The list of games that are designed solely for two-players is woefully short. The number of really fantastic games solely for two-players is even shorter. But Patchwork is a game that should be near the top of that list. The game from Uwe Rosenberg (Agricola, Le Havre) blew people away in its hidden depth and strategy when it was released in 2014. Today, Patchwork makes its way to digital devices.
The Tetris-meets-economics game is now available on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. The port, by Digidiced, who most recently developed the digital version of Le Havre: The Inland Port, allows you to play vs. AI opponents (in three difficulties), locally, casually with online friends, or online against ranked opponents.
There is a Playback feature, which will allow players to analyze their (and other players’) games and there are many ways to customize the experience. And, great news, if you’ve never played Patchwork before, there’s a really nice tutorial to get you up to speed quickly.
I’ve been playing the game for a few days and it is incredibly addictive. The AI can be pretty tough, but every time I finished a game, I was ready to start another. Interacting with the game is pretty easy and things are mostly where you’d expect them. And while I like what they’ve done with the theme, I feel like it ends up being a bit busy as a result.
Making out some of the icons on a phone screen can be a bit tough, though. The one really challenging problem I ran into was the presentation of the boards. Digidiced can’t be faulted, there’s an awful lot going on in this game, but trying to read the time board (unlike the board game, only one face is available) can be tough. However, a simple touch brings it to the foreground for easy readability. And think hard about your next turn before selecting a patch; once you do, your quilt board will come to the forefront and there’s no way (that I could tell–and I pressed just about everything I could think of) to take a look at upcoming patches.
Still, it’s a wonderfully fun time and I can’t wait for all my friends to get a copy so we can start playing online. Patchwork is available beginning today. The app is available in each platform’s respective store for just $2.99. Optional themes will be available for $0.49 to $0.99.
Disclosure: GeekDad received a code for this game for reviewing purposes.
