If you claim cards of a color that is already present in your River: Simply place all the cards face down in your Cup. And then the winner is the player with the most points and end game. Pretty simple but pretty strategic! Having placed the cloth between you both, shuffle all 108 cards and place them face down in a draw pile.

I am currently stoned. No, not that, you naughty Nellies! I mean that I am filled to the brim with gorgeous, chunky, colourful, patterned tiles. Having recently binged on Mandala Stones like a squirrel let loose in a nut factory, I am very happy indeed. 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.

Completing a Mandala

Mandala Stones is another example of how crunch and colour can make sweet music together. Or, rather, a beautiful work of art! Note: if both players have the same number of cards, the player who didn’t complete the mandala goes first. 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.

On each turn, you will be trying to gain cards that are of value to you by taking them from one of two central mandalas being built up over the course of a round. 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. When drawing new cards you must never go over your hand limit of 8 cards. Also you may never end your turn with no cards in your hand. If you were completing the action ‘grow fields’ and you had 4 yellow cards in your hand you would not be allowed to place all 4 cards in the field. Completing A Mandala 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… Those cards are then discarded and two new cards are placed on the mountain space, ready for the mandala to be constructed again.

Components

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. 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.

You cannot move the cards in your River, and must place each new card beside the previous one, without leaving any gaps. Finally, shuffle the objective cards and deal two face down to each player. Both are kept (secretly, mind you!) as players will get to decide which one best boosts their score at the end of the game. When scoring, each player will take the cards from their Cup and score them based on where that color sits in their River. The cards in the River do not score, only cards in the Cup. Add up the total points and the player with the most points is the winner. Mandala is played over a series of turns. Each player has three options as to what to do on their turn, but first, there is a bit of explanation needed. The board for Mandala, which is a nice linen cloth, is divided up into different areas. In the middle there are two mandalas, one on the left and one on the right. At any time on their turn a player can play cards to either of the areas. Each mandala is broken up into three areas. In the middle there is what is called the mountain, and on each side of the mountain is a field area where a player can play their cards. Placement rules are fairly simple, there are six different colored cards in the game, and in each mandala, a color can only appear in one of the three spots, either in the mountain, or in one of the player’s fields. A player may only play cards into their field or the mountain, but not the other player’s field. The board also has two additional areas for each player, a scoring line, called the River, and a pile for scoring cards, called the Cup. 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!

The value of each card in a given colour starts at zero. They then obtain a particular value to you based upon their respective positions in your river (numbered 1 – 6). Mandala Stones is an abstract strategy game designed by Filip Głowacz. Publishers Board&Dice have put out many games that feature wonderful components. Mandala Stones continues within this trend. There’s a strong presence of pattern-building and set collection in this game. Mandala Stones is somewhat abstract in nature, comparable to the likes of Azul. You must respect the Rule of Color for that Mandala. Spread out the Mountain cards so that all of them are easy to see.