Tapestry is a resource management, Civilization Game.
Title: Tapestry
Year Published: 2019
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Players: 1-5
Game Time: ~120 minutes
Set-up Time: ~5 minutes
Ages: 12+
Theme: Alternate Earth Civilisation
Mechanisms: Resource Management, Tile Placement, Variable Player Powers
How to win: Gain the most points for your Civilisation
Game Description
Create a civilization with the most storied history, starting at the beginning of humankind and reaching into the future. The paths you choose will vary greatly from real-world events or people — your civilization is unique!
How to Play Tapestry
Theme
It’s interesting being in an alternate Earth. You start off with a civ and develop from there and the order things happen can be a little weird if compared with our own timeline.
I mean, I don’t care… Technology cards to me are cards that get me resources and abilities. The card might as well be blank white to me. I’m not ‘developing the technology for the radio‘, I’m ‘taking a card that will get me 3 points’.
Should it matter that it doesn’t matter to me? Maybe. But I don’t care 🙂
Setup & Rulebook
The setup is fine. It’s just placing things out and shuffling a few decks of cards. Capital City boards are numbered and you’re supposed to sit around the table so you’re sat closest to that spot on the board. I’m not a fan of this.
I don’t like sitting with my back to a door… Strange I know but it means I like to pick my seat not pick it and change it later.
The rulebook is 95% OK. I was reading through it and understood everything, mostly.
That other 5% is where things were not explained very well. The rulebook is only 4 pages long which for such a big game is great… However, there are points where a couple of extra lines were needed. This is confirmed by the questions that I had also asked in the BGG forum for the game.
Components & Artwork
Obviously, these are really nice. The quality of the cards and pieces is what you would expect from Stonemeir games. The buildings are really nice and come pre-painted.
Ease of Teaching & Accessibility
One of the problems with teaching is that you have two phases, Income and Advance Track. A lot of those intertwine and on first teaching the game I struggled to make it make sense. I like to try and teach in a logical order and when I get thrown off like this I struggle 🙂 Now I know the game better it’s much easier.
It’s 95% open information so it’s fairly open and will be quite easy to introduce a new player to this game in a way with a little patience.
Playing it well, however? Different story.
Tapestry Summary
As far as abstract civ games go I’d put this one alongside Through the Ages. Now there, the cards come out in various stages so there is a more realistic progression through time. Maybe Tapestry could have taken that route? Maybe they will in the future? At least one expansion is already planned…
A large part of replayability comes from the initial Civ you choose.
I played the Architects which steered me towards building things. Next time I got the Mystics where I had to predict how I would play the game… It’s an exciting thought that the next few times will be different too.
I said the rulebook is short and it is, but there are some VERY large cards with all the iconography on them. It does make sense, especially after a bit once you start to know the common symbols.
The symbols are all over the board and are very helpful. Especially for Income where each phase is labelled and each part of the board referenced is also labelled very well.
So I didn’t know what to expect as I’m not really a fan of Stonemaier Games but I really enjoyed this game and I look forward to developing lots more Civs in the future.
Solo Play
Just a quick note on the solo play as it wasn’t for me. You play the game but you also use a random card draw to control an Automated opponent and a 3rd ‘player’, the Shadow Empire.
The system is really good, but looking after everything is a level above what interests me in a solo game.
Tapestry Round-Up
A very simple-to-play game that requires a lot of thought and planning to play well.
Rating: I give it 8/10
Tapestry Ups & Downs
My Ups & Downs of Tapestry. Check out my Board Game League Table for this and other Ups and Downs videos.
Jesta ThaRogue