How to Play Patches Game

What is Patches Game?

Patches Game is a spatial logic puzzle built on the Japanese classic Shikaku. You're given a grid (6 × 6, 7 × 7, 8 × 8 or 10 × 10) with a handful of cells carrying clues. Your job is to partition the entire grid into rectangular patches so that every clue sits inside exactly one patch, every patch matches whatever its clue specifies, and every cell of the grid belongs to exactly one patch. No overlaps, no gaps.

The puzzle is solved when the board is fully covered. Easy. The hard part is figuring out which rectangle goes where, because clues constrain the shape, the size, both, or neither, and those constraints have to fit together across the whole grid.

Step-by-step rules

1 · Read the clues

Each clue cell encodes up to two things: a shape type and a cell count. The shape is drawn as a small rectangle inside the cell whose aspect ratio matches the shape family: square, wide, tall, or freeform. If there's a number, it sits on top and tells you the exact area of the rectangle the clue belongs to.

2 · Drag to draw a rectangle

Click and hold on one cell, then drag to another cell. A translucent rectangle follows your pointer. The border turns orange when the shape is valid (exactly one clue inside, matches shape + size, no overlap). It turns red if any constraint is broken. Release to place.

3 · Match shape and size

The rectangle must contain exactly one clue, and it must match the clue's constraints precisely. A Square clue refuses anything that isn't a square. A Wide clue refuses squares and tall rectangles: width must be strictly greater than height. Same for Tall. A Freeform clue accepts any rectangle, including squares.

4 · Cover every cell

Keep drawing rectangles until every cell of the grid belongs to exactly one patch. Tap (or click) any placed patch to remove it if you need to adjust. The puzzle isn't solved until the last cell is covered.

The four shape types

Patches uses four shape categories. This is the part that separates it from classic Shikaku. Every clue tells you which family it belongs to (or that it's Freeform).

Shape examples at a glance

A few worked mappings between cell count and valid shapes:

• Square · 4 → only 2 × 2 is valid. 4 × 1 and 1 × 4 are wrong shape.
• Square · 9 → only 3 × 3 is valid. No other rectangle has area 9 and equal sides.
• Wide · 6 → 6 × 1, 3 × 2. 2 × 3 is tall, not wide; 1 × 6 is tall.
• Tall · 6 → 1 × 6, 2 × 3. 3 × 2 and 6 × 1 are wide.
• Freeform · 6 → any rectangle with area 6: 1 × 6, 2 × 3, 3 × 2, 6 × 1.
• Freeform · no number → any rectangle of any size. You pick both dimensions and orientation.

A worked example

Here is a real 6 × 6 Easy board from the puzzle pool. Every clue shows a shape and a number, so each one is a small multiplication problem: list the rectangles with that many cells, keep the ones with the right proportions, and see which of them fit.

Four clues can be placed straight away:

• The Tall 3 in the top-right corner. Three cells, taller than wide: only 1 × 3. From the corner it can only run straight down, rows 1 to 3.
• The Tall 6 in the top row. A 1 × 6 would run down the whole second column into the Tall 6 at the bottom, so it is 2 wide and 3 tall. Covering columns 2–3 would take in the Wide 3 clue in row 3, so it covers columns 1–2.
• The Tall 6 in the bottom row. Also 2 wide and 3 tall, for the same reason. Columns 1–2 would include the Tall 3 clue on the left edge, so it covers columns 2–3, rows 4 to 6.
• The Wide 3 on the right edge. A Wide 3 can only be 3 × 1, and a clue on the right edge can only extend left, so it covers columns 4 to 6 of row 4.

Each placed patch is now a wall, and the other four clues follow one after another. The Tall 3 on the left edge has only the three cells below the first Tall 6. The Wide 6 in row 2 has to fill the 3 × 2 block at the top between the two Tall patches. The Wide 3 in row 3 takes the three cells under it, and the Wide 6 in the bottom row fills the last 3 × 2 block.

