Patchwork

Setup: Each player takes a quilt board, time token, and five buttons. Arrange ordinary patches in a circle, put the neutral token between the smallest 1-by-2 patch and the next clockwise patch, place special patches on their marked track spaces, and set aside the bonus tile.

Turn order: The player behind on the time track acts; on a shared space, the top token acts. Choose either advancing for buttons or buying and placing a patch. A player may therefore take several consecutive turns.

Advance for buttons: Move to the space immediately ahead of the opposing token and gain one button per space actually moved. Movement beyond the final space earns nothing.

Choose a purchase: Select one of the next three patches clockwise from the neutral token, move that token to the selected patch, and pay its button cost. The particular cross-shaped patch with no printed button cost costs zero buttons but still costs time.

Place and spend time: Fit the purchased patch on your quilt, rotating or flipping it as desired, without overlap or extending beyond the board. Advance by its time cost and stack on top if you meet the other token. Sewn patches stay in place.

Button income: With either action, reaching or passing an income marker pays the total button symbols on your quilt. A patch just placed is already included.

Special patches: The first player to reach or pass a marked space that still holds a leather patch takes and places that single-square patch immediately. It is separate from the ordinary purchase and cannot be bought from the circle.

Seven-by-seven bonus: The first player to fill a complete 7-by-7 square earns the unique bonus tile, worth seven final points. Filling the whole quilt is unnecessary.

End and scoring: Finish when both tokens reach the final space; overshooting stops there. Score remaining buttons plus seven for the bonus tile, minus two per empty square. Highest score wins; ties favor the player who reached the end first.