Puzzle Answer TodayPatches Game Unlimited
Patches Game Unlimited is a free Patches-style logic puzzle for anyone who has finished LinkedIn's daily Patches and wants more: cut the grid into rectangles, one clue in each, on as many boards as you like, with no login.
Today's daily puzzleWhy play hereHow to play
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✓ Every board here has been checked by two separate solvers: there is exactly one way to cut it, and our step-by-step solver finds that way without guessing.
Why play Patches here
- 450 boards in three levels. 150 each of Easy 5×5, Medium 6×6 and Hard 7×7. Choose a level above the board.
- Logic, not luck. Every board has one solution that reasoning alone reaches. Hard boards ask you to test a placement in your head, one step deep.
- Rule breaks turn red. A piece with the wrong number of cells or the wrong shape for its clue is marked the moment you draw it.
- Hints that explain. Press Hint once to see where to look, again for the next piece and the reasons for it. A wrong piece comes off first.
- Your records. A best time and a solved count for each level, plus your daily streak, saved in this browser.
- Keyboard play. Arrow keys to move, Enter at two opposite corners to draw a piece, Backspace to take one off.
- A daily board. Daily Patches Unlimited gives everyone the same board each day, and you can copy your time to compare with friends.
How to play
- Press on one corner of a piece, drag to the opposite corner and let go. Every piece must hold exactly one clue.
- A number is the piece's size in cells. The small shape under it means wide (more columns than rows), tall (more rows than columns) or square. A ? means any size; no shape means any shape.
- Pieces never overlap: a new piece replaces any it covers. Tap a piece to take it off; Undo steps back one change.
- A piece that breaks its clue turns red. The board is solved when every cell is in a piece and nothing is red.
- Hint: press once to see where to look, again for the next piece and why.
- On a keyboard: click the board or Tab to it, move with the arrow keys, press Enter on one corner and Enter on the opposite corner, Escape to cancel, Backspace to take off the piece under the cursor.
Strategy guide for Patches → · Today's official Patches answer →
Questions
How do you play Patches?
Cut the whole grid into rectangles so that each one holds exactly one clue. The clue's number is the rectangle's size in cells, and its little shape says whether the rectangle is wide, tall or square. A clue with a ? can be any size, and one without a shape any shape.
Is this LinkedIn's Patches?
No. Our own program cut every board here; none is copied from LinkedIn, which publishes one official Patches a day. For that board, see today's Patches answer.
How many boards are there?
450: 150 in each level. Easy boards are 5×5 with 5 to 7 pieces, Medium 6×6 with 6 to 8 and Hard 7×7 with 8 to 10. Within a level you get boards you haven't seen until you have played all 150.
Does every board have exactly one solution, with no guessing?
Yes to both. Two separate solvers searched every way to cut each board and found the same single answer, and our step-by-step solver, the one behind the hints, reached it by reasoning without ever guessing.
What makes the Hard boards hard?
One idea the easier levels never need: imagining a piece. On every Hard board the plain rules stall one to four times; to go on, you picture one placement for a clue, follow the rules until some clue has no room left or a cell can't be reached, and so rule that placement out. Hard boards are also bigger, and more of their clues leave out the number or the shape.
How does the hint work?
In two presses. The first outlines where to look: a cell only one clue can still reach, a clue with few ways left, or a placement to test. The second puts the next piece down and gives the reasoning that leads to it. If one of your pieces is wrong, Hint takes it off first and says why.
Why did my piece turn red?
Because it breaks its clue: it has a different number of cells than the clue shows, or the wrong shape (a wide clue needs more columns than rows). It stays until you change it. A rectangle that holds no clue, or two, isn't kept at all.
Can a friend play the same board as me?
Yes. The page address names the board you are on, for example #hard-27, and opening that link loads the same board. For one board shared by everyone each day, play Daily Patches Unlimited: Easy on Monday and Tuesday, Medium from Wednesday to Friday and Hard at the weekend.