Medium and Hard boards hide some of the numbers and shapes, so fewer clues place themselves and you lean on the space around them instead. Patches tips & strategy walks through a Medium and a Hard board step by step.

How Patches compares to Shikaku

Patches is a modern spin on Shikaku, the Japanese divide-the-grid puzzle from publisher Nikoli. Both games ask you to cut the whole board into rectangles holding exactly one clue each; the difference is that a Shikaku clue is only an area number, while a Patches clue can also name a shape, and at higher difficulties leave the number out. If you've played Shikaku you'll be at home immediately, and the full breakdown of clue types, board sizes, difficulty and transferable technique is in Patches vs. Shikaku.

In-game tools

The toolbar below the grid keeps you moving when a board gets tricky:

Undo

Reverts your last placement or removal. Every action pushes onto the undo stack, up to 50 entries deep. Undoing doesn't reset the timer. Your elapsed time sticks.

Reset

Clears the whole board. During an unfinished first attempt, your elapsed time sticks and Reset is undoable. After you've solved a puzzle, Reset starts a fresh retry from 0:00 while keeping your best time.

Hint

Works in steps, so you choose how much to reveal. The first press removes any patches that don't match the solution and makes the next clue to solve pulse. Press again to outline that clue's correct rectangle for a few seconds, and a third time to place it for you. There's a short pause between hints.

Share

Copies the puzzle's URL to your clipboard. Every board has a unique shareable link. Send it to a friend, compare solve times, or save a favourite for later.

Strategy in brief

• Start with the most constrained clues. A numbered Square is the tightest: a Square 9 can only be 3 × 3. Place clues like that first.
• Treat every clue and placed patch as a wall. Clues near the grid edge have fewer places to go, and each patch you place takes options away from its neighbors.
• Eliminate, don't guess. For a Freeform clue or one with no number, ask which cells it can't reach; nearby clues usually rule most options out. If a placement turns out wrong, Undo it rather than resetting the board.

Worked examples on real boards, area budgeting and a stuck checklist are in Patches tips & strategy.

Difficulty levels

Patches difficulty is set by grid size and clue density. Bigger grids don't just take longer: patches can fit in more possible arrangements, which means more deduction. The difficulty picker controls how much reasoning a board takes.

• Easy: several patches place straight away and most clues show a number. Great for learning.
• Medium: fewer patches place on their own, so you need a few deductions, like a cell only one clue can reach.
• Hard: few starting moves and more clues with no number. Expect multi-step deduction.

Want to practice one level at a time? Play Easy Patches Game Unlimited, Medium Patches Game Unlimited, or Hard Patches Game Unlimited.

Daily challenge, archive & unlimited play

A new daily puzzle lands every day at 00:00 UTC. Solve it to extend your streak. Miss a day and the streak resets. Every daily since launch lives in the archive if you want to catch up on yesterday's board.

Daily puzzles are shared: everyone playing on a given day gets the exact same board. Your time and best solves are saved locally in your browser so you can come back and retry for a faster run.

When you want more than the shared daily, open Unlimited Mode. It deals fresh 6 × 6, 7 × 7, 8 × 8, and 10 × 10 boards by size and difficulty, each with its own shareable URL.

Progress & saves

Every board autosaves to your browser's localStorage. Close the tab, come back tomorrow, and your placements and your elapsed time are still there. Each puzzle has its own save slot keyed by seed, so progress on one board never overwrites progress on another.

You don't need an account. Placement checking, hints and saving all run in your browser. If you want your daily streak and stats to follow you across devices, you can sign in with a free Coffee Break account; it's optional.

Ready to play?

The fastest way to start is the daily puzzle or Unlimited Mode. Beginner? Start with a 6 × 6 Easy and work up. Veteran? Try an 8 × 8 Hard: fewer numbers, more deduction, longer solve.

If you get stuck, the Hint button points you at the next clue to solve, and pressing it again shows that clue's patch. Often that's enough to unblock the rest of the board.