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Description
Patterns: A Mandala Game is another area-control design by Trevor Benjamin and Brett J. Gilbert. Patterns draws you in as you take turns swapping tiles from the large mandala at your table. Each player tries to mark contiguous colored areas as territory. Start by spreading the unique tea towel play mat first and creating a mandala by all but 2 out of 54 colorful mandala tiles. Whoever claims most point in the end, wins.
Year Published
2023
Featured Videos
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video BG9XvnqQko0
All You Can Board general_discussion at 6:56 sentiment: positive
video_pk 62455 · mention_pk 154981
Click to watch at 6:56 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong strategic options in a compact 30-minute 2-player game
- Balanced interplay between tactical and strategic thinking
- Visually understated yet satisfying when patterns align
Cons
- Looks less striking on the table than Mandala
- Might be overshadowed by other abstract games
Thematic elements
- pattern formation and color cluster optimization
- two color-focused mandalas with abstract scoring
- strategic, long-term planning with color management
Comparison games
- Mandala
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- color tile placement into mandalas — Players place color tiles into mandalas to form clusters and maximize points.
- color-cluster scoring — Points are earned from arranging colors to form valuable clusters.
- no-card design — The game relies on the board and tiles; there are no cards driving play.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Iliad's one of those games.
- these are the kind of decisions you're making constantly in Iliad
- it's a 30-minute game
- There are trade-offs everywhere
- the overwhelm for me dissipated really quickly
- Patterns is the more strategical game.
- Patterns is the one that makes me feel like I want to play another game immediately and consistently gives me those feelings.
- Ultimately I am keeping Patterns
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 440HTGYDSo0
All You Can Board general_discussion at 35:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 62457 · mention_pk 154996
Click to watch at 35:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Deep abstract puzzle with evolving scoring
- Simple rules but rich strategic depth
Cons
- Requires more play to fully appreciate potential
Thematic elements
- Mandala-style abstract
Comparison games
- Toy Battle
- Iliad
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Mandala-style abstract scoring — Players lock color values on a cloth mat; connected tokens of a color score progressively higher as the color is locked in earlier.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- two players, not enough time
- steal someone's donkey
- bang for your buck
- eight maps in the base box
- you can draw from the deck. Each card has its own way of like yes, you can use it as an item, but it's also one of the endgame conditions
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video x6M-6arZ_jc
Board Games Hitting My Table general_discussion at 5:41 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12836 · mention_pk 37478
Click to watch at 5:41 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
highly positive
Pros
- regarded as near-perfection in two-player abstracts
- tight, cerebral tension with simple rules
Cons
- might be too cerebral for casual players
Thematic elements
- patterning and set-building
- Abstraction with patterned token groups
- highly cerebral abstract puzzle
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- abstract strategy — manipulating tokens to form groups of the same type
- set collection — the first set is worth fewer points, the last set is worth more
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is going to be one of the coolest examples of a programming game that you will see out there
- Wallenstein has become one of my favorite games of all time
- it's beyond genius
- Tower Up is fantastic
- it's pure system
- this is one of the most overlooked games from the Oink brand
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video YgrY-kmAr3A
Unknown Channel game_review at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8872 · mention_pk 26166
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Elegant, minimalistic rules with deep strategic and tactical decisions.
- Measured pacing around ~20 minutes with strong tension.
- Innovative blend of abstract play and mandala-style scoring.
- High replayability as players refine strategies across games.
- Production respects the Mandala aesthetic and fits a compact Lookout box.
Cons
- Visual presentation can feel drab; color palette could be more vibrant.
- Color-blind accessibility is not perfect; some tokens may be challenging.
- Potential for analysis paralysis if players plan too far ahead.
Thematic elements
- Pattern formation, territorial influence, and regional control with scoring gradients.
- Two-player abstract strategy focused on color regions and mandala-inspired scoring.
- Abstract
Comparison games
- Mandala (original)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Basic rule economy — Two core actions keep rules simple and elegant with no fiddly exceptions.
- closed economy — Two core actions keep rules simple and elegant with no fiddly exceptions.
- End-game scoring by token values — At game's end, tokens are moved to scoring piles; tokens in a color chain score according to their order.
- Region creation — On your turn you can create a new color region by placing a color token not yet used.
- Region expansion by flipping — Flip a token of your color adjacent to your existing controlled region to extend influence.
- Region expansion by placement — Place a new token adjacent to existing tokens of the same color to extend a region.
- Token swap from supply — Swap a token from your pool with one that is on the board before placing it.
- Turn-based tension and opportunity cost — Only one token is played per turn, creating tension between expanding and flipping.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I absolutely love this game.
- This is one of my favorite scoring systems of all time; the mandala-style scoring is brilliant.
- A completely different game, but it preserves the Mandala feel through scoring.
- There are an abundance of meaningful decisions from start to finish.
- Elegant rules overhead—no fiddly rules or exceptions.
- 20 minutes to play, but it’s rich in decisions.
- Head and shoulders above any other two-player game in 2023.
- It’s a fantastic design and a complete triumph of design.
- Patterns could reach the level of the original Mandala; it’s that good.
- Patterns is undoubtedly one of the best games of 2023.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4