Mosaic of The Pharaohs
Mosaic of The Pharaohs
Game
Game2025
Mosaic of the Strange
Developer Mark Ffrench
Mosaic of the Strange is a picross/minesweeper hybrid featuring ENORMOUS interlocking puzzles. Help Special Agents Cullen and Brady investigate a bizarre murder, while discovering 144 real-world paranormal case files. From the Steam store page
184 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 30, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
95
LovedLoved
163 positive · 9 negative
95% range 90–97%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 163 | 9 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 1 | 8 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
170 of 179 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
96% recommend · 151 yes, 7 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 158 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (230 of 250 positive).
Some reviewers find the story and navigation break the flow of the puzzles. [1][2][3] The addition of difficulty settings and quality-of-life improvements is welcomed. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
A first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRwkmvTXKYo It took me a while to understand these puzzles, but ever since I did, I'm hooked, beyond hooked. I started to bingeplay them all out hooked. Like, can we say addiction big time. Yes, yes we can! Therefor I can highly recommend them, always. And once this one is played out, I'll be probably crying that I played it out followed up by waiting and lurking for the …
- [15]
Its a good game and I'll still recommend it, but I agree with the sentiment expressed by most people - it was better when it was one big mosaic rather than splitting things up so much, and while I did enjoy the story aspects I am strongly inclined to say that this is the weakest game in the series overall.
- [1]
I've 100%'d all of the mosaic games to this point, and while this one wasn't my favorite - I think that goes to Proverbs - this was still an excellent entry in the series. The addition of new difficulties is a welcome one! The story is more of a ymmv type situation, I feel like the mosaic games are at their best when I'm zoned the ♥♥♥♥ in and solving in an almost flow state but the need to progress the story, zoom …
- [4]
So far I'm enjoying it as much as the previous Mosiac games. I like the added difficulty modes for anyone looking to up the challenge of the puzzles. I tried them all and settled into what feels comfortable to me, so thank you for allowing us to do that. Very fun logic based puzzles. Recommend for anyone looking to casually solve logic puzzles in their downtime all the way to people looking for a very challenging …
- [5]
This is going to be another time melting banger. ONE. MORE. PUZZLE. Seems to be a lot of quality of life improvements too! ***EDIT: Just 100%'d thank you for another great game
Summarised from 34 of the 170 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Mosaic of the Strange talk about addictive and relaxing puzzle gameplay; those who didn't talk about story and navigation break the puzzle flow. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 184 · most liked firstI interviewed @mark-ffrench.bsky.social of @dividetheplunder.bsky.social about his his fascinating process, inspirations, and journey making his latest puzzle game, the excellent Mosaic of the Strange! I'm addicted to his games! #indiegames #gamedev #pcgaming On @thegeeklygrind.bsky.social:
neutral · AI labelView post →A first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRwkmvTXKYo It took me a while to understand these puzzles, but ever since I did, I'm hooked, beyond hooked. I started to bingeplay them all out hooked. Like, can we say addiction big time. Yes, yes we can! Therefor I can highly recommend them, always. And once this one is played out, I'll be probably crying that I played it out followed up by waiting and lurking for the next one. So toe's crossed Mark continues this puzzle series! I would be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fancy a paranormal puzzle game this spooky season? 👀 Solve Minesweeper/Picross-like logic puzzles, unlock chilling case studies, and help solve a spooky murder mystery! 🧩👻 Try the Mosaic of the Strange demo on Steam: bit.ly/MotS_Demo #indiegames #gamedev #indiedev #showcasethursday
neutral · AI labelView post →It's okay, I'd give it a neutral score if that was an option. One of the weakest of these mosaic games imo, so I'd definitely recommend checking out the other ones first. Some are even free! This game does have something new: a story. A pair of detectives solving a strange case! The problem is that the story is very... slight. You don't so much advance the plot as you unlock dialogue that muses on possibilities for the case in question. You meet new characters but they don't have much to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So far I'm enjoying it as much as the previous Mosiac games. I like the added difficulty modes for anyone looking to up the challenge of the puzzles. I tried them all and settled into what feels comfortable to me, so thank you for allowing us to do that. Very fun logic based puzzles. Recommend for anyone looking to casually solve logic puzzles in their downtime all the way to people looking for a very challenging puzzle experience. You decide.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a good game and I'll still recommend it, but I agree with the sentiment expressed by most people - it was better when it was one big mosaic rather than splitting things up so much, and while I did enjoy the story aspects I am strongly inclined to say that this is the weakest game in the series overall.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh yes, yes, yes. I've completed all of the other puzzle games in the series, and this is more of the same puzzles. But, on top of that we have a series of mysterious case files in this game, and I'm loving the way the story develops!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Five hours in at time of writing and really enjoying it. The puzzles flow but then stop and make you think for a bit but give you margin for error. You could probably whizz through the puzzles quicker using hints but I've found it offers up a good healthy challenge without. I've been enjoying the background story so far too, clearly there's been some research into interesting mysterious events, some of which I've ended up reading a bit more about as I'd not heard of them previously so that's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is going to be another time melting banger. ONE. MORE. PUZZLE. Seems to be a lot of quality of life improvements too! ***EDIT: Just 100%'d thank you for another great game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Try Mosaic of the Strange - a Minesweeper/Picross-inspired logic puzzle game - during #SteamNextFest! Tile by tile, reveal real-world paranormal case files as you fill in the board. What will you uncover? 🔍 👽 Discover it HERE: bit.ly/MotS_Demo #SteamNextFest #IndieGames
