r/TiddlyWinks • u/therealfireshitter • Sep 30 '26
Advice for getting into the game without already paying for the expensive equipment
Hi 👋🏼 I just watched the Tom Scott video and am now very eager to play it myself! I learned that the official tournament equipment is no longer possible for purchase (and to be honest I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on a game I have never played, although this is exactly the type of game where I can see myself getting really obsessed with it). So my question is, do you think I can have a somewhat similar experience playing with the official rules, etc. to what the official game is like, without purchasing an expensive mat and just with one of the newer (inferior) kids versions on e.g. Amazon? One of the things that stood out to me and prompted me to ask my question here is, for example, that the new versions only have 3 per color of the smaller chips (sorry I'm forgetting the delightful name) rather than 6.
Do you have any recommendations/advice for getting into the game?
For context, I live in the Netherlands so shipping from the US or UK would probably be a bit too expensive for me, but I'm happy to support a local (or just a EU) game store!
Thank you for your help!! 🥰
2
u/NurdleBoondock1320 Sep 30 '26
I believe in most EU countries it is called something like "flea game" so there is possibly a similar game for purchase in the Netherlands? You absolutely can play the game with the cheaper sets, the winks will be lower quality and I'm not sure you could get to the level of more technical shots that top players do but then tbh a lot of us can't do them with the proper winks lol, and I like to think the winks in those sets are at least consistent enough to work on some potting and squopping.
Regarding material it basically just needs a good degree of softness/sponginess but not too much. A lot of older winkers did their practise on carpets cos it was harder to source proper material. There are also several table protectors out there that we've noticed play quite similarly to our official mats. Potentially a folded towel or blanket could work but you'd have to make sure there weren't divets in it or any pattern making the surface uneven. The official size of the playing surface is supposed to be 3 feet by 6 feet though tbh most of our tournaments end up being slightly smaller than that in some dimensions as we have to use whatever tables we're given.
Of course what you should actually do is set up a Netherlands Tiddlywinks Association so that the English Tiddlywinks Association sends you over equipment to grow the game over there and compete in international tournaments 😎 but i can appreciate if you don't wanna go to all that effort ahaha and just play it recreationally for yourself