Tapestry is a medium weight civilization game with beautiful art, top notch components, straightforward yet complex mechanics and it is highly replayable. After playing every civilization at least once, we found five basic approaches players could take in Tapestry. Obviously, we understand what players choose to do would usually be dictated by the tapestry cards they draw, but in general, certain civilizations pair well with certain strategies.
Focus on filling up the capital city with landmarks and buildings - In Tapestry, players score points for each completed row and column in their capital city during income phase. This would most likely be a good source of VP for Architects since it is possible for them to score double with their civ ability. Entertainers get 1 free income building off of their income mats and potentially more with track advancements so this would help them fill in the capital faster while increasing income. If you are playing the Futurists, this might not be a bad strategy for you because you get a head start on your way to gain the third tier larger landmarks. However, it would be harder for you to get the income buildings off the mats so take that into consideration based on the terrain your civ started with.
This strategy may also be great for the Leaders or Alchemists because they get free a advancements during income phase throughout the game, just make sure you position yourself to snatch a landmark before you take income.
Plans and Ploys Expansion - With the addition of personal landmarks in this expansion, it is a lot easier to fill up one’s capital city mat completely in a 2-3 player game; especially if you have Utilitarians, Riverfolk or Tinkerers. Utilitarians begin the game with a tier II landmark so they already have a head start. Riverfolk can maximize all landmark coverage potential because they can ignore the impassable plots. Tinkerers have the ability to jump ahead on advancement tracks, and this also gives them an edge to obtain landmarks more easily. By covering all empty spaces in the capital city and gaining at least four houses, a player could score a whopping 54 points in a single income phase. Be sure to study the layout of your capital city carefully and plan out where the income buildings must go ahead of time.
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Arts & Architecture Expansion - The Urban Planners’ top priority should be getting as many landmarks as possible. In early eras, spread out and go for low tier landmarks asap and place them on the civ mat for later. The arts track would be a good supplement because it allows the player to be flexible on what type of income buildings they want to unlock. The important thing is to have a plan on where all the buildings should be placed and chain 7 landmarks together for a whopping 49 endgame VPs.
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Fantasies & Future Expansion - The Celestials gain 5VPs per landmark building that does not hang off the side of their capital city, so focusing on getting smaller landmarks would help maximizing this bonus. The Werefolk have a 50/50 chance to either regress or advance on a track at the start of income turn 2-5. If they would advance, it gives the Werefolk an advantage to move closer to the nearest landmark. If they would regress, when properly positioned, this would help the Werefolk gain an additional income building. Regardless of the outcome, the Werefolk’s civ ability help fill their capital city quickly.
Focus on tech cards - Another way to get points in Tapestry is through tech cards. Players gain VPs for tech cards they own regardless of the card’s upgrade level, and some cards come with points. Each player gets a free upgrade from round 2-5 so it’s probably a good idea to get a tech card that would combo well with your civ power or tapestry card in round one. Inventors could upgrade 4 more times using their civ power and even take possession of their opponents’ tech cards so this strategy seems like a good way to go. The middle track on the Craftsmen Civilization mat also focuses on tech and that may help the Craftsmen get the most out of their tech cards.
Plans and Ploys Expansion - Since the Recyclers have the ability to upgrade tech twice during their 2nd - 5th income turns , this strategy is a no-brainer. Position your best tech cards carefully right before you are about to reach Electronics and Nanotechnology to gain the circle/square benefits of those tech cards multiple times.
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Fantasies & Future Expansion - The Artificers may remove an income building from the game at the start of the income turns 2-4. This means they can gain extra resources and score income mat VP faster than their opponents in exchange for having buildings to place on their capital city. We recommend advancing on the tech track and gaining 4 market buildings and a farm or armory this way, while removing the 5th market + 2 farms or armories from the game using their civ ability. Then, advance on the exploration as well as the conquer track to gain the remaining farms/armories in order to reveal up to 3 “10VP spots”. At the start of income turn 5, they can either slide all buildings on the house track as far leftward as possible to gain 10 bonus points without ever touching the science track, or score all income buildings placed on the capital city if the sum is more than 10.
Focus on exploring and conquering tracks - Exploring in Tapestry gives you points for matching terrains plus some kind of resource. These tiles can then be conquered and scored during income phase. Players would want to quickly go for the center tile and go up on the military track to score multipliers on territories they control. By the way, if you are taking this approach you might as well try to get that Topple 2 outpost achievement as well. But if you pick an opponent who has lots of tapestry cards in hand, beware of the Trap! This strategy is obligatory for the Isolationist and Militants due to their civ abilities. It is also good for Nomads because they can score big on with this strategy because they are not restricted by the limit of 9 territories. It might not be a bad idea for the Historians to go deep on exploration actions because they could gain an extra food each round, which is the main resource for this track. They would also have more choices on which territory tiles to keep for themselves and what to discard to activate their civ ability.
Plans and Ploys Expansion - The explore + conquer combo would work well for Treasure Hunters because it is in their best interest to explore and spread out. Infiltrators don't have to take the explore + conquer combo route; since they have the option to obtain control of a new territory during their 2nd - 5th income turns, they may want to focus on gaining armories quickly. Advisor may also need to go deep on the military track so they can gain those precious tapestry cards and score them for points. Both of these civilizations work much better with higher player count.
The Exploration track is a must for Islanders because they need to find territory tiles that contain at least 3 connecting water edges to place on their civ mat and gain 4 VP each. It may also be beneficial for Aliens to get to Interstellar Travel quickly if they started with a great space tile to explore toward the second half of the game; this also gives them access to more space tiles as well.
