Shape Patch

How to Play

1. Tap a cell border to place a wall between two cells. Tap again to remove it.
2. Each region the walls create must contain exactly one numbered anchor, and the number of cells in the region must equal that anchor number.
3. Use the Hint button to reveal one correct wall when you are stuck. Use Undo to step back through your edits.
4. Daily mode runs one board per UTC day. Practice mode lets you keep playing fresh boards.
5. Use the keyboard if you prefer. Each cell border is a real button, so Tab moves between borders and Enter or Space toggles the wall.

Tips & Tricks

• Start with the corners. An anchor in a corner has the fewest neighbours and usually has only one or two valid region shapes.
• Trace from the anchor outward. Mentally count cells along the edge to confirm the region matches the anchor number before placing walls.
• Region colors are live. Green means a region is solved; red means an area mismatch or an anchor conflict. Watch the colors flip as you adjust.
• Save hints and undos for tight corners. Each hint or undo costs you score, so use them sparingly.

Scoring

• Base score: 100 points for solving the puzzle.
• Time bonus: up to 100 points; the bonus decays linearly to zero across a 90 second window from your first edge edit.
• Hint bonus: up to 60 points; each hint used drops the bonus, with three hints reducing it to zero.
• Undo bonus: up to 40 points; each undo drops the bonus, with five undos reducing it to zero.
• A failed (quit) run earns 0 points.

Daily and practice

• Daily: one puzzle, deterministic by UTC date. Replaying the same daily does not extend your streak.
• Practice: random puzzle from the same bundled pack of 30 boards. Use it for warm-ups; it does not affect the streak.
• Streak: only a fresh UTC daily clear bumps the daily streak counter; quitting a daily mid-run resets the streak to zero.

Privacy

• Shape Patch does not send any of your moves off device. Telemetry events carry only derived numbers (score, hints used, undos, mode).
• The recap and share card use your scoring numbers; the puzzle id and board layout are bundled with the game and never carry personal data.
• Daily completion, current streak, and high score are stored in browser local storage on your device only. Clearing site data resets them.

Use cases*

• Daily logic break: one puzzle is short enough for a coffee queue.
• Spatial reasoning warm-up: short region carving practice builds a small habit of plan-before-place.
• Friendly competition: every player sees the same daily, so scores compare cleanly.
• Mobile-friendly play: cell borders and action buttons reflow to small screens and only need taps.

*Shape Patch is an entertainment game and not a cognitive training tool. Use case suggestions are for casual play only.

How do I play Shape Patch?

Carve a grid into regions whose areas match the anchor numbers.

Is Shape Patch free to play?

Shape Patch is free to play on STS Games in any modern web browser.

What kind of game is Shape Patch?

Shape Patch is a puzzle game designed for quick, replayable sessions.