Mosaic: A Story of Civilization

After the customs and DHL drama, Drover ended up covering roughly $90–100 out of his own pocket for every Greek backer—and I genuinely take my hat off to him for how he handled it. But when the beast finally landed, my first thought about the Colossus Edition was less flattering: why did we haul all this cardboard around? It includes all the punch sheets from the Sphinx Edition too, while the game only needs two of them. The other six or seven are effectively rubbish. So we paid to transport a small fortune in unnecessary cardboard, as though doing a little sorting during production were impossible. I do not foresee a glowing ESG score if this continues. Otherwise, though, the production is better than some of Drover’s other plastic festivals: polished, generous, and honest eye-candy on the table.

As a game, it sits at Glen’s familiar weight level without much fuss: a light-medium civilization game with area majorities, no predetermined ending, and no fixed scoring phases. I found the various strategies reasonably balanced, but the game needs everyone at the table to watch what is happening next to them. If each player only stares at their own little kingdom, Mosaic becomes more multiplayer solitaire than it ought to be.

In the two games we played, the second was already more informed. The point is learning when taking one point for yourself is not worth handing five to someone else who only appears to be behind. Sometimes it is better to stay on zero and deny opponents key cards. Without that bit of friction, the player luckiest with the technologies opening up in front of them can simply take the game. And while I generally think it is fair for what it is, some technologies are irritatingly strong, almost Ameritrash-like. The Merchants in particular, if they click into place early, feel completely out of balance.

In the end, I had a pleasant time and I would not mind repeat plays. I just do not expect the next Through the Ages, nor do I think anyone who skips it is missing something important—even if they are a civ fan. It is a well-made, attractive, and fairly honest social game, with the central problem that its box carries more weight than necessary, literally and figuratively.