4.1.2016

I bought this for my 7-year-old daughter for Christmas but my wife and I have been playing it mainly at night. The rules are exceptionally simple but the game actually has a tremendous amount of strategy. My favourite two player game is currently Jaipur but Patchwork may very well dethrone it, it's that good.Both players have their own gridded mat on which they need to construct a quilt. On a turn, the player may take any of the next three quilt patches from those encircling the board: there is a rather substantial wooden marker to mark the current point and it's moved to where the patch was removed from each time, thus your choice affects the patches available to your opponent.Each patch is a shaped like a tetris piece (of three,four or five blocks) and so the first puzzle is fitting these onto your grid. Each piece has a cost (in buttons, the game's currency) and time printed on too. You see, to represent time, there is a third board with a track on which the players have a token: once a player reaches the centre they can make no further changes to their quilt. The game finishes when both are over the finishing line.To buy a patch you have to both pay its cost in buttons and also move your piece around the timeline the number of spaces shown on that piece. The twist is that the person at the back continues to play until the other player is at the back, golf style. That way there is a strategic element of taking the pieces with the low time cost in order to get multiple sequential goes and, in doing so, access to the better patches. However, the more awkward shaped pieces tend to be cheaper so sometimes you have to pay high in order to get a piece that actually fits your quilt. In addition, many of the patches have one, two or three buttons icons on them: for these you get payouts whenever a button icon is crossed on the timeline (there are several of these) and it's important to get lots of buttons in the early game as otherwise you don't have enough cash to buy what you want later on. So there are many factors in play here: money, time and best fit.If there's no quilt piece you want you can, instead, move in front of the other player on the timeline and gain one button for each square you moved, thus allowing you to cash time for money to get access to the more lucrative pieces. There are also five 1x1 patches on the timeline that are won by the first player to cross over them: extremely useful for filling those inevitable holes.At the end of the game, each player loses two buttons for each empty square on their quilt board, so it pays to get as much covered as possible. Finally there's a 7 button bonus for the first player to complete a 7x7 square without gaps. The winner is simply the player with the most buttons at the end. We've had winning scores ranging from the negatives to 40, but we've also had some very close games too, with just a button or two between us.All in all, Patchwork is a pure gold: it has simple and straightforward rules, it's quick and easy to play, tense in places and a lot of fun! It's also has surprisingly strategic depth: I especially like how you can really stick it to the other player, by making a snazzy chain of moves when they go too far ahead on the timeline. This is especially satisfying when you are running out of buttons but are then able to set up a chain of moves that pushes you over a button icon giving you a button haul you can then use for your second or third contiguous go.This is the second Uwe Rosenburg game I've played: Bohnanza, too, is a fantastically original and fun game so I'm starting to think this guy is some kind of game designing genius: I'll definitely be checking out his other offerings (looking at your Caverna).

18.8.2017

This games goal was very simple to understand but the rules and how it played left me scratching my head initially.Although the first few playthroughs irritated me, because of the wording of the rules and how vague it was, I really like this game.Once I ironed out the rule hitches, for myself, it was a fun and enjoyable game of making a Tetris like game. I enjoyed the idea of resource management and how the position of your pawn determined how many goes you got per turn.It's a clever game and is quite fun, with lots of counting and points spending involved. I'm happy with the game and hope to play more very soon.To clarify, on the movement/score board when you pass a button,

20.4.2016

Patchwork is an very good abstract puzzle game for 2 players. The (pasted on) theme is quilt making - but don't let that put you off if that's not your thing! In reality players are purchasing Tetris-like shapes (using a currency of buttons) and placing them on their own 9 x 9 board. Each shape is different, has a price and a duration that it takes to add to the quilt. If a player plays a long duration shape, then the next player has all that time available and may be able to use it to play two or more pieces. I have only seen this time catch-up mechanic once before in Neuland. Once both players have exhausted the time track then the points accumulated during the game are added up and an empty squares on their board incur a penalty.

28.2.2016

Patchwork is a real gem. For around £20 you are getting a competitive 2 player game that is not just about winning but creating the best patchwork quilt you can, without leaving two many gaps. Every gap you leave equals 2 points deducted of your final 'button' (the game's currency) total. Because of this it is not unusual to see negative scores!The game comes with three boards, two boards to build your quilt on (from the Tetris style patchwork pieces) and one that keeps track of time. That's because every patchwork piece costs buttons, but also time. There is a real decision to be made from getting that piece you need and not moving to far down the time track, because the player in last place always goes next.

25.8.2016

My GF likes it and asks for a game by herself, which is a big plus on its own.It's a building game, it's not overtly aggressive, but subtle. It takes about 15 minutes not more. Simple rules (far less than agricola and also feels far more like fun and far less feels like work). It's a nice nod to space-time too.The game is different every time (use a cloth bag to draw the forms from in random order), laying them on the board is different as a result. There are multiple dimensions to this game, you need to manage your income, especially right before the income phase; the time and your opponent's money - can you grab more tiles with low time than your opponent; there is not much down time because you can think.The end game is important too,

