Tapestry: Civilization from Fire to Space Shuttle Engines
Advance a unique civilization to tell its story throughout the eras in a strategic race to greatness in Tapestry.
I may have made a couple of mistakes with the Tapestry rules, yet I was determined to move onto the next difficulty level. Time for a challenge! There was a chance that this wasn’t going to go over well since I felt like things were a little mechanical the first time. What would happen next? I reset the play area and eagerly drew a new civilization to play as!
Game Overview
Game Name: Tapestry
Publication Year: 2019
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artists: Andrew Bosley and Rom Brown
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
There are many moving parts here, although the main goal is to earn victory points from all sorts of sources. Will a civilization focus on science and technology, or might it be more militant? It’s quite astounding to see how many combinations and paths are possible to try out!
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
Leading the Way
I think I came up with more puns about playing as the leaders before I even tried to understand what their civilization ability entailed. Ha ha! Too much fun.
This was straightforward enough, allowing for a free advancement on each of the 4 tracks before the end.
Knowing when to advance is a tricky thing, though. Early advancements are weak yet cost very little. Does it make sense to specialize, or balance the speed of advancement?
Never forget that the solo opponent is always ruthlessly moving up each track, often stealing landmarks early on!
A Grand Capital City
Not all of the landmarks belonged to the solo opponent this time, though! I managed to pull ahead in many areas and earn these lucrative buildings for myself.
Although they usually don’t provide extra victory points, the solo opponent earns a lot from collecting them.
This is also a mini-game in itself. The red dots represent impassable territory where nothing may be built.
Each 3×3 district provides a resource when completed, while filled rows and columns offer victory point bonuses. Every little bit counts and income buildings are awesome!
Trapped in a Tapestry
The first era was a bit of a disaster because I didn’t have any useful tapestry cards to play! Although a trap would be a nice defense, 10 victory points were my best option.
Sometimes, the success of a civilization can be seen at a glance by seeing how many income buildings weren’t placed. This wasn’t too bad… But also not great.
The final space of each income building type is worth 10 victory points per income phase. I was close with some!
It wasn’t easy to put together good strategies with the cards I had before me. Still, I made something of them.
The Failed Space Race
I ultimately fell short this time around. The culprit? It was all to blame on the exploration track and my lack of food!
There was an exciting moment when I moved into tier IV and earned the space shuttle landmark. So awesome!
But that was where my exploration ended. That shuttle didn’t even get to make it into space… It just sat out there in the desert, looking neat but doing absolutely nothing.
Planning how to advance is a strategy that becomes more important as the game goes on. Never can an advance action be wasted… Resources are simply too limited.
So Quiet Out There…
Although the advancement tracks drastically change how every play will unfold, I still liked looking at the final map.
Neither the leaders nor the solo opponent turned out to be focused on exploration nor the military. Maybe I could have done better had I used this opportunity. Oh, well!
I sat comfortably on the middle island, although there was a bit of tension when the solo opponent was close to a conquer action. Was I about to give up the territory?!
Fortunately, things were peaceful but far from easy. It looked like the solo opponent was going to win again!
Pirates and Plunders
The funny thing was the way my tapestry cards played out in this very non-confrontational matchup.
Everything looked like my civilization was some sort of military mastermind, transitioning from militarism to all-out pirates over the eras. So much conquering!
Yet the benefits were strategic. I gained extra resources during the pirate rule that I otherwise wouldn’t have had.
And in the final era, the presence of the solo opponent so close to the middle island made me too nervous… This prevented traps from being played against me. Take that!
Back to Space
I still stuck with an exploration strategy mainly because I wanted to get that shuttle into space! Maybe it wasn’t the best option, yet I wanted it. And I got what I wanted!
Space tiles are an interesting part of the game. They don’t actually go anywhere and provide immediate bonuses.
Are they worth all the effort? That truly depends on what else is going on. I didn’t get exactly what I was hoping for, yet a few more income buildings definitely worked for me.
