How to solve Patches
Split the grid into rectangles matching the clues.
Patches asks you to split the grid into rectangles that match their clues. LinkedIn made this format famous with its daily game; puzzle historians know it as Shikaku, a classic Japanese logic puzzle. Practice unlimited free boards here, with shape hints and three difficulty levels.
How to play Patches
- Divide the whole grid into rectangles.
- Each rectangle contains exactly one clue: the number is its area, and the frame's shape shows whether it is square, wide or tall.
- Drag from a cell to draw a rectangle; tap a rectangle to remove it.
- A rectangle that does not match its clue stays on the board, but it is outlined in red.
How to solve Patches: techniques that work
Every clue is an area, and areas factor. A 7 can only ever be a 1×7 or 7×1 strip; a 4 might be 1×4, 4×1 or 2×2. Start with primes and large numbers — their shapes are the most constrained, and on small boards a 5 or 7 often has a single legal placement once you check what stays in bounds and avoids other clues.
Remember that each rectangle must contain exactly one clue. That cuts both ways: a candidate rectangle that would swallow two numbers is illegal, and a cell that can only be reached by one clue's possible rectangles must belong to that clue. Scanning for these "orphan cells" is the strongest move in the game.
Work the frontier. Once a rectangle is placed, the cells alongside it lose options, and neighbouring clues often collapse to a single shape. Solved regions propagate — Patches boards tend to fall in an accelerating cascade.
Common mistakes
Assuming a number sits inside its rectangle centrally or in a corner: the clue can be anywhere inside its rectangle. What matters is only that the rectangle contains it, stays in the grid, and overlaps nothing.
Forgetting the exhaustive rule: the rectangles must tile the whole board with no gaps. If two leftover cells can't be covered by any remaining clue, an earlier rectangle has the wrong shape.
From easy to hard
Bigger boards mean more composite numbers with several viable shapes, so you'll hold two or three candidate placements in mind at once. The factor-first habit (primes, then large composites) keeps hard boards manageable. Patches is our take on the Japanese classic Shikaku.
FAQ
- Is Patches free and unlimited on LinkMyPzzl?
- Yes. Every Patches board is generated on demand in your browser — play as many as you want, for free, with no account.
- How is this different from the daily Patches puzzle?
- The daily version made popular by LinkedIn offers one grid per day. LinkMyPzzl generates unlimited boards and lets you choose the difficulty, so you can actually train.
- Does every Patches board have a unique solution?
- Yes. A solver verifies every generated board before you see it: there is always exactly one solution.
- Can a rectangle contain two numbers?
- Never. Each rectangle contains exactly one clue, and that clue equals the rectangle's area. A placement that would enclose two numbers is illegal even if the area matches.
- Does the whole grid have to be covered?
- Yes — the rectangles must tile the board perfectly, with no gaps and no overlaps. Leftover cells always mean an earlier rectangle has the wrong shape or position.