29.9.2016

This game is AWESOME! It's so satisfying finding the perfect piece of fabric to fill an empty spot on your patchwork. I've twice fully completed my patchwork board now in normal play which is so rare and utterly fulfilling.The game is a bit like Tetris and takes many plays to work out an ideal strategy. You're choice depend on what the player before chooses, so if predict their choices you can influence their decisions to, making this far more strategic than you would imagine.The game doesn't loose it's playability either, we've been playing it regularly for 6 months now. It's a game that doesn't take long to set up and can be enjoyed in under an hour making it the perfect light evening

21.3.2016

This is a great game. It's extremely high quality in presentation and manufacture.It's also easy to master too, which is necessary when you want to have a quick game of something after dinner rather than switch on the TV!The premise is that you have to make a patchwork quilt in a kind of Tetris style in a turn-based ruleset.The rules aren't difficult to master and you can get a good two or three games in 30-40 minutes, which is perfect when you want to do a 'best of 3' event.Size wise - you'll need one half a standard sized table to play this comfortably as pieces have to be spread out. But other than that the box is transportable so you could take this away with you if you wanted to - although

24.7.2017

We love this game.The wife and i play a lot of board gamesI find this game quite relaxing and it is quite quick after one game we find ourselves instantly agreeing to play another.The satisfaction of a puzzle without spending hours trying to fill in the blue sky on a conventional puzzle.When you first play you may get a minus score but don't be dissuaded as after a few games you will get much better.None of us have managed to fill the complete 9x9 grid but we have got quite close (i was one square away and my wife was two in separate games).Generally you are aiming to get the 7x7 bonus and filling in as much of your board as possible as any unfilled space is minus 2 buttons (buttons are how you score).I would definitely recommend this game,

24.2.2020

What a great little game!Easy to learn, quick to play, tricky to master.If you like playing around with shapes, planning tactical moves, or just having fun, this is a game you should definitely have a look at.Even with my wife and I being avid gamers, Patchwork still hits the table plenty of times and certainly enough to be worth having in anyone's collection, because it's easy enough for smart kids to play but still plenty challenging for clever adults.It plays through in around 20 minutes (once you're used to it), so a 'best of three' is a good start to an evening of gaming or before chilling out with a film.The only downside is that it is just a 2 player game,

9.6.2020

So fun! My husband and I are avid boardgamers and I bought this in March, having had my eye on it for a while, as it is a 2 player game which I thought would be ideal for lockdown. This game has fantastic reviews and really does live up to them. It's super easy to learn so ideal for beginners but still great for expert gamers, quick to play and quite addictive as you find yourself playing 3 or 4 games in a row! Since buying, Patchwork has come out to play most weekends and is definitely a firm favourite now. We have also raved about it to friends who have now bought copies and absolutely love it.A few other games that we like are Carcassonne, Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Gloom and Azul,

4.6.2020

This is an interesting and different sort of board game and to me seems fairer than the usual game of chance that depends on the throw of a dice. It's also great that it's a two-player game (so many board games work better with more players).If you are good at Tetris, I think you have a slight advantage as you'll be able to visualise how the pieces will fit together more easily. However, if not, and your partner is in agreement, you can always pick up the possible play pieces and 'play around' with them on your board before deciding whether to buy or not. You quickly get the hang of it and it becomes quite absorbing.The fact that no two games will be the same is also very appealing; I certainly

25.2.2019

This Game is deceptive!First of all, when I purchased it, I expected a much bigger box and play board, and so I was initially disappointed that it was so small – and it was made mostly of pretty thin cardboard. However; don’t be fooled by this little gem! As soon as we got playing, we really got into this! It’s more strategy and tactics than luck, and you have to be really prudent with your Buttons, that in this game represent a sort of ‘cash’ income you earn. You could lose the game on one or all of any of these three points.A really well thought out game that will really keep you absorbed, as it really is difficult to think of anything else whilst paying!(The theme may put some people off -

3.4.2021

I was looking for a game to play with my girlfriend and stumbled over this gem, which was a nice surprise as she likes to quilt. It is a fun, quick and uncomplicated game resulting in many enjoyable memories. The outcome can be surprising (i.e., you thought that you were ahead but still lost). One minor problem we encountered is that sometimes one player has a really good start while the other one has no chances to buy good pieces which makes it nearly impossible to catch up. This is why we usually make sure that both players have similar good or bad options in the beginning - otherwise we reshuffle. The joy of producing a perfect quilt is very satisfying (according to my girlfriend...).

9.1.2017

I purchased this to play on holiday with my wife if we had any rainy days (highly likely in the rainy season)She's not one for new games and new rules, and just wants to chill out and play...This was one of 4 games we took away, and the one we played the most.It's compact in the box but you need a good amount of space to play the game.Time wise it's nice and compact each game taking 1/2 and hour or so.Although simple to understand and learn, tactic wise, it's challenging.Out of all the games we took away, this way the one we enjoyed the most and played the most.Since we've been back home this has been played many times with the kids(3 boys) now enjoying it as well

23.4.2017

This game at first glance looks like a game most people would not buy. I skipped looking at this game because of the title and art work. When watching reviews for other games on youtube this game always appeared in the background. Looking for 2 player games, this game turned up many a time, so i thought I would watch a review and see the game play.As the saying goes you should never judge a book by its cover. This game is fantastic and plays very well. I have played it 5 times in 2 days with the girlfriend and she loves it too. Best two player game I have in my collection. Would highly recommended this game to anyone looking for a simple quick two player game.

Patchwork Board Game - Reviews

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