Field guide
How to play patchesplay
A short visual primer covering the three moves you need: read the clue, drag a rectangle, release to commit.
Step 01
Read the clue
Each clue tile shows the shape rule (square, tall, wide, or flexible) and a number for how many cells the region must cover.
Step 02
Press and drag
Press down on the clue and drag to extend a rectangle. The engine snaps to whole cells and caps at the target size automatically.
Step 03
Release to commit
Let go on a valid rectangle to lock the region. A small badge in the centre shows the cell count. Wrong shape? It blinks red and clears in a couple of seconds.
Shape, size & direction
Every shaded region must be one solid rectangle snapped to whole grid cells — no Tetris-shaped pockets, no L-turns. The icon on each clue fixes orientation (except flexible clues), while the number fixes exactly how many cells that region occupies.
Square
Width and height must match. A clue with “4” in a square is always 2×2; “9” is 3×3 — never a single row or column.
Tall rectangle
Height must exceed width — stack more rows than columns. For example 6 cells might be 2×3 (narrow and tall), never 3×2.
Wide rectangle
Width must exceed height — spread across more columns than rows. For example 6 cells might be 3×2 (three wide, two tall), not a vertical strip.
Flexible
You pick tall or wide orientation, still as one rectangle tied to that clue cell. The total cells must equal the clue number.
Fill every cell — no overlaps, no gaps
You win only when the entire board is covered, each clue owns exactly its stated cell count inside a valid shape, and no two patches share a square. Leaving even one hole open means the puzzle is unfinished — drag again from an unsolved clue until the grid is cleanly tiled.
Quick tips
Re-mark anytime
Press the same clue again to clear that region and redraw it. The redraw count goes up but Undo still has your back.
Pass through the clue
When drawing a 3-cell vertical, you can drag up first, then back down past the clue without losing the upper cells.
Capped automatically
Trying to drag past the target, into another clue, or onto a completed region is blocked. A small white tooltip explains why.