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

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Cross-eyed over cards? Don’t worry, I’ll smooth out the mind moguls by taking you through a round step by step: As you take the cards from the mountain you must place them in your river and cup. If the colour you have taken is not present in the river place it in the first free space from left to right then place the remainder of that colours cards in the cup. If the colour is already present in the river place all of the cards in your cup.

Cards in the Mountain will be claimed when a Mandala is completed and added to your Rivers and Cups to earn points at the end of the game.I hope this has helped you to learn the rules and how Mandala plays. Obviously I would always recommend people use the official rule book to learn the rules in depth but this blog should give you a really good flavour of how the game flows. Discard. Place as many cards of one colour from your hand into the discard pile (next to draw pile) then draw as many cards from the draw pile. Mandala Stones is another example of how crunch and colour can make sweet music together. Or, rather, a beautiful work of art! This is the typical Lookout Games box size for their two-player line, and for the most part components-wise it lives up to the games that came before it. I don’t necessarily like the cards being square, that makes them entirely too hard to shuffle for me — especially given that there are 108 of them. The linen mat is a really nice touch and I love that folks are thinking outside the box as far as what they can make their components from, but every time I unfold it from the box and place it on the table, I feel like I should iron it first, as it’s like playing on a permanently pleated shirt, but that’s just my neurosis. But that’s all the game is, cards and the linen board, oh and the rule book. It almost feels minimalist.

Rather, this is a how-to-play guide that goes into the nitty-gritty of how this game works in a little more detail to help you decide whether Mandala could also be a game for you. The Line -n Up!Starting with the player who played the most cards in their Field, the players take alternating turns to choose one of the colors present in the Mountain of the just-completed 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. Scoring is completed by using the cards in your river and multiplying them by the cards in your cup. Each position in your river is worth a different amount of victory points from 1 point for the first position to 6 points for the sixth position. Take your cards from your cup and place them below the matching position (same colours) in the river. Multiple the number of cards in your cup by the position it is in the river for all of your river cards and add all of your scores to get a total. The player with the highest score wins. Note that some river cards may not score you any points if you do not have the same colour represented in your cup. In the event of a tie the player who has the fewest cards in their cup wins. Conclusion 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.

Mandala is a 2 player only game and it has to be one of the prettiest games available. The playmat included is so pretty that it also includes washing instructions in case you get it dirty. But you don’t want to just stand there all day admiring the game, you want to actually play it. So how do you? Read on to find out. Set Up 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.It's a game where you need to remain flexible and adapt to a situation where control shifts during a round.

Note: if you do not have a colour in a spot on your river when end game is triggered, any matching cards in your cup will score zero – don’t get the hump! Mandala is a two-player game were you’re trying to score more than your opponent by collecting valuable cards. It’s funny, I am normally a person who likes to play games with more than two players. The social aspect of board gaming is probably the biggest pull there is for me. I like sitting around a table full of friends and having fun over a board game. So much so that I normally refuse play games that have higher player counts at two players. I always feel like I am missing something, both in the game and at the table. These two-player games from Lookout, and even previously from Kosmos, are built for two players and you don’t feel as if you are missing anything, the entirety of the game is out there for you to see. My wife and I have had a wonderful time with Patchwork over the years, and Targi, and Agricola All Creatures Big and Small. Those are the games that we reach for when having a night gaming with each other. Mandala gives us another option, another fun, strategic, really well put together and developed option.Mandala has grabbed me with its immediate gameplay and variety. In fact it’s easier to play than it is too explain! I didn’t expect a game like this to have so much variance in gameplay, but the subtle changes to scoring and colour value added to the mind games that transpire makes this one of the best two player games I’ve played. It is a game I can play with my mum and my friends, and one that they have a chance of winning too. You can play multiple cards of the same colour to one of your fields, but you don’t get to draw any cards. When all six colours are present on a mandala then it will score. The person who played the most cards to their field will get to choose one set of same coloured cards from the mountain. If this colour isn’t already present in their river they place one of the cards face up in the leftmost space and any further of the same colour face down in their cup. The players switch turns choosing from the remaining colours on the mountain.