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a big fan of this series. This was another great addition to the series. I appreciate how the developer continues to try new things with these games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hope you've been enjoying the Mosaic of the Strange #SteamNextFest demo! Are you on Discord? Join my server and let me know what you think of the game! Join HERE: discord.gg/uW5VeTW3 #indiegame #indiedev #steam
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a big fan of these game, however I feel this misses the core appeal of the series, which is solving one big puzzle. I get trying something new with adding a story, but it just didn't work for me, just felt like it slowed down the game and solving induvial puzzles to further the plot, instead of one big puzzle just didn't scratch the same itch. I recommend playing the other Mosaic games over this one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →3 Days until MOSAIC RETROSPECTIVE 2025 launches! The game offers many quality of life features first introduced in Mosaic of the Strange (e.g. countdown mode). Plus, it features full gamepad support! Make sure you've wishlisted! ⬇️ bit.ly/MosaicR2025 #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #puzzlegames
neutral · AI labelView post →Mosaic of the Strange is the latest of a series of large mosaic number puzzle games on Steam (Mega Mosaic, Proverbs, etc). The gimmick this time is it's a bit more story based and follows an X-Files style murder investigation. This is largely set dressing outside of some dialogues here and there as the game slowly parcels out sets of mosaics to do rather than the entire board being available from the jump. When you complete a mosaic you get a little dossier about some sort of related mysterious…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →is even betterer than the other ones i like what they did with the more linear format and added difficulties but i think should add cheeves for the difficulties :) lovely game keep it up
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"one more puzzle" I say, as the hours melt away
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't get me wrong, these games are great, but this is one of the weaker ones so thumbs down cause I recommend the others more. While I understand wanting to mix it up, adding a story and navigation to puzzle games just works against it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Time to 100%: ~15-25 hours depending upon how good you are at this type of puzzle and whether or not you read the story. Mosaic of the Strange is the fifth game in the Mega Mosaic series of games. Unlike the previous games which featured one huge grid split up into different regions, this game has you go to locations and then click on items to start solving the puzzles. Each item is its own puzzle. This game has its own story and cutscenes that go along with the story. As you progress in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great brain game! I about panicked at the end when the final puzzles were a race, which I absolutely hate and am no good at. But after losing the race, I was given a second chance without the race. Thanks for that option dev. I enjoy your games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love getting into the flow state and just solve these grids like I'm a mosaic solver machine. The files are interesting to read after each solve but can be easily skipped. Any file that is actually relevant to the case gets commented on by the detectives anyway so you don't miss anything important. Didn't expect a boss fight in a mosic game. Great ending!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've loved the other games, with Proverbs being my favourite. But this one has a lot of additions that make it much less engaging. It's cool to see the dev try something new, but the new stuff doesn't work for me. I just want to do the puzzles, I don't want to have to navigate a map, sit through cut scenes or read case files about a thing I have no interest in in the first place. I miss working on the giant puzzle and seeing the interesting little pieces be revealed. I'll still finish it, but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After the last Mosaic I was thinking I was done with the series. It had been fun, the blurbs of info were interesting, and they had been pretty chill, but they were essentially the same game 4 times. Since they felt so samey I thought I was done. Thankfully, that wasn't the case for this one. Yes, it is the same core mechanics, but the framing is different. And there's a story! (Albeit not one that'll go down in literary history, but hey better than nothing, and I'm glad to see the developer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've 100%'d all of the mosaic games to this point, and while this one wasn't my favorite - I think that goes to Proverbs - this was still an excellent entry in the series. The addition of new difficulties is a welcome one! The story is more of a ymmv type situation, I feel like the mosaic games are at their best when I'm zoned the ♥♥♥♥ in and solving in an almost flow state but the need to progress the story, zoom out to find the next puzzle, and travel between locations breaks up the actual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed all the others in the series, but this one is disappointing to me. I would have rather you made puzzles that got progressively more difficult rather than picking an overall difficulty. It makes me feel as if I'm missing out on puzzles if I choose a lower difficulty.