The Tapestry of Life: Back to an Old and Forgotten Favorite
Build a civilization’s story through the ages with elements like landmarks, technologies, and unique specialties in Tapestry.
I only vaguely recall the last time I played Tapestry… Probably because it happened over 4 years ago! With new expansions sitting on the shelf for years, I decided it was time to return to the base game to remember what I enjoyed so much about this one. Just entering another era with it, I suppose. Ha ha! The components were amazing, and I was ready to play!
Game Overview
Game Name: Tapestry
Publication Year: 2019
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artists: Andrew Bosley & Rom Brown
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
What a sight! There is a map to represent the world, yet each civilization is about much more than area control. There are tracks like exploration and technology to advance along, plus a capital city to build out. Tons of options exist to find the best combinations to create a civilization’s history!
First Play
November 4, 2019
Complexity
3
Latest Play
September 7, 2025
Expansions
3
Setup Time
15 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
22
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
301
Game Area
38" x 30"
Low Score
108
Landmarks Galore
For some reason, I completely forgot about the landmarks! These high-quality miniatures come pre-painted and look amazing as they’re added to a capital city. So very cool!
It took me a little bit of time to get back into the game. My first task was to consolidate everything into the base game box, which was much easier than I expected. Compact!
The rules, especially those for the solo mode, took a little time to go through, but I felt excited to get into this world.
Although I mixed in all of the expansion content, I did my best to stick with just the base game components… For now.
Into the Mountains
Creating a civilization is mainly focused on moving along tracks and building up a capital city. These may seem like abstract concepts, yet I love the little details everywhere!
My first play was with The Chosen, who were a little arrogant way up there in their mountain city. But I wasn’t too concerned… This was a learning game to start with!
Figuring out what to do might not seem obvious from the start, but I never felt overwhelmed with endless choices.
This was a slow and steady advance through the eras as I made sure I had all of the rules down. Onward!
Building a Map
The central area depicts the world, which starts off quite empty and fills up as exploration occurs. I loved how the end state provided a mini-story of the entire play!
In this case, I conquered early and made sure to maintain a strong position on the middle island. The solo opponent was quite focused on science and technology. Clearly!
Land masses weren’t exactly coherent, yet I still liked seeing how the world evolved. Can you find the fish-shaped lake?
Note that this arrangement differs from play to play, and can be a somewhat small part of gameplay. So much to see!
A Storied Past
I had such a great time! The rules seemed pretty intuitive, aside from a few sequences I went through carefully. Even the solo opponent’s turns started to quickly fly by.
In the end, my civilization had an interesting sort of tale. Maybe these bonuses weren’t the most impactful, but I had a nice time choosing the tapestry cards during each era.
Democracy was actually very lucrative, as I ended up with 10 victory points from it. And hurray for the Renaissance!
My only regret with the income buildings was in failing to have tabletop games in this civilization… Oh, the horror!
Where Has This Game Been Hiding for Years?!
I’m not going to lie: This game, along with 2 prominent expansion boxes, is in a place where I see it directly or within my peripheral vision almost every day. It’s constantly one I tell myself I should return to… But then get intimidated by all of the boxes and the idea of all the rules. Guess what? The rules aren’t too bad, and I consolidated everything into one box!
But I treat this as another opportunity to laugh. Did I really miss out on anything? It’s not like I took 4 years off and feel like I missed out on playing so many solo games. Finding older games that I mostly forgot about is more like an unexpected surprise… I honestly thought I had put this in a group I planned to play once more, then move on. Totally wrong. And cool!
There are sometimes topics that swirl around that might bring some guilt or shame about having a lot of unplayed or forgotten games on shelves. Everyone enjoys the hobby at their own pace, and even if I managed to take a break for years, that means I have all of this fun waiting for me when I return! In the end, that’s the core of board games: The joy and fun.
Technology Tales
Inventions! This was an interesting group, and I liked to think that the assembly line arrived at the right time. Industrialism and all that, of course! Very neat choices.
Not only was the flavor interesting, but the bonuses offered a lot of extra choices. These start in the bottom row, and may be upgraded through various methods.
Timing the bonuses is a key part of the strategy. I did fine enough, but there are likely much better synergies.
Still, I tried out all of the tracks to get a feel for the core gameplay mechanics again. The Chosen were quite great!
