How to Play
Patches
Patches is a Shikaku-style rectangle puzzle. Every numbered clue on the board needs its own rectangular patch containing exactly that many squares, and together the patches must cover the entire grid with no overlaps or gaps.
Rules
- Each number on the grid is a clue: it must be the total number of squares in the one rectangular patch that contains it.
- Every rectangle must contain exactly one number clue.
- Patches can't overlap, and together they must cover every square on the board. No gaps are allowed.
- Press and drag across the grid to draw a rectangle. Tap a placed patch to remove it, or drag from inside it to resize it.
Tips & Strategy
- Start with the largest number clues, a big rectangle has fewer possible shapes and positions to try.
- Clues sitting close together often constrain each other directly: if two clues are only a few squares apart, their patches can't both stretch past that gap.
- A clue in a corner or hugging an edge has far fewer valid rectangle shapes than one in open space, so solve those first.
- Once you're confident about one patch's exact boundary, the neighboring clues' possible shapes usually shrink immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do patches have to be rectangles?
- Yes, every patch is a plain rectangle (including squares), sized so its area matches its number clue exactly.
- Can two patches overlap?
- No. Patches must tile the entire board with no overlaps and no empty squares left over.
- Is Patches the same as the puzzle called Shikaku?
- Patches follows the same core rules as the classic puzzle Shikaku (also called "Divide by Box"), just with its own set of clues laid out and checked fresh each day.
