Mozaic
Encyclopedia
Mozaic is a two-player abstract strategy board game
, played with glass
gemstones
, using luck of the draw, placement
and points accumulation
. In the latter stages of play, a second tier within the game becomes apparent, demanding a change of tactics.
The game was designed by Martin H. Samuel and originally produced by Games Above Board.
Sunnywood, Inc., of Hong Kong
, licensed the game and published it by Sterling Games in 2003.
Giseh Verlag launched the game in Germany
at Essen Spiel in 2006.
An Axiom-powered electronic
version of Mozaic was programmed for PC
by Greg Schmidt in 2010.
1 emerald
-green
, 1 ruby
-red
, 1 diamond
-white
, 1 onyx
-black
, 35 amber
-golden
and 35 cobalt
-blue
glass gemstones (extra gemstones are provided for each player)
Velour
pouch
Instructions
" on either end.
Players choose either amber or cobalt and use 32 same-color gemstones + 1 score-keeper each - four exception gems are included:
Exception gemstones are always returned to the bag after a turn.
Start with an empty board, end with a full board ...
The gemstones are placed in the bag and the first player to draw their color from the bag starts. Players then take turns drawing gems, one at a time, and place them on any empty tile on the board.
4 points are scored when placement of four same-color adjacent gems forming a square is completed - existing squares may be built on and expanded.
Points are won with a player's own-color gems (even when placed by the opponent) and always accrued, never deducted. Several point-scoring combinations may be completed at one time with a single gem. Overlooked points are forfeited and, throughout the game, players keep score on their side of the board with an extra gem of their color.
The game is over when the last gemstone is placed, all the tiles are covered and only the four exception gems remain in the bag then, by comparing accrued points totals, the player with the most points is the winner of the game.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, played with glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
gemstones
Gemstones
Gemstones is the third solo album by Adam Green, released in 2005. The album is characterised by the heavy presence of Wurlitzer piano, whereas its predecessor relied on a string section in its instrumentation.-Track listing:#Gemstones – 2:24...
, using luck of the draw, placement
Placement
Placement may refer to:* Placement , an essential step in electronic design automation* Placement exam, determines which class a student should take* Favored placement, the practice of preferentially listing search engine results for given sites...
and points accumulation
Accumulation
Accumulation may refer to:* Accumulation: None, a 2002 lo-fi album* Capital accumulation, the gathering of objects of value* Glacier ice accumulation, an element in the glacier mass balance formula...
. In the latter stages of play, a second tier within the game becomes apparent, demanding a change of tactics.
The game was designed by Martin H. Samuel and originally produced by Games Above Board.
Sunnywood, Inc., of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, licensed the game and published it by Sterling Games in 2003.
Giseh Verlag launched the game in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at Essen Spiel in 2006.
An Axiom-powered electronic
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
version of Mozaic was programmed for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
by Greg Schmidt in 2010.
Components
Tiled game board1 emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
-green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, 1 ruby
Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
-red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, 1 diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
-white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, 1 onyx
Onyx
Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...
-black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
, 35 amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
-golden
Golden
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.Golden can refer to:-Philosophy:*Golden mean , the felicitous middle between the extremes of excess and deficiency-Geography:Canada*Golden, British Columbia...
and 35 cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
-blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
glass gemstones (extra gemstones are provided for each player)
Velour
Velour
Velour or velours is a plush, knitted fabric or textile. It is usually made from cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Velour is used in a wide variety of applications, including clothing and upholstery....
pouch
Pouch
Pouch may refer to:* A small bag such as a pocket, teabag, money pouch, sporran, etc* Cadaver pouch, body bag * Diplomatic pouch* Electric heating pouch, medical apparatus, electric heating device for curative treatment...
Instructions
Objective
The goal of the game is, to score the most points by placing your gemstones on the board - building and/or blocking point-scoring squares.Gameplay
The Mozaic game board consists of 64 tiles (8x8 squares) with a score-keeping "ladderGame ladder
A ladder tournament is a form of tournament for games and sports. It is an extended tournament, which can potentially go on indefinitely. In a ladder tournament, players are listed as if on the rungs of a ladder. The objective for a player is to reach the highest rung of the ladder...
" on either end.
Players choose either amber or cobalt and use 32 same-color gemstones + 1 score-keeper each - four exception gems are included:
- ruby-red = miss this turn.
- sapphire-green = slide any gem diagonallyDiagonalA diagonal is a line joining two nonconsecutive vertices of a polygon or polyhedron. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word "diagonal" derives from the Greek διαγώνιος , from dia- and gonia ; it was used by both Strabo and Euclid to refer to a line connecting two vertices of a...
to an empty adjacentAdjacentAdjacent is an adjective meaning contiguous, adjoining or abuttingIn geometry, adjacent is when sides meet to make an angle.In graph theory adjacent nodes in a graph are linked by an edge....
tile. - onyx-black = take two turns.
- diamond-white = remove any gem from the board and replace it in the bag.
Exception gemstones are always returned to the bag after a turn.
Start with an empty board, end with a full board ...
The gemstones are placed in the bag and the first player to draw their color from the bag starts. Players then take turns drawing gems, one at a time, and place them on any empty tile on the board.
4 points are scored when placement of four same-color adjacent gems forming a square is completed - existing squares may be built on and expanded.
Points are won with a player's own-color gems (even when placed by the opponent) and always accrued, never deducted. Several point-scoring combinations may be completed at one time with a single gem. Overlooked points are forfeited and, throughout the game, players keep score on their side of the board with an extra gem of their color.
The game is over when the last gemstone is placed, all the tiles are covered and only the four exception gems remain in the bag then, by comparing accrued points totals, the player with the most points is the winner of the game.