The rules, step by step
- Five factories, four tiles on each. On your turn take EVERY tile of one colour from one factory — you never get to take just some.
- Everything you leave on that factory slides into the centre, for your opponent. A greedy take is also a gift.
- Put the tiles you took on one of your five pattern lines. Line 1 holds one tile, line 5 holds five, and a line may only ever hold one colour.
- You may not start a line in a colour your wall already has in that row — check before you take.
- Anything that will not fit falls on your floor: −1, −1, −2, −2, −2, −3, −3.
- Take from the centre first and you also take the 1 marker: it lands on your floor line like a spilled tile — costing whatever space it takes — and it opens the next round.
- When the table is bare, every FULL line moves one tile onto your wall. A tile alone scores 1; a tile in a run scores the whole run, both ways if it touches both.
- Finish a horizontal row of five and the game ends after that round.
- Then the bonuses: 2 a finished row, 7 a finished column, 10 for each colour you placed all five times.
Scoring and the fiddly bits
The draft
Five discs of four tiles between two players. Take every tile of one colour from a disc or from the centre; a disc’s leavings slide to the centre.
Pattern lines
Line n holds n tiles of a single colour, and part-filled lines carry over between rounds. You cannot start a line in a colour that row of your wall already holds.
Tiling the wall
Each colour has one fixed cell per row. A full line sends one tile to the wall and the rest to the lid; the placement scores its runs, or one point alone.
The floor
Seven slots at −1, −1, −2, −2, −2, −3, −3. The starting marker takes the cheapest free slot; overflow past the seventh costs nothing.
Winning
After the final round, bonuses of 2 per row, 7 per column and 10 per colour are added. Highest total wins; ties go to most completed rows, then are shared.
Questions about Mosaic
Is Mosaic free?
Yes. It is free to play, with no adverts. An optional Plus membership opens bigger tables and extra packs.
How many people do you need for Mosaic?
Exactly 2 — Mosaic is built for that number and no other.
What do we need to play?
A phone or laptop each, with a web browser. One person opens a room and everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. There’s also an iPhone app if you’d rather.
Can we play Mosaic over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
Play Mosaic online
Free, in the browser, with everyone on their own phone.