Tapestry

A eurogame that allows players to create their own, unique civilization!

1-5 players, ages 12+
90-120 minutes
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Art by Andrew Bosley, Sculpts by Rom Brown

Publisher: Stonemaier Games
https://stonemaiergames.com/

Tapestry is a civilization game with very straightforward gameplay:

On your turn, you’ll either pay resources to advance on one of the tracks and gain the benefit, or take an income turn.

There are 4 advancement tracks, and apart from placing income buildings, each one has a different function: Exploration allows you to place territory tiles on the central map, which can be conquered by placing outposts with the Military track. Technology allows you to gain tech cards, giving you benefits when you upgrade them. And with the Science track you’ll be rolling the science die and gaining an additional advancement on one of the four tracks.

When collecting income, you play a tapestry card and gain its benefit, upgrade a tech card and gain VP and income for all exposed icons on your income mat.

The game ends after all players have taken their fifth income turn, and the player with the most points is the winner!

What do I think of Tapestry?

The rules are short and easy to explain, the iconography is very clear and the game looks great on the table thanks to the miniatures and the beautiful art by Andrew Bosley. It’s obvious those miniatures only have an aesthetic function, if these were wooden cubes and/or cardboard tiles this wouldn’t harm the game itself but only reduce the table presence.

In terms of gameplay I wouldn’t really call this a civilization game, to me Tapestry seems more like an engine builder offering a challenging puzzle to optimise each of your turns. It feels really satisfying to advance on a track, and gain just enough resources to take that extra step on your next turn, and do as much as possible before moving on to the next era.

After six plays now I have the feeling I just scratched the surface of all the strategic options this game has to offer, and I’m definitely keen on exploring Tapestry much more!

***We played Tapestry with the Civilization Adjustments published on the Stonemaier Games website***