call a "squidger"). The players take turns, but if a wink goes in the pot then that player gets another go. The first player to get all their winks into the pot wins.
The adult game emphasises a minor component of the rules of the children's game: that if a wink lands on top of another wink, the lower wink may not be played. From this simple statement leads a world of strategy; the adult game is about controlling your opponent's winks, building and attacking piles of winks, creating a strong defensive or threatening position and building a lead before the game ends — all while demonstrating the skill of play to execute your shots as intended (and making your opponents' shots as difficult as possible). A player still wins if all the winks of that player's colour are potted, but many games reach the end of the time limit without this happening.
On privacy
Please note that it is common for photos and occasionally video to me taken at winks events, especially national tournaments. Many end up on PotShots for the use of Winking World and interested media, though others have taken their own video and photos for streaming channels or the press. If there is someone present at a tournament taking photos, it is almost definitely for these purposes (and probably me, the web site maintainer). Obviously there is no intent to cause any embarrassment to those depicted, but if you would like not to appear in any public record, please do not be afraid to make this clear; it should never be a problem to ensure you stay out of frame. If you wish to take your own photos/video at a winks event, please apply the same courtesy to other participants — and also try to ensure that you don't disrupt games (such as by firing a flash in someone's face as they try to play).
People have also requested to have their name changed or abbreviated in the written historical records, out of concerns regarding employer searches (in most cases discussing tiddlywinks helps make a job interview go better, but clearly this varies). Again, please just ask, there will be no judgement — there are many good reasons not to be tracked, and there’s no need to explain.
More information about the game
Utilities
- A browser-based timer is available for winks use. Please see the (extensive) guide to use.
- There is also a statistics timer for measuring shot duration and recording relative slow play.
- When running tournaments, it may be useful to be able to predict the results of an unplayed game fairly; there’s a utility for that.
- There is a utility for sharing game state when playing remotely, and a webcam-based live version if preferred.
There are also extensive facilities for managing draws for tiddlywinks tournaments, but these place a load on the server and are a security risk — so are not linked publicly. Please reach out to the web site maintainer if you wish to use them.
Julian Wiseman’s web site contains the tournament draws used for fixed-format tournaments; please consider these (or at least a simpler version) if running an all-play-all tournament (otherwise it’s possible to get stuck).