Capital City Landmarks
Zooming in on a capital city not only adds a little more personality to a civilization, but allows for landmarks. My final city looked pretty neat with a collection of buildings.
Income buildings come from a player mat and might seem somewhat standard, yet I enjoy coming up with little stories. Like the farms watched over by a lighthouse.
There is a puzzle here, too, as a completed district awards a resource. Yet there are areas that may not be covered.
Such a nice visual at the end. My other favorite element was the train station, just barely hanging onto the mountains!
Solo Opponent Rules
The solo mode involves managing what feels like 1.5 solo opponents, yet it works very well. A pair of cards shows the ways to advance along tracks each round. Very easy!
There are different solo civilizations and difficulty levels for added variety. I wouldn’t say these create memorable opponents, yet they create unique sorts of challenges.
I had to figure out the best way to move ahead on some tracks, while giving up a few other bonuses elsewhere.
As the engineers, this solo opponent should be ashamed… Look at those disorderly Shadow Empire outposts. Ha ha!
Wisest of the Mystics
After a somewhat narrow victory, I reset to stick with the same easy difficulty level. It wasn’t that I wanted to win: I felt like I needed more time to warm up to the strategies.
Mystics! I forgot about this civilization, although I played as them in the past. It’s all about predicting what might happen with things like inventions and completed tracks.
I played it somewhat safe, although my ultimate goal was to earn a whopping 40 victory points for correct predictions!
Technically, I didn’t reach one prediction until later in the final income round… Less points, but I was still right!
An Interesting History
During this play, there were a lot of prosperous ages. Wonders… Gold… Very fancy! However, the solo opponent specialized in military and conquered so many hexes.
Ultimately, this led to toppled outposts and control of just my starting hex. Yikes! However, I drew an amazing tapestry card just before a new era began. That’s right…
Revolution! I put my outposts upright and toppled the solo opponent’s outposts in an amazing turn of events.
Later on, this era got back on track with Guilds. It was a really cool in-game moment and one I’ll remember!
Looking Upward…
With the solo opponent so focused on military, it was a dangerous game to try to expand anywhere on the planet. However, exploration was certainly within reach!
When the spaceship launch pad took up residence in my capital city, it was clear where this civilization was headed: Not outward, but through the clouds, up to the stars.
Needless to say, I picked up some space hexes and had a nice ending moment of exploring distant planets. So cool!
This resulted in a major victory, yet gameplay felt so different. Onward to the expansion content for this game!
Session Overview
Play Number: 15 & 16
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Level 1 Difficulty Level
Outcome: 165-152, 222-183 (2 Wins)
Such a cool way to end this second play, and perhaps I should have seen it coming with the inventions. That telescope was definitely the start of space travel! It was wonderful to return to this solo game after so long, and I’m now beyond excited to try out all of the expansion content for it I never used before. Should be a lot of fun with even more possibilities and, more importantly, stories!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- The component quality is amazing with all of the buildings and landmarks, along with all of the smaller pieces.
- Tons of variety exists with the base game in terms of what might happen, and expansions offer even more options.
- Advancing along the tracks might seem repetitive, yet there are awesome combinations and bonuses to discover.
- It might take a little imagination, but the history and story of a civilization comes alive throughout gameplay.
- Adjusting the solo opponent’s difficulty level before playing is simple and allows for a tailored challenge.
- Once the rules are understood, gameplay moves quickly and the experience is very full for about an hour’s time.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There is a pretty large amount of required table space, even for the solo mode, for all of the different components.
- Seeing all of the possible interactions and combinations takes some practice, and some turns call for a lot of thinking.
- A lot of elements are at a macro-level or more abstract, which takes a bit of effort to create a civilization from.
- Most sequences aren’t that involved, but still have numerous pieces that take a few plays to feel comfortable with.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against the level 1 solo opponent.
Win at least 1 game against the level 2 solo opponent.
Win at least 1 game against the level 3 solo opponent.
Win at least 1 game against the level 4 solo opponent.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Tapestry? Have you enjoyed the various expansions released over the years? I always surprise myself when it’s been so long since I last played a solo game, but that’s not all that bad… Look at all the fun I managed to re-discover! There is so much more to experience in this setting, and I’m looking forward to my next civilization’s story!
I, too, really need to get this one off the shelf. I’ve been super busy of late, but hopefully thing will slack off soon.
Hope you have a great time when you have the time to play!