Mandragora Assistant

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Were you looking for Mandragora Mania 2020 Guide or Mandragora Mania 2021 Guide?

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The 18th anniversary mini-game known as Mandragora Mania can be played at any time for monthly rewards.

Getting Started

Mandragora Mania was first introduced in the 2020 18th Vana'versary event. The Mandragora Assistant was added in the November 2021 Version Update, which allows players to play the mini-game at any time.

Locations

Mandragora Assistants can be found at the following locations

• Southern San d'Oria (K-10)
• Bastok Mines (I-9)
• Windurst Walls (C-12)
• Ru'Lude Gardens (G-9)
• Rabao (G-6)
• Mhaura (G-9)
• Eastern Adoulin (H-10)
• Chocobo Circuit (H-9)
• Mog Gardens

Walkthrough

The Basics

The overall idea of the game is to score more points than your opponent. Be sure to look in the upper left corner of the screen to see the current score.

Mandragora Mania is similar to the real-world game of Mancala. The game board consists of eight hexagons. Your opponent controls three hexagons (the top row), and you control three hexagons (the bottom row). Both players share control of the middle (yellow) hexagons, meaning that both you and your opponent have a selection of five hexagons to work with. In the game menu, the five hexagons you control are numbered 1 through 5, from left to right, with #2 and #4 being the shared yellow hexagons. Each player also controls their "base", the large rectangle they stand on.

On a player's turn, they select one of the five hexagons they control. The mandragoras on that hexagon are then distributed to adjacent hexagons or base in a counter-clockwise order, one mandragora per hexagon. If the distribution puts a mandragora on a player's "base", then that player keeps the mandragora placed on their base, and gains points based on that type of mandragora. If the distribution would place a mandragora on the other player's base, it is skipped; it is not possible to place a mandragora on your opponent's base and give them points by accident. If the distribution ends exactly at a player's base, they get another turn.

It is not possible to select a hexagon with zero mandragora on it. The game ends when either you or your opponent cannot make a move (i.e., have zero mandragora on all five hexagons they control), and the player with the most points wins.

Each Mandragora is worth a different amount of points:

• 1 Point
  • Normal Mandragoras
• 2 Points/3 Points
  • Korrigans and Pachypodiums
    • For the player who moves first in the game, they are worth 2 points. For the player who moves second, they are worth 3.
• 3 Points/4 Points
  • Citrullus and Adenium
    • For the player who moves first in the game, they are worth 3 points. For the player who moves second, they are worth 4.

Even if you lose, you keep all Jingly you earn. If you quit the game, you lose all jingly earned so far that game. All prizes are unlocked from the beginning. The prizes are a "cumulative jingly earned" similar to cumulative Hallmarks in Ambuscade. You only need to earn 300 jingly to unlock all prizes each month.

There are a total of ten opponents to play against. The later opponents are tougher they are because they make smarter moves. All opponents are unlocked from the beginning. There is no disadvantage to losing this version of Mandragora Mania. You keep all of the Jingly you earn.

Strategy

It is random who goes first each game, but you can set this to be fixed before starting the game.

The idea of the game's strategy is to setup the board in a way that you can score multiple points per round. If you have a "perfect" score in a round by not "overscoring" and giving your opponent a mandragora on their blue tile closest to you, then you get to go again that round.

An example of a "Perfect" score: If you have 3 mandragoras in Area 3, you will want to choose that option. One mandragora will be added to Area 4, one to Area 5, and one to your platform and you will score. You will then get to go again. If you then have one mandragora in Area 5, pick that to score and go yet again that round! There is no limit to how many times you or your opponent can move in a round as long as you score each time. With this in mind, its best to setup the board in a way where you can score multiple times per round.

Focus on making the best move that is closest to you first. Example: If there are 3 Mandragora on Area 3, and one on Area 5, make the move on Area 5 first. If you do not and you move on Area 3, there will then be two mandragora in Area 5 and you will overscore. If you did Area 5 first, there will then be one in Area 5 after moving in Area 3. This will lead to more points for you. Always think ahead on what will happen to the tiles in front of the Area you choose.

To win, remember that you do not need to eliminate every mandy from the board. If either you or your opponent cannot make a move on their round, the game is over and the highest scorer at that point wins. Watch the scoreboard!

A good strategy is to get ahead in points and then play defensively and hoard the mandys on the red tiles where the opponent cannot move them.

Rewards

There are five monthly rewards. Each reward can only be obtained once per monthly update cycle. It costs 10,000 Gil to reset the rewards every monthly update cycle.

Mandragora Mania Rewards
Item	Cost
	30 Jingly
	50 Jingly
	100 Jingly
	200 Jingly
	300 Jingly