On closer inspection, you realise that the wooden elements fit into others, always building from the outside in. So, first there is a coloured wooden frame into which a middle piece, a core piece and finally a table can be placed. And wooden crosses fit between the frames.

Let's take a look at how this works in detail: Each round, a player receives 10 new material cards, which come in four different colours. On your turn, you buy a wooden element by placing cards of the corresponding frame colour (i.e. the colour of the outer wooden element). You pay one card for the outer frame, the middle piece costs two, the core piece three and the table four cards of the corresponding colour. The crosses that fit between the wooden mosaics also cost 4 cards. If you do not have enough cards of the colour required for the mosaic, you can also use jokers or play any two cards of a different colour for one of the required cards.

However, you are not allowed to play the wooden pieces anywhere, but the personal game board specifies which colour may be placed to which space. In addition, everything must be nicely connected, and for this each frame must also be adjacent to a wooden cross.

After placing the wooden piece, you get cards back from the supply, always one less than you have spent, but you are not allowed to take the same colour you played back into your hand.

You can also take a reward from the reward board after placing the piece, provided no other player was quicker and has already collected the corresponding reward, e.g. for placing two red wooden mosaics with a centre piece and a core piece. Reward cards give victory points immediately, as do wooden crosses at the end of each round.

In the final scoring, however, more points are awarded for each mosaic - the more complete, the more victory points. The victory points for a mosaic range from a single point for a mosaic consisting only of the outer wooden frame to 12 points for a complete mosaic with all the inner elements including the table.

The wooden pieces in Intarsia have a high-quality, fit together perfectly and simply look great. The game board and the coloured markers are also designed with great attention to detail, thanks to Michael Kiesling and Lukas Siegmon. To sum it up, the handcrafting theme of the game is wonderfully visible in the game.

In terms of gameplay, we are dealing with a straightforward mechanism that is nevertheless great fun. The game is quickly explained and plays in under one hour. However, there are still different tactics, from completing as many wooden mosaics as possible to a large expansion on your player board with lots of crosses, quick reward points and lots of wooden mosaics that have not yet been completed. I have not yet been able to find the one and only winning strategy, which is good and makes the game worth playing again and again.