Mandala is an Icehouse version of Reiner Knizia’s Tutankhamen.
What You Need
- Two to five players.
- Five identical Treehouse sets.
- One pawn for each player.
Setup
Use all of the Icehouse pieces to create a Mandala – a circular path, spiraling clockwise and inward. Each piece in the path should lie on its side and point at the back of the next piece. The pieces should be set up in a random order, to create a different Mandala for each game. There should be an open space at the center of the spiral, which represents the Eye of the Mandala. Put the players’ pawns on the outside of the spiral, at the beginning of the path. Randomly choose a starting player. Play moves clockwise (in the direction of the spiral).
Play
On your turn, move your pawn as far forward as you’d like, to any piece that’s ahead of it on the path. Remove the chosen piece from the path and set it upright in front of you. (Any identical pieces in your collection should be stacked.) Put your pawn in the space where the chosen piece used to be. You must move on your turn if possible, and you may never move backwards.
If, after you have moved your pawn forward and removed a piece from the path, there are pieces that have been passed up by all of the players (including you), remove those pieces from the path and set them upright inside the Eye of the Mandala. Any identical pieces in the Eye should be stacked.
Scoring Sets
The path contains fifteen sets of five identical pieces. When all five pieces of a set have been removed from the path (either by being picked up or by falling into the Eye), distribute those pieces to players as points. Each piece is worth a single point, regardless of its size.
The player who has picked up the most pieces of a set receives three points, and the player who has picked up the second-most pieces of the set receives two points. In case of a tie, the tying player whose pawn is furthest forward on the path wins the tie. If only one player owns any of a set’s pieces when it scores, that player receives all five points. If all five pieces of a set fall into the Eye, they simply remain there, and no points are awarded.
When you receive pieces as points, set them near you so that they’re lying down and pointing at the Mandala.
Winning
When your pawn reaches the end of the Mandala, you must pass your turn for the duration of the game. You may still collect points as normal when sets score. When all but one of the players have reached the end of the Mandala, the remaining player collects all of the pieces remaining on the path, and then the game ends. Score the remaining sets according to the normal rules.
The player who collected the most points wins. If there’s a tie, the tying player whose pawn is furthest forward on the path wins.
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
- Original Game Design (Tutankhamen)—Reiner Knizia
- Adaptation for Icehouse—Kory Heath
- Playtesting—John Cooper, Chris Welsh, Jacob Davenport, Kristin Matherly, Andrew Looney, Tucker Taylor, Emily Frawley