In the past, patchwork piecing was a way to make use of leftover pieces of cloth to create clothing and quilts. Today, patchwork is a form of art, in which the designers use precious fabrics to create beautiful textiles. 

In Patchwork, two players compete to build the most aesthetic (and high-scoring) patchwork quilt. Choose your patches carefully and keep a healthy supply of buttons to not only finish your quilt, but to make it better and more beautiful than your opponent‘s.

On a turn, a player either purchases one of three available patches or passes. You're free to place the patch anywhere on your board that doesn't overlap other patches, but you probably want to fit things together as tightly as possible. For each patch you place, you'll move your token forward on the time tracker. If your time token ends behind or on top of the other player's time token, then you take another turn; otherwise the opponent now goes. 

Players must manage two distinct forms of currency to succeed: time and buttons. Buttons are used to 'purchase' patches and are only replenished when your token moves past specific locations on the time tracker. 

The game ends when both players' tokens reach the end of the time tracker. Each player scores one point per button in his possession, then loses two points for each empty square on his game board. The player with the most points wins.

*Patchwork Express features the same basic gameplay as Patchwork, but with a smaller playing area and with larger and less complex pieces.