LinkedIn Patches Alternative: Free Area Puzzle

LinkedIn's Patches asks you to do something very satisfying: take a messy grid of numbers and cut it into neat rectangles, each one exactly the right size. When the last piece clicks into place, the whole board turns into a tidy patchwork. It's calm, visual and over in a few minutes, which makes it a perfect daily ritual. It also leaves a lot of players wanting a second board.

This guide explains the puzzle behind Patches, what makes a good one, and where to play Plots, our free daily version, with unlimited practice and no account.

The puzzle behind Patches: Shikaku

Patches is a modern twist on a classic Japanese logic puzzle called Shikaku, which roughly means "divide by squares". Shikaku was popularised by Nikoli, the publisher that also gave the world many of the logic puzzles you see in newspapers. The rules have stayed the same for decades:

1. 1Divide the grid into rectangles (squares count too).
2. 2Each rectangle contains exactly one number.
3. 3That number equals the rectangle's area.

Patches adds shape hints: a small icon tells you whether a number's rectangle is a square, wider than it is tall, or taller than it is wide. Those hints make the puzzle friendlier and quicker, which suits a daily game.

Why players look for an alternative

The daily format is great for habits, but it comes with limits:

• One board a day. Finished in two minutes? You wait until tomorrow.
• An account is required. LinkedIn's games are inside LinkedIn, so you need to sign in.
• No way to practise. You can't try a technique twice in a row.

If any of these bother you, a standalone version is the answer.

Plots: our free daily area puzzle

Plots follows the same rules as Patches. Split the grid into rectangles, give each rectangle exactly one number, make its area equal to that number, and respect the shape icon when one is shown. Here's what you get:

• A new daily board at 00:00 UTC, the same for everyone.
• Unlimited practice, with a fresh board each time.
• Two levels. Normal is a 6×6 board where every number shows its shape, close to the Patches experience. Hard (Pro) is an 8×8 board where most shape hints are hidden, which is closer to classic Shikaku and needs more reasoning.
• No account, unless you want to save streaks and appear on the leaderboard.
• Simple controls. Drag from one corner to the opposite corner to draw a rectangle. Drawing over existing rectangles replaces them, and tapping a rectangle removes it.

Every Plots board is checked by a solver before it's served. The generator cuts the grid into random rectangles, places one number in each, and then confirms that only one layout fits all the clues. On Hard, it reveals a shape hint only where a second layout would otherwise fit. You never have to guess.

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How Plots compares with Patches

• Daily board: both free. Patches needs a LinkedIn account; Plots doesn't.
• Practice: Patches has one board a day; Plots adds unlimited practice.
• Difficulty: Plots lets you choose between full shape hints (Normal) and mostly hidden hints (Hard).
• Extras: Plots has a timer, a share card and a leaderboard.

The skills are the same, so playing one makes you better at the other.

Normal or Hard: which should you pick?

If you play Patches regularly, start with Normal. Every number shows its shape, the board is 6×6, and the experience is close to what you know. Most players solve their first Normal boards in a few minutes and quickly get under a minute.

Move to Hard when you notice that you're barely looking at the shape icons any more. On an 8×8 board with most hints hidden, a 6 could be a 1×6 line in either direction or a 2×3 block either way round, so you have to work out each rectangle's shape from its surroundings. That's classic Shikaku, and it's where the deeper techniques start to matter.

Playing on your phone

Area puzzles are perfect for a phone. In Plots, put your finger on one corner of the rectangle you want, slide to the opposite corner and lift. The rectangle's area appears as you drag, so you can see when you've reached the right size before letting go. Drawing over existing rectangles replaces them, which makes corrections quick, and a single tap on a rectangle removes it. Rectangles that break a rule are outlined with a dashed red line, so you can spot mistakes at a glance.

A little history

Shikaku is one of many pencil puzzles popularised by Nikoli, the Japanese publisher that also helped make Sudoku a worldwide hit. Like Sudoku, it spread because the rules are tiny and language-free, so anyone can pick it up. It appears in puzzle magazines and books around the world, sometimes under other names such as "Rectangles" or "Divide by Squares". Patches brought it to a new audience as a daily game, and the shape hints were a clever way to make it more welcoming for players who had never seen it before.

Your first board in three steps

1. 1Start with the big numbers near edges and corners. A 6 squeezed into a corner, or a number whose shape hint only fits one way, often has a single possible rectangle.
2. 2Check who can reach each empty cell. If only one number's rectangle could possibly cover a cell, that cell belongs to it.
3. 3Think in factors. A 5 or a 7 can only be a straight line. A 4 is a line or a 2×2 square, and a 6 is a 1×6 line or a 2×3 block.

Our Plots and Shikaku solving guide covers these ideas in depth, with a step-by-step routine.

More daily puzzles for Patches fans

If you like puzzles where the whole board comes together at once, try these:

• Trail: draw one line through every cell, our free version of LinkedIn's Zip. See the Zip alternative guide.
• Queens: one crown per row, column and coloured region. Compare it in Queens vs LinkedIn Queens.
• Tango: balance suns and moons in every line.
• Sudoku: the classic that started the daily logic habit for many players.

Why area puzzles are so relaxing

Area puzzles have a different rhythm from word games or quizzes. There's no clock-watching or trivia to recall. You look, you notice, and pieces fall into place one after another. Many players describe Plots and Patches as calming, a puzzle you can do with a coffee rather than one that makes you tense. The visual reward helps too: every correct rectangle fills with colour, so you can see your progress at a glance.

There's real thinking underneath, though. You're constantly weighing a number's possible shapes against its neighbours, and on harder boards you'll find yourself reasoning about which number "owns" a lonely cell. That mix of calm and logic is what keeps people coming back.

Make it a daily habit

The easiest way to stick with any daily puzzle is to tie it to something you already do. Plenty of players solve the daily Plots board with their morning coffee, then play a Trail and a Queens board on the train. A new board arrives every day at 00:00 UTC, and your streak counts every day you solve the daily puzzle, so a few minutes is all it takes to keep it going. If you share your result, your friends see your time without seeing the solution, which makes it a nice way to start a friendly competition.

Ready to start cutting?

Patches made Shikaku feel fresh again. Plots lets you enjoy it whenever you want: a daily board to share, unlimited practice to improve, and a harder mode when the shape hints start to feel like training wheels.