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Arts & Architecture Expansion - Since the Collectors want to display 1 territory tile and 1 conquer token, among other things, this strategy could work out well for this civilization. They may even get the items needed to increase the civ mat end game VPs thru exploring territory tiles with the right benefits as bonuses.
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Fantasies & Future Expansion - The Weefolk need to spend territory tiles to gain extra resources during the income phase so this strategy pairs well with that need.
Focus on the science track - While players cannot score based on how far they’ve advanced on the Science Track directly, this approach can supplement other strategies nicely. If you are on Tier 3 on other tracks and Tier 2 on the science track; it’s more cost efficient to advance on the science track. Even the tier 1 rewards aren’t too bad especially for the Chosen to get an early lead on a couple of tracks and help push them to obtain the advancement completion achievement faster. This strategy might work well for the Architect or Futurists too if they are trying to skip forward get the landmarks.
Plans and Ploys Expansion - Just as in the base game, this track helps supplement certain strategies by allowing players to either skip over certain spaces to advance more quickly, or gain the benefit of their current position again with Academic Research. Unlocking Houses by advancing on the science track combos well with players who aim to score big VPs with their capital city. Make sure you know what your goals are when you must choose between the house or the research die on Herbalism and Biology.
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Arts & Architecture Expansion - 2 out of 5 civilizations from this expansion pair well with the somewhat random science track. The Renegades can take full advantage of the benefit if they got what they want from the die roll. If it doesn't work out, then they can choose their civ mat’s reward instead. The Gamblers do not have much control of the tapestry cards during income phase so they may be more flexible with their strategy. Perhaps doubling down on the gambling nature and going all out on the science track would be really fun if you choose this civilization.
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Fantasies & Future Expansion - Since the Psionics get an extra option whenever they gain something randomly, the likelihood of the science die presenting the desired outcome is greatly increased. Who needs luck when your civ ability has your back, lol. The Merfolk and the Elder Ones can play several tapestry cards after income turn 5, either for the “When Played” benefits (the Merfolk) or in exchange for a resource and take advance turns (The Elder Ones). Both civilizations need a lot of tapestry cards to maximize this end game bonus. We recommend advancing on the science track for the first four turns to gain two tapestry cards, then make advancements depending on the result of the first two science die rolls as well as where opponents are positioned.
Focus on player’s civilization mat that scores points - A few civilizations like the Merrymakers, Mystics, and the Craftsmen have their own unique ways to score points on their civ mats. If I am playing the Merrymakers, I’d personally choose to either try to maximize their 30 points on the right or go for removing that extra armory on the left track. It is possible to score 40 points on the Mystics’ civ mat, but let’s get real. The only thing you have total control of is how many tech cards you end with and how many tracks you’d reach the end of. Depending on your experience, make a prediction for those two tracks for points. On the other two tracks, pick a lower number so you can gain bonus resources quickly early game. Speaking of gaining resources in early game, the Craftsmen’s bottom row is also really helpful to help players remove up to four income buildings during round 1 by opening with a research action then completing the tier 1 actions on the two tracks while spending 7 resources.
By the way, some civilizations want to take income as soon as possible early game, like the Historians and the Traders; some would want to wait for more options; like The Heralds and the Inventors. Some civs are especially great at high player counts like Traders, Heralds, Historians and Nomads. For the Chosen, it’s the opposite. By the way, if somebody is playing the Futurist, don’t even bother choosing the Chosen. Therefore, beware of the player count and turn order when choosing your civilization and you will be on your way to victory!
Plans and Ploys Expansion - Islander is the only civilization that has a straight forward “score point with your civ mat” ability. If you manage to find and explore all 6 spaces on your mat with the right tiles, you would score up to 24 points. More strategy tips related to Islanders were discussed in the previous section.
With super flexible and non-advancement-track-specific powers, the Spies are particularly powerful in a full game because they have a lot more options to “spy on”. Depending on what technology/tapestry cards they or their neighbors have obtained, they can choose an ideal path to victory.
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Arts & Architecture Expansion - One of the more difficult to play civilization is the Relentless. The trick is to position yourself so you can get income or landmark buildings 5 times in a row. In a 2 player game, it is possible to do this up to 3 times if all the stars align perfectly. Remember to take advantage of the arts track and factor your personal landmark into the equation.
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Fantasies & Future Expansion - Three of the new civilizations from this expansion can score points on their civ mats. The Illuminati would benefit greatly in a game with many opponents. Since they are bound to receive bonus resources and/or track advancement from round to round, our recommendation is go with the flow and choose one of the four preceding strategies depending on what bonuses you end up with. Genies score bonus points for either controlled territories, tech cards, territory tiles, or landmarks placed per round, and on turn 5 they could choose two to score. Since the explore and conquer strategies are tied to 2 out of the 4 options, it maybe a good combo. Feafolk can score the same 4 options (controlled territories, tech cards, territory tiles, or landmarks placed) plus tapestry cards or buildings placed. On income turn 5, they gain a particular bonus twice. If the Feafolk can place all their income buildings and manipulate the amount of tapestry cards so that the player marker lands on the spot that is one step past the starting position, they could potentially gain 40 bonus points from their civ mat.
-Jackie
(About the author - Jacqueline Chao is the executive producer and main content contributor at Show Me How to Win. Follow her board game journey on instagram @boardgamesetc )
Tapestry base game and Tapestry: Plans & Ploys expansion are designed by Jamey Stegmaier. Tapestry: Arts& Architecture is designed by Jamey Stegmaier and Mike Young. Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures is designed by Mike Young and Chris Scaffifi. All aforementioned titles are published by Stonemaier Games and our copies were provided by the publisher.
This article was first published in 2019 then subsequently updated to include new civilizations introduced in all current expansions.