Colours, shapes and patterns
Quiltoku is not a colour game, strictly. It is a game about telling things apart, and colour is just the easiest way to do that. This guide explains the three kinds of marks, why there are three, and how to choose.
The three kinds of marks
- Colours are the default: flat, bright squares. They are quick to read and are the first thing you meet in the tutorial.
- Shapes (circles, squares, triangles, diamonds and more) are cut out in their own colours, so each shape also has a colour to go with it. Shapes arrive in the levels at Level 21.
- Patterns are drawn in a single ink: stripes, dots, checks and weaves. They carry no colour information at all. Patterns arrive at Level 81.
The logic does not change. Switching marks changes how a puzzle looks, not what you have to work out.
Why it matters
About one man in twelve, and far fewer women, has some form of colour-vision difference. For those players a board of nine colours can contain pairs that are hard or impossible to tell apart, and no amount of skill fixes that. A puzzle that depends on colour alone leaves them out.
That is why the same puzzle can be played in three ways. Patterns, drawn in one ink, work for everyone. Shapes help because the outline carries information even when the colour does not.
Accessibility marks
Quiltoku has a mode built for exactly this. You can turn on Accessibility marks from the welcome card or from Settings. On single boards up to 9×9 the marks are patterns. On everything else, every mark gets a small pip placed at its own position, like the numbers on a clock face, so each mark has a position you can read without relying on colour. Each setting can be changed at any time, and your choice is remembered.
More than colours: the quilt marks
There is also a set of marks drawn like the patches of the real quilt that inspired the game, using its ten colours and stitched seams. The thread colour is chosen so that dark patches cannot be mistaken for each other: navy and black, or burgundy and red, get their own coloured thread. See the quilt page for the story.
Choosing
If you have no trouble with colour, use colours, because they are the fastest to read. If you like a quieter, more graphic look, try shapes. If colours ever blur together, or you play outdoors in glare, patterns are the reliable choice. You can change your mind between puzzles, and your progress and streaks are not affected.