Wouter & Ymke 
Three folds. That’s all you get. It doesn’t sound like much, does it? In Just 3 Folds, everyone gets a colourful sheet of origami paper and tries to reproduce one of the patterns shown on the table. The catch is that you’re not actually folding the complete picture. Your folded paper goes against a set of mirrors, and the reflections turn the small part you’ve created into the full pattern.
The rules are easy to explain. Actually finding those three folds is something else. Looking at one of those little pattern cards and knowing you only need three folds makes the solution seem as though it should be right there. For us, it very often wasn’t. JJ Board Game will be bringing it to Spiel ’26, where I suspect “it’s only three folds” will convince plenty of people to have a go.
👥 1-6 players, ages 16+
⏳️ Playing time: 15 minutes
📝 Designer: Kohta Nakagawa
🎨 Artwork: Kohta Nakagawa
🏢 Publisher: JJ Board Game (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
At the start, three pattern cards are randomly placed in the centre of the table. Everyone takes their own sheet of origami paper, and you all start at the same time. You don’t have to solve a particular card. You can choose any of the three available patterns, or switch your attention to another one if your first choice isn’t getting you anywhere.
Your aim is to reproduce one of those patterns using exactly three folding steps. The paper has auxiliary lines for vertical, horizontal and diagonal folds, so you’re working within a set of possible folds rather than making any origami shape you fancy. While figuring things out, you can fold and unfold the paper as often as you want. The actual solution has to be completed in three steps.
The important bit is understanding what the mirrors will do. You’re looking for the part of the image that needs to remain visible after your third fold. The mirrors then repeat that part to create the complete pattern. In other words, you’re working backwards from the image on the card.
When you think you’ve got it, you shout “Easy peasy!” Everyone else stops folding and your paper is placed against the mirrors. If the reflected image matches the pattern card, you win. If your “Easy peasy!” was a little premature, it’s back to folding.
There are 32 puzzles across 16 pattern cards, divided into three difficulty levels. With beginner puzzles, you can use the first two folding steps from the answer and figure out the final fold yourself. Intermediate puzzles only give you the first step to start from, while expert puzzles leave you to find all three folds yourself. There’s also an assist card that covers three-quarters of a target and shows the part that should appear after the paper has been correctly folded. And if you’re completely stuck, hints and answers are available online.
Artwork & Components
Just 3 Folds is mostly made up of things you don’t normally find in a board game box. You get a set of acrylic mirrors, 16 pattern cards, 40 sheets of origami paper and one assist card, alongside the rulebook.
The first thing we wanted to set up was the mirror, simply because it’s such an odd thing to find inside a board game box. The panels sit at right angles around the folded paper and reflect it in several directions. A rather messy little folded shape can suddenly turn into a complete geometric pattern once you put it in there, which is easily my favourite part of the production.
The origami sheets use turquoise, yellow and pink geometric areas, with folding guides incorporated into the design. They’re meant to be handled, so ours didn’t stay pristine for very long. We reused sheets while playing, although eventually the old creases start getting in the way. The circular pattern cards use the same colours and keep the targets easy to see, while the oddly shaped assist card fits over them when needed.
Our Experience
We played Just 3 Folds mainly with our kids, and I went into our first attempts feeling reasonably confident. The idea made sense, there weren’t many rules to remember, and I knew what I was supposed to be doing. Then I started folding. I couldn’t complete a pattern on my own, while my wife, who is normally quite good at spatial puzzles, only managed one. So much for “Easy peasy”.
Our two youngest children were much better at it. Both have taught themselves some origami through YouTube, and apparently that was enough to give them an advantage. They still struggled, though they were seeing possible folds while I was mostly turning the paper around and hoping something would make sense. So yes, the kids beat us. Quite comfortably, actually.
We did start seeing things differently after a while. At first I kept looking at the entire target and trying to imagine how I could somehow fold that complete picture into existence. Eventually we started looking at smaller parts instead and thinking more about the reflections. Certain folds and colour combinations slowly became easier to recognise. I could look at a completed solution, understand exactly why it worked, then pick up the next card and be completely lost again.
The difference in ability also changed how we played. There wasn’t much point pretending I was in a close race when one of the kids had already spotted something I hadn’t even considered, so we gradually stopped caring much about who was first. We started talking through some of the harder patterns together instead. Someone would notice a useful colour, someone else might see where it could end up, and we’d try it. We had more fun doing that than repeatedly watching the same person finish first. And when we finally got one right, putting that messy folded paper between the mirrors and seeing the missing parts suddenly appear never really got old.
Our Thoughts
There’s hardly anything complicated about Just 3 Folds itself. Most of the work is happening in your head, trying to picture where colours will end up after a fold, what will sit above or below them and what the mirrors will then repeat. Three folds give you very few actions, yet there’s quite a bit to keep track of.
That also makes it quite a specific kind of puzzle. If you enjoy mentally rotating, folding and reflecting shapes, there’s something interesting to get stuck into here. If that kind of spatial thinking frustrates you, there isn’t another strategy waiting in the background. For us, the mirrors are what make it more interesting than simply following origami instructions. You have to think ahead to what those reflections are going to do with the shape you create.
I’m less convinced by the competitive format. Choosing between three targets gives you some freedom, though if someone can visualise the folds much faster than everyone else, there isn’t much the others can do about it. With players of a similar ability, the race might matter more. At our table it quickly became secondary, and I don’t think we really missed it.
There are 32 puzzles, and given how long some kept us occupied, we certainly weren’t rushing through them. They do have fixed solutions, so once you genuinely know one, part of the challenge is gone. The 40 sheets are another practical limitation. We reused ours several times without much trouble. Eventually all those old creases start interfering with new folds, so I would have liked an easier way to replace the paper if the game gets played regularly.
Still, I can see us bringing Just 3 Folds out again when we feel like sitting around the table with a few puzzles. It’s probably best suited to people who enjoy origami, symmetry, pattern recognition and hands-on spatial problems, rather than someone looking for lots of player interaction or different strategies. Some of the patterns frustrated us, I’m still nowhere near an origami master, and the kids were annoyingly better at it than we were. We kept wanting to try another card, though. I’d happily sit down with them and struggle through a few more.
📝 We received a copy of Just 3 Folds from JJ Board Game.
Want to see what else we’re checking out before Spiel ’26? Find all our pre-Spiel ’26 coverage here.
