M is Martin Schlegel’s abstract tile-placement game, published in 2000 and also listed as Mega-Spass Mit Mini-Regeln. Its concise premise has a useful catch: tiles should touch other tiles, but colours that do not belong in your collection can hurt your score. The task is to make a placement useful in more than one way.
How It Plays
The catalogue overview describes placing tiles to border as many others as possible. Players collect two colours and avoid the remaining colours because they count against the score. This establishes the central placement-and-colour tension, without providing the complete legal-placement rules, setup or final scoring arithmetic. Use the edition’s rule sheet for those details rather than assuming another similarly named game plays the same way.
A Small Rule With a Useful Trade-Off
The interesting part is the conflict between adjacency and colour selection. A location that offers many neighbouring tiles is not automatically attractive if the resulting colours work against your collection. Our assessment is that this creates a focused spatial puzzle: look at the position and the scoring interests together. It is a reason to investigate M beyond its short title, without assuming the design has unlimited depth.
Who It Suits
The catalogue lists two to six players, ages ten and up, and around thirty minutes. It is a candidate for a group that likes abstract placement and a concise scoring objective. Players who prefer narrative or a strongly themed setting are unlikely to find that appeal in the documented premise. The two-to-six range does not by itself prove equally strong play at every count.
Verdict
M’s attraction is the simple conflict between making connections and keeping the right colours. Consider it if your group enjoys evaluating a shared spatial arrangement rather than following a thematic storyline. Its compact premise is promising, but a complete rules check should precede a purchase decision. Its appeal lies in that placement puzzle; the overview alone does not establish how it plays across every player count.
Rules and Further Reading
M rules and learning resources.