Lookout Spiele | Mandala | Board Game | 2 Players | Ages 10+ | 30 to 60 Minute Playing Time

Product Information

You are doing this in an effort to gain cards to your personal supply that will score you the most points. Each time that a mandala has all six colors in it, that mandala is evaluated. The players look and see who has the most cards in their field, that person gets to have the first choice in what cards to take from the mountain. You take cards of one color of your choice from the mountain and if that color is not already on your River, you place the first one of that color on the furthest left spot. The spots are numbered from one to six, those numbers are the points that each card in your score pile that matches will score. So the first one you take goes to your one spot, but any time that you take any more cards of that color, they go immediately into your Cup. You can only have each color represented once on your River. After the first player chooses card(s), the second player get to choose as well, as long as they have cards in their field when the mandala is evaluated. If they don’t, they still choose card(s) from the mountain, but they discard them instead of gaining them for their scoring. Once the mountain is empty, discard the cards from the field, and draw two new cards and place them in the newly empty mountain and play continues. Continue taking turns until all the colors in the Mountain have been claimed. Then, place all of the cards in both of the Mandala's Fields in the discard pile so that no cards remain in the Mandala.

It's helpful to note at this stage that the six squares in front of each player represent a player’s “river” and is where the cards in their cup will be sorted for scoring at the end.

Setup

Repeat for each colour along your river and the player with the most points in total is the winner! You can only take cards from a mandala and add them to your cup once it has been built up and is ready to be destroyed. Each time you add a card of a new color, place it on the next highest numbered space next to the other cards in your River. Those cards are then discarded and two new cards are placed on the mountain space, ready for the mandala to be constructed again.

This is one of those games with very little rules but lots of strategy. On your turn you can do only 1 of the following 3 actions.Two-player games are an important market in the board game industry. Seemingly, no company has embraced this as much currently as Lookout Games has with their “Fur Zwei Spieler” series of games. The newest title I’ve had the pleasure of playing from this line is Mandala from Trevor Benjamin and Brett J. Gilbert. Mandala is a hand management game where the two competitors are attempting to create the highest scoring pile of cards. It’s a game you grasp straight away but then discover more and more as you chip away at the mountain. Like a multi layered film the more time you spend with it the more you see, and because Mandala only takes 20 minutes to play you will more often than not play at least two games in a row. Highly recommended for abstract and two player game fans, but also for anyone who often finds themselves playing at two players.

You cannot move the cards in your River, and must place each new card beside the previous one, without leaving any gaps. The other way you can score is to remove any number of top stones on your player board. This isn’t as lucrative, since you score a meagre one point per stone you remove. But you might do this to plan ahead, removing certain ‘odd’ stones, leaving same-colour stones in prime locations to score on later turns… Mandala is a two-player game were you’re trying to score more than your opponent by collecting valuable cards. Cross-eyed over cards? Don’t worry, I’ll smooth out the mind moguls by taking you through a round step by step:

One very important rule to consider when taking the first two actions is the rule of Colour. Each of the 6 sand colours can only be in exactly one of the 3 areas of the mandala (the mountain, your field and your opponent’s field). This basically means that if your opponent has a red sand in their field you cannot play a red sand into that mountain or your field. However you may be able to play it to the other mandala. Keep in mind you may play it to an area you have access to. So if red sand is in the mountain or your field you may add it to the same one (just not a new area). Hand Limits The only other element of the linen cloth to note is the wider circle around each mountain. That space immediately below a mandala is called the “field." This is where a player may place cards on each round in the hope of controlling the connected Mandala. MItchell T: An original and interesting card game. It requires judgment, finesse, and some brinkmanship. There is some depth here, but the cards will also surprise you. You do gain skill as you play, but it is easy to learn and lots of fun to play.