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Same minesweeper-style gameplay as the other Mosiac games, but wrapped with lots more storytelling and a giant collection of psuedoscience references. Wiki the clues as you go for anything you don't recognize and you'll be rewarded with some amusing stories. The multi-colored crayons that it gives you all game are pretty baffling (you can use them to make notes I guess, but why?) and it throws a bonus difficulty factor right at the very end. Quite a good creation for its genre.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a good game but the worst in the Mosaic Group miss the large pic ones found it annoying finding a new puzzel and way to much story.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's nice to see this installment of the series actually get a story and significantly evolve what the previous ones did, but there's something lost in not being able to see your progress towards completing the one giant puzzle. Still had a decent enough time. The music was good. The story doesn't have enough meat to stand alone as a game, but it's very nice window dressing for a primarily puzzle driven experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get this game if you like this style of puzzle, and don't mind turning your brain off for a bit as you solve them. I wish I could give a "meh" review. It's not a bad game per se, but I was hoping the puzzles would lean more towards the hand-crafted "aha!"-solve-path variety rather than "here are grids of varying shapes and sizes, but roughly all the same". The grids had no visible patterns that I could see beyond the grid shape itself -- the image was only revealed once the puzzle was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent puzzle game. It's like minesweeper but more relaxed and with more purpose. The story is a bit ridiculous but it's fun, and receiving the interesting excerpts/unresolved mysteries after completing a section broke things up nicely. It's a nice evolution from the Mosaic of the Pharaohs. I'm really glad I found these games, I'll be quick to buy the next one as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →100% Achievement Review - I have played all of this dev's other Minesweeper Mosaic games and while this one is the shortest, it is the most entertaining. Somehow, in a minesweeper game, they managed to add plot ala an episode of X-Files or Unsolved mysteries. The world of games never ceases to amaze me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another great entry in this puzzle series. I love that you get the reward of some interesting fact after every section, combining the addictive properties of minesweeper(-ish) and falling down a wikipedia hole. This time it's famous paranormal cases. Warning that some of them are kind of gross or gory - lots of murder and cattle mutilation in that category! (If you want to try these puzzles but that's a dealbreaker, check out the Proverbs mosaic game by this author.) The detective / evidence…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mark Ffrench’s Mosaic of the Strange pushes his series into bolder territory by adding a full adventure narrative to the satisfying logic-puzzle core. Imagine Minesweeper without the bombs: large, interlocking mosaics that slowly reveal a bigger picture. Solving a region does more than mark progress; it unlocks a real-world paranormal case file packed with alien encounters, unsolved murders, and hauntings that pull you deeper into a mystery you will want to keep exploring. The story is better…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got addicted to the 2024 Retrospective so jumped straight into this as soon as it came out. At time of writing I only have 2.2 hours on record (however I already put a few hours in on the demo that kept my game progress). It is one of those games where once you get the hang of what you are doing (it does take smoothbrains like me a little while to click), you can easily lose track of time and before you realise you've lost a couple of hours. Very tongue in cheek X File crime shenanigans…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked feeling my brain stretch in the first few hours, going from a slow, logic-testing plod to a faster skip as I learned to recognise patterns. Makes for a great game to zone out to when you don't want to deal with the rest of the world, and the x-files-style mystery makes for a nice background. Edit: The demo gives you a good number of puzzles to try to see if this might be your thing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoy the Mosaic series of games, and this one has really upped the bar on quality. I love the addition of difficulty settings and an added story to follow. The presentation of the case details is really cool . Anyone who enjoys cryptids, weird history, and the paranormal would enjoy this a lot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another awesome Mosaic game, this time with a cool mystery twist and multiple locations to assemble. If you've played any of the other Mosaic games you know if you like these games but this one is easily the best plus the advanced difficulty level really cranks up the challenge.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm genuinely surprised just how engaged I am playing this game. It's really fun and satisfying, I can easily recommend to anyone interested in chill logic-based games ;)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The gameplay is identical to the other games by this creator, like Proverbs. However, it is drawn out over a long "campaign", which is not fun to play or read through, which is why I do not recommend this game. The puzzles never _requires_ any kind of deep reasoning. There is always a tile that already has already exactly enough dark neighbors or exactly enough light neighbors. This causes it to be like a kind of numeric wheres-Waldo rather than an actual puzzling game. If you like the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd give this game a hesitant recommendation as I find it to be lacking in a lot of the ways from the previous games the developers have put out. I wasn't invested in the plot at all and thought it was quite frustrating to skip through cutscenes. Switching to different