The holidays are always a good time to break out some new games. I see friends more often, I see family more often. Over Thanksgiving and the time with my family after, I got to play a new game, to me, though one that has been out for a few years, Patchwork Doodle. This is another roll and write game, this time, where you are making a quilt.

How To Play Patchwork Doodle

In Patchwork Doodle, you goal is to make as big a square as you can. To do this, you all fill in shapes on your board, a starting shape, and then six more per round. At the end of each round you score the largest square you have. If in round two you have a 6 by 6 square, that is 36 points. But if you have a 6 by 6 square and two more rows of six, that’d be 38 points. At the end, most points win, with empty spots being worth negative one point each.

Plus you use special powers. There are three, kind of four, in the game. When using a shape, you can use either one to the left or right. You can fill in a single spot. You cut off part of a shape to split it into two, with a single cut, and put in either of those shapes instead. And I say kind of four, because the fourth, lets you use one of those other ones again.

What Doesn’t Work

There are two probably negatives to this game. Though one of them I am just speculating about at this point. I’ll talk about that one first. I think that Patchwork Doodle might have limited staying power. While the game is fun thus far, I wonder about the variability of the game. It reminds me of Second Chance, which isn’t a bad thing, because I liked Second Chance, you can see my review here. But as time and plays have gone by, I am less interested in playing it again. The game is playing similar each time. Patchwork Doodle might do the same.

And the bigger thing is that they have colored pencils. And colored pencils work well for the game, but the ones in the box suck. They really aren’t usable, they are too light and you need to work to fill in the spots on your quilt. We pulled out other colored pencils, but don’t use the ones in there. It is like Second Chance in that doodling is part of the fun of this game, another peaceful roll and write.

What Works

Patchwork Doodle teaches very simply and quickly. It glanced at the rules and that was it. I could teach my parents and wife in a few minutes. And they got what was going in the game. The powers maybe need a bit more in terms of teaching, but they are still easy. It’s really the left or right shape one that takes a tiny bit more teaching.

The strategy of the game is pretty fun as well. Yes, it is luck based, but it’s less lucky than Second Chance. You get to make choices when you pick how to use the powers. Especially the ability to cut the pieces down. That allows you to fit in pieces later. And while missing a piece/shape doesn’t knock you out of the game, it does certainly hurt your chances of winning.

Some people might not like this, but I liked it, that the game is generally quite close. The starting shapes are different, and that’ll change up how well you can score, but if you are paying attention to making a square, you do well. But it isn’t so thinky that you need to spend a lot of time figuring out that ideal move. When a simple game punishes people for not playing ideal, that’s not fun, but if it’s too complex a game that it forces scores close, not always fun either. This is a right balance.

The rolling and limited number of cards, six of the eight, actually works for me as well. It works in that it gives you something to pull for. You want to know what number is rolled because you want certain shapes to be landed upon. When a game makes you want something, that’s a good thing. It keeps you invested in the game because you want that one perfect shape to get added to your quilt.

Who Is Patchwork Doodle For?

I keep on talking about family, but I think that’s really what this game is for. Patchwork Doodle works well with people who are familiar with games, but aren’t gamers. They maybe have played games like Five Crowns, Phase 10, or Ticket to Ride. I likely won’t pull this out with gamer friends, but for a nice fast game between stuff, it works. But this is one for playing with those casual gamers in your life.

This game isn’t heavy and it isn’t going to be my favorite roll and write game, but that’s okay. To me, this is that same spot as Second Chance, it just offers that little bit more that I think makes it interesting. So if you are a gamer and you want something that is easy enough for family but interesting you, I like this one.

Patchwork Final Thoughts

This is a fun game, I think that it’ll stick around in my collection for a while. In fact, it might, though I doubt it, bump Second Chance off of the shelf. I personally don’t know that I need both, but my wife might want to keep Second Chance as a very easy game to pull off the shelf. Patchwork Doodle as fits the bill, it just has that tiny bit more going on.

I really wish that the pencils had been any good. But with the size of this game, I’m probably going to laminate six sheets and just play off of that. But generally speaking, I think this is one that a lot of people will enjoy, but unless played in a casual setting, that a lot of people won’t love.

My Grade: B
Casual Grade: A
Gamer Grade: C-

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