Patchwork: The Game

It might be hard to believe that an entire board game created around sewing together quilts exists. And yet, not only is Patchwork: The Game a real game with a real following, but it's surprisingly quite a bit of fun to play. The game is an odd sort of hybrid between a simple board game and Tetris. Each turn, players choose from a limited selections of fabric swatches of different shapes and sizes, placing them onto a grid and sewing them into place to form a quilted blanket. Each patch has a specific cost and a movement value. After both players reach the end of the board's path, they compare quilts and tally up points based on buttons picked up, size of completed sections, and number of holes left unfilled. While it all sounds a bit stale in the explanation, when in action, there's a lot of strategy, cunning, and skill involved. Who knew quilting could be so cutthroat?

Jumping from the tabletop to mobile devices, Patchwork: The Game manages to tweak the experience in a handful of positive ways. For starters, the game gets a visual upgrade that adds to the overall charm of the presentation. Players can purchase a small handful of different themes if they choose, but it's only a cosmetic preference. It's also nice that the game handles the nuances of calculating the score at the end of each match, and it does so in an easy to follow way. This is helpful since the tutorial can be a little vague on some of the gameplay details, though it's still easy to fill in the gaps. Single player and local matches are a lot of fun, but the online multiplayer has a few loose threads to deal with. Ranked games can take a while to set up, and they can take forever to complete. Oftentimes, online opponents will drop out of games without notice, leaving a queue of half-finished matches to waste away. Still, against the A.I. or a nearby friend via local play, Patchwork: The Game is a fun way to pass the time.