The Rise and Fall of the Campaign in the Tapestry Expansion
Take on the challenge of a solo campaign with the first scenario of building a successful civilization in Tapestry.
After digging into Tapestry and the content included with Tapestry: Plans and Ploys, it was certainly time to give the next element a whirl… The solo campaign! These 5 connected scenarios act as puzzles of sorts. My preference for structured campaigns often differs from game to game, yet I was excited to get started and work towards a goal!
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
Each scenario changes gameplay in some way, but not to the point that the base game rules are forgotten. I had a little reading before me to understand the first scenario. Fortunately, it was all pretty straightforward! This would be a challenge to advance along the various tracks.
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
The Best Landmark
With all sorts of buildings to place in the capital city, there are a fair number of very neat miniatures! Yet nothing in the base game felt like I absolutely needed to have it.
The expansion is another story. New landmark cards are used during setup for a unique short-term goal.
A game store?! This was everything I needed and added a nice little bit of humor. As I like to say, you can’t have a decent civilization without a proper game store. Ha ha!
Just a little technology and this would become a reality. Mind you, my game store is analog. ALWAYS!
Wisest of the Mystics
I always associate the word “mystics” with The Dark Crystal, even if there’s absolutely no connection. Consider that a fun remnant of good ol’ childhood!
My initial choices of civilizations weren’t quite what I liked, and I wonder if I might switch to picking one myself.
Anyway, I ended up going with the mystics. I liked how their description talked about how they could predict the future… Through extremely good planning. Ha ha!
I felt a little out of my league with this one because I could earn 40 victory points if I was right. Or none at all. Oh, my!
Sheer and Utter Chaos
Up against the level 4 solo opponent in this scenario, I was a complete wreck. My talent for winning completely disappeared as I got destroyed in every way!
So I dropped down to the level 3 solo opponent to give myself a break. Technically the campaign is meant to be played regardless of wins or losses… But I played on.
It almost felt like I needed a situation about castles sinking into swamps, burning down, and falling over.
Almost so close to staying up! Alas, time and time again, my yellow outposts fell or did very little on the map.
Technology Snafu
The scenario limited how I could advance, which was an interesting sort of puzzle. When I switched my favored track, it all went completely wrong. No coins!
I planned about as poorly as the worst mystic could have actively tried not to plan. Almost hilarious!
My desire to keep playing quickly waned, not based on the game, but on the idea of the puzzle-based scenarios.
And that’s an important point: I don’t think the campaign is for me. The rest of the expansion content is fantastic! I just know I like to play a little more freeform than others.
Session Overview
Play Number: 11-14
Expansion: Tapestry: Plans and Ploys
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Mystics / Wetland vs. Level 3 / 4
Outcome: 108-237, 147-211, 153-215, 127-187 (4 Losses)
Had I won, I still would have stopped playing the campaign. That’s not meant as a dig against it, though! I can see why many would enjoy working through each set of specific rules to find a way to win. Perhaps I’ll try it again one day, but for now, my time here is done. So glad to have finally experienced the game properly: It’s great!
%
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 lot of enjoyment that comes from experimenting and trying out new strategies from play to play.
- Although the miniatures are potentially overproduced, their quality is excellent and they add to the presence.
- It’s easy to customize the challenge with different difficulty levels, civilization types, and other options.
- After a couple of plays, the total time needed usually hovers very close to an hour but feels like a lot less.
- Even the seemingly underpowered options are worth exploring since there’s so much to discover and try out.
- The simple sequence of play allows for an interesting experience without requiring nonstop management.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The end game doesn’t create a deep narrative about the civilization and the elements are rather random.
- All of the rules are fairly straightforward at a glance, yet it’s easy to make small mistakes with the edge cases.
- Just playing solo requires a rather enormous amount of table space to hold the large board and components.
- The way the tracks are laid out is useful for multiplayer, but the layout is a little awkward when playing solo.
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 best about Tapestry? Have you attempted the campaign included in Tapestry: Plans and Ploys? Although I wasn’t a fan of playing within the confines of the scenarios, this is still a wonderful game I plan to return to later on. We have our preferred ways to play, and the inclusion of a solo campaign is still a win. Now, onto a new game!
Campaign design is hard!
You can have “basically the same thing again”, in which case it snowballs: do well in scenario n, have an advantage in scenario n+1. Or you can change things around but as you say it can feel like a series of puzzles. And this gets even more complicated in multiplayer.
Definitely! It’s hard to please everyone with a campaign mode, and I’ll be the first to admit that I have some very odd preferences. Even a campaign I love for a game might feel off at a certain point. The only one to blame most of the time is me. Ha ha!
I might try the other scenarios again in the future. Guess it all depends on how I’m feeling on that particular day! I really can be all over the place with the games I like, sometimes on a day-to-day basis.