Mandala is a 2-player-only game of playing cards to score points.

Can you make the most of the Mountains and Fields?

The Mandala: the symbol of an ancient and sacred ritual. Coloured sand is laid to create a symbolic map of the world before the pattern is ceremonially destroyed and the sand is cast into the river.

Mandala Game Overview

Quick Rules Summary

The board comprises two identical play areas, a Mountain in the middle and a River on each side belonging to the player.

On their turn, a player can play a single card to the Mountain and draw three more cards. Or they can play any number of cards of one colour in their Field.

They can only play cards if a card of that colour is not in the Mountian or Field on that side of the board.

Alternatively, they can discard a number of cards of one colour to draw that many cards.

How do you win?

When one-half of the board has all 6 colours, the players will take turns drafting the stacks of coloured cards starting with the player with the most cards in play.

The first time a player takes one of a colour they put it into the lowest slot in their River which is made up of spaces numbered 1 to 6. Excess cards of that colour go face down into the cup.

When a player has filled up all 6 spaces in their River with all 6 different coloured cards the game ends.

Players score cards in their cup which are worth the number of points equal to the position that coloured card is in the River. So a red card on 3, and 3 red cards in the cup will award 9 points.

The player with the most points wins.

Main Mechanisms

Hand management, set collection and area majority all work together to make this game what it is.

Theme

The look of the game looks just like its namesake with Mandala-style art. I assume Mountains, Fields, Rivers and Cups are all relevant somehow but I have no idea!

Setup

Lay out the cloth mat and shuffle the cards, job done!

Components & Artwork

The cloth mat is nice and while it doesn’t lay perfectly flat due to the creases, it works really well. it actually helps to make the cards easier to pick up.

The card quality is fine and the art is what it needs to be.

Ease of Teaching

It’s easy to teach with only 3 actions to take on your turn.

I would say scoring and where cards go in the River and Cup are a bit more complicated than the weight of the game would suggest they should be.

Similar Games

A game like Hanamikoji is a tense 2-player-only game. Mandala Stones is a Mandala-themed game.

Mandala Review

Positives

A nice look on the table.

The back-and-forth gameplay and struggle to pick up sets while trying to score and deny your opponent gives you a lot to think about.

Fun and quick gameplay, I can see this being one regular 2-player gamers will play repeatedly but…

Negatives

…like a lot of 2-player games for me it could get stale playing with the same player.

Summary

A very fun and unique 2-player game.

Jesta ThaRogue