This two-player abstract strategy game unfolds beautifully, slowly revealing its layers and complexities.

The playmat is spread out on the table and sand tokens are randomly placed on the center spaces, face-up. Each player starts the game with one sand token in their bowl. These tokens come in six different colors. On your turn, you can establish or expand a color group. When you establish, take the sand token in your bowl and swap it for any face-up token on the mat, placing it face-down. Then, take the lowest numbered claim token you have (1-6) and place it on top of your recently placed token. You can only establish a group of a color you have not yet established.

When expanding, you may flip a token face-down if it is adjacent to one of your established color groups and matches its color. Or, if the sand token in your bowl matches the color of one of your color groups, you may swap it face-down with a token of a different color that is adjacent to that group. Tokens are considered to be in a color group if they are face-down — but players cannot have connecting groups of the same colors.

The game ends once one player has no legal moves; the other player may then choose to perform any legal flip moves but cannot expand or swap. Each player then calculates how many points each of their groups are worth. Not including the sand token with your numbered claim token on it, your group is worth the number of tokens in the group multiplied by the number on that claim token. The player with the most points wins.

Patterns has simple rules and, at first glance, it may not seem clear how to strategize or work towards specific color groups. However, the more you play, the more you realize how important the color of the sand token in your bowl is at any given time, how you can jostle with your opponent for space on the board, and how you prioritize which groups to grow and how the token in your bowl can facilitate that. There are several little things to consider with each move, which come together into a nicely detailed whole.

The text of the rulebook can be confusing, but the illustrations and examples are well done and clear up any confusion. The game looks beautiful and the playmat, while quite large, is visually arresting. This is an excellently strategic game that involves a great deal of planning ahead, player interaction, and careful choices.