Into space the leaders went! It was exciting to reach that milestone, even if space felt a little… Empty. Ha ha!
Square One of Strategy
Despite my hard work, the solo opponent just kept breezing right on by! There was a definite increase in the difficulty with level 2, which is the normal starting place.
The map took on different appearances, too. Whereas I had some very quiet end game states, look at this!
We raced for the middle island, where a toppled Shadow Empire outpost meant I couldn’t go for it. And then the solo opponent had the nerve to expand everywhere!
For all of these explanations, though, the mechanics are really quite straightforward. If you read the rules… Ha!
Agonizing Defeat
Hour after hour, I just kept on playing. I even abandoned space in order to try to move ahead of the solo opponent. In the final income phase, it looked like I had!
Only this happened. My score of 165 to the solo opponent’s total of 167. What a terrible loss! So close!
Yet these are the types of matchups I love when it’s clear that everyone is evenly matched. I was on the right path and merely needed to adjust a few things. Or a lot…
Somewhere in the midst of these plays, I think I started to love the game. Not mildly like it… Absolutely love it.
From Eras to Victory
Pronounce “eras” as “errors” in the title of this section and you can enjoy my Z-level pun. Ha ha!
At long last, I succeeded! This should be indicative based on almost all of the income buildings being placed out on the capital city. That was a lot of final victory points!
I also had a lot of fun with the tapestry cards. Wartime economy early on gave me 3 income buildings for free. The dark ages offered a unique boost to my advancement.
And the age of discovery, while not as lucrative as it could have been, still provided me with the bonus I wanted!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3-6
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Leaders / Desert vs. Level 2
Outcome: 176-196, 155-189, 165-167, 242-192 (1 W, 3 L)
Now that’s a capital city! After a bit of a struggle, I worked things through and pulled off an impressive victory. Never did these plays feel repetitive, either, and I was basically using any free time I had to play. It was a wonderful experience made even better by the simple rules. Granted, I had to correct some mistakes I learned, yet it wasn’t hard to do. Onto the next difficulty level shortly!
%
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)
- There is a deceptive simplicity to the rules that leads to strategic decisions and different paths to explore.
- Adjusting the difficulty level of the solo opponent happens during setup and can cutomize the experience a lot.
- Play time usually clocks in at around 1 hour and it feels like a lot is accomplished during that time.
- Perhaps the artwork isn’t a central aspect, yet every card features a wonderfully illustrated and thematic scene.
- Income turns must be timed well to coincide with bonuses and it’s not always easy to decide when to take them.
- All of the landmarks and income buildings are fun to pick up and place in order to expand the capital city.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There are times when the solo opponent seems to snowball forward with extra bonuses for victory points.
- It can be challenging to keep track of all the moving parts and understand how the advancement tracks interact.
- Reserving enough table space is sometimes a futile effort with the way the game can spread out with cards.
- Although minor and subjective, the backs of the civilizations and capital cities are annoyingly upside down.
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 are some of your favorite cards from Tapestry? This is quickly turning into a really interesting game that has a lot more to it than I originally gave it credit for. Do you like other elements more than others? It seems like there are a lot of different ways to advance and I’m nowhere close to discovering them all. Onward to the level 3 solo opponent!
That’s a tricky thing – given the range in skills of solo gamers, you want a wide range of skill levels of the solo opponent (whether that’s manifest in resources or something else), but at the same time you don’t want it to be an intimidatingly large step from “I easily beat level 1” to “level 2 wiped the floor with me and I never had a chance”.
Very true! I think level 1 is best for those new to the hobby or a solo game: It teaches without presenting a challenge, so rather than work on the strategy, it’s all about understanding the mechanics. Not a bad thing at all! My experience with difficulty levels is often rather comedic… There are a few games I certainly feel like I’ve mastered, yet the vast majority involve me losing all the time. Ha! It’s not a problem, though: I enjoy the experience and don’t expect to win, although I always hang onto a glimmer of victorious hope!