areas to complete multiple smaller puzzles didn't feel as good as solving one giant puzzle. I think the addition of difficulty modes was cool and I did enjoy the ending segment! I personally preferred the tone and direction of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Having played most of the series so far, I found the implementation of a story and map to traverse around quite satisfying! It was nice to depart from the larger puzzles for this game and take on the puzzles in bite-size pieces. The music was great, with a genuine eeriness to some of the tracks. As a sucker for conspiracies and supernatural themes, I found the case files intriguing, and it was interesting searching up the events throughout the playthrough. Felt like the game took me much longer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →murder mystery framing is a ton of fun (though it's completely on the rails/there's no player input on that end) and was just what this line of Mosaic puzzle games needed to freshen up a bit after i had started to reach a point of fatigue after hammering out the rest over the past two years. with that said, i largely just prefer when this was part of a big image/mural instead of separated pieces. the nature of the puzzle segments structure wise is making an already lightweight puzzle type…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great relaxing puzzle game! Minesweeper adjacent with a flair of paranormal investigation, and makes for a chill background game to dip in and out of.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn, that super-agent mode broke me. Great game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm always excited for a new mosaic game. My favorite are the yearly recaps, but the stories are fun and the gameplay has some variety in layout as opposed to one big board. Great for achievement hunters. Runs great on steam deck.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mosaic of the Strange was an impulse purchase due to me having a soft spot for mosaics. I remember as a child playing with the different blocks and following the patterns to create the various shapes. And I'm both a bit dissatisfied and pleased with this game. Let me explain: The game follows 2 FBI agents who get called in to investigate a mysterious murder. A man was found in the middle of a forest tower with the door locked from the inside. So how did he die? And who did it? Let's be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mosaic of the Strange, developed by Mark Ffrench and published by Divide The Plunder, is a puzzle game that quietly stretches the boundaries of what logic-driven gameplay can feel like when paired with a strong sense of narrative and atmosphere. At its foundation, it builds on familiar grid-based deduction mechanics—systems that echo classics like Minesweeper or nonogram-style puzzles—but it expands them into something far more layered. Instead of presenting isolated challenges, the game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Picross like with a lot of information about mysterious cases worldwide. This game is different to the other ones of this creator as it features a story. I admit skipping the story at later parts, as I didn't find it particularly interesting. The idea of placing the puzzles into scenes was quite nice and again each of the puzzles rewards with some information to some real world mystery (e.g. area 51, aliens, lost people,...)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fantastic as always, now with way more QOL!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is going to read as pretty negative, which isn't my intention because I really enjoyed this game. I just had some gripes with the changes the dev made to this game compared to his prior releases. If you like puzzles go play these mosaic games! They're fun in the same way doing sudokus or playing minesweeper are. Fun enough puzzles, but I think I like the dev prior games better. Having the individual puzzles make up a larger mosaic was a huge part of this series' charm and having them…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the first of the Mosaic games I've played and I enjoyed it immensely!! It replaced sudoku as my favourite thing to do to wind down for the day as it is very calming. Each finished puzzle being a different paranormal case that leads to clues is a creative way to provide some story, though admittedly my enjoyment was focused on the puzzles and the articles themselves. (spoilers for the end) The addition of coded numbers with the safe puzzle as a way to involve the player in unlocking it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shelldiver is like cocaine, but luckily can be finished in 4 hours. Mosaic of the Strange is nice if you like 2nd screen minesweeper-ish "podcast games". Until Then would be my #1 underappreciated time loop plot twist adventure game, it's clever and warm, and the locale is a welcome change.
neutral · AI labelView post →Lots of sevens in this one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love these tile games. I hella respect suddenly having a story and an insane ending for this gameplay, but honestly I think I prefer just the big puzzle boards and smaller info rewards like in Proverbs or Moasic of the Phaorohs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The monogram / minesweeper gameplay is amazing. It's addictive and very relaxing. About the story: (What the Steam store description promised) "📖 Mosaic of the Strange takes storytelling much further than previous games in the series, as engaging characters and dialogue draw you further into a compelling murder mystery." To be honest I find the way of storytelling very weird and annoying. Why put the real-world paranormal case files in between the fictional case we're trying to solve? I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Choosing your difficulty is a fun new feature and it's going to destroy me! Really neat though and the hints are actually really helpful. I felt like I had exhausted most of the good multi-part deduction tricks, but I had to resort to the hints and it's actually making me learn new ones. Update: Finished it, definitely the most engaging presentation in these Mosaic games so far, complete with a plot and everything. I enjoyed the cipher puzzles - I