Game Overview
Mosaic is a competitive game for 1-6 players all about expanding your civilization by unlocking new technologies and building towns and cities.
In many ways, Mosaic seems to be What Happens in Your Mind While Playing Concordia: The Board Game. In Concordia, you focus solely on building buildings to expand your territory to gain more resources to build more buildings to expand your territory, and Mosaic does the same thing. But, crucially, it also asks you all the follow-up questions. What buildings to you want? Which resources do you want? Why do you want them?
And in many ways it also seems to have about the same complexity level as Concordia. That is to say: it doesn’t seem to be a complicated game. It’s true that you have eight available actions on your turn, but each action only requires you to do one thing.
Want to learn a new technology? Pay for it and place it in front of you.
Want to build a Town or a Wonder? Pay for it and place it on the board.
Want to produce some Food? Do it.
There are nine different Components to keep track of, but it’s basically just set collection. They all have different symbols and colors to help you differentiate and locate them quickly on the board.
Pricing
Backing Levels
This Kickstarter offers two different levels, the Premium Kickstarter Edition (THE SPHINX) and the Deluxe Kickstarter Exclusive Edition (THE COLOSSUS). Both editions are going to include all applicable stretch goals.
| THE SPHINX | THE COLOSSUS | |
| Gameboard | X | X |
| Player Boards (6) | X | X |
| Cards (183) | X | X |
| Acquisition Tiles (33) | X | X |
| Circular Board Tiles (28+) | X | X |
| Currency Tokens (150) | Cardboard | Wood |
| Coins (90) | Cardboard | Metal |
| Board Developments (150) | Cardboard | Plastic |
| Military Units (132) | Cardboard | Plastic |
| Wonders (9) | Cardboard | Plastic |
| Workers (60) | Wooden | Plastic |
| $79 | $149 |
This means that by getting THE COLOSSUS, you’re paying $70 more in exchange for $97 worth of add-ons, essentially saving you $27.
Add-ons
| Add-On Set #1 | 90 Metal Coins & 150 Wood Currency Tokens | $29 | $0.12 per unit |
| Add-On Set #2 | Plastic Wonders (9) | $10 | $1.11 per unit |
| Add-On Set #3 | Plastic Board Developments (150) | $29 | $0.19 per unit |
| Add-On Set #4 | Plastic Military Units and Workers (192) | $29 | $0.15 per unit |
If you plan on getting just one of these add-ons, I would definitely recommend Add-On Set #1. Paying about $11 for 90 metal coins is an amazing deal!
Should you back it?
This isn’t really a question that I feel like I can answer fully, before I’ve had the chance to play it, but it seems like, generally speaking, if you’re looking for a relatively light-weight civilization game to add to your collection, then yes. Yes, you should back it.
And then the question becomes whether you should back THE SPHINX or THE COLOSSUS, and that is truly up to you.
Is it worth the cost of basically another board game to get a ton of plastic miniatures and metal coins? If so, then go ahead and pledge for THE COLOSSUS, knowing that you will have a game with an excellent table presence. But if you don’t, then know that THE SPHINX is perfectly fine. You won’t miss out on any gameplay mechanics (unless future Stretch Goals add it).
I am probably going to be backing it at THE SPHINX and then buying Add-On Set #1. I don’t really care for the plastic miniatures, even less so when THE COLOSSUS will be a mix of plastic, wood and cardboard.
Cards, cardboard and, especially, wood is more than enough to be a perfect fit for this type of game.
Check out Mosaic: A Story of Civilization on Kickstarter!