Drawdown

A customer brings a swatch of cloth. You set up the loom that weaves it.

A puzzle game about weaving. Hang each thread on a shaft, tie the treadles, and push them in the right order. The pattern comes out of the loom one row at a time, and you can see the moment it is right.

Play in your browser Get the app

Try it Tap a dot in the gold box to change the cloth.

A loom is a small machine for patterns

Every warp thread hangs on one shaft. Each treadle is tied to some of the shafts. When your foot pushes a treadle, its shafts rise, and the threads on them go up. The shuttle passes under them, and one row of cloth is done.

Weavers write this down as a draft. Drawdown gives you the cloth and asks for the draft.

Threading.Which shaft holds each thread. Threads that always move together can share a shaft.
Tie-up.Which shafts each treadle lifts.
Treadling.Which treadle you push for each row.
Drawdown.The cloth that the first three make. The game is named after it.

The four parts of a draft. In the game you fill in the first three, and the fourth must match the swatch.

A town that needs cloth

Wren runs the weaving house, and you are the new apprentice. The miller wants an apron that sheds flour. The ferryman wants a flag you can see from the far bank. Each commission is a puzzle, and each finished cloth goes up on the line in town.

The game on a computer: the swatch on the left, and a wooden loom with shafts, ties and treadles weaving a gingham check. — The loom is made of real parts. You hang threads, tie cords and push treadles, and the cloth grows under them.

The loom on a phone, with a twill half woven. — It plays well on a phone.

The town: finished cloths hang on a line, each with its customer. — Your cloths hang in the town, street by street.

The draft view: threading, tie-up and treadling on squared paper. — Switch to the draft view when you want to think on paper.

The town writes back

Not every customer sends a note. When one does, it goes in your letter box.

I wear your apron every day at the mill. One good shake and the flour is gone. My old apron never forgave me like that.

The miller

I sat on your cloth for three hours today. That is the highest score in the weaving house. Beat it.

The cat of the weaving house

I counted your treadles and said nothing. If you know me at all, you know that is the highest praise I give.

Wren

What is in it

A prologue and thirteen chapters, a new swatch every day, cloths to mend, and a sample loom for your own patterns. Each chapter gives you a new loom or a new problem. The later ones are a surprise.

By handLift each thread with your fingers. Then let a shaft lift many threads at once.
PlainYour first floor loom, and your first customers.
TwillFour shafts make diagonals, zigzags and diamonds.
Broken loomsA storm floods the weaving house. Weave on the old loom from the yard, with its stuck treadle.
Nine moreWren keeps them to herself until you get there.

Play it

In your browser

Nothing to install. Works on a computer, a tablet or a phone. Your progress stays on your device.

Play now

On a phone, use Add to Home Screen, and it opens like an app and works offline.

Android

A test version of the app, not yet in Google Play.

Download the app (5.4 MB)

Open the file on your phone.
If Android asks, allow your browser to install apps.
Tap Install.

iPhone and iPad

The App Store version is on the way. Until then, play in Safari and use Add to Home Screen.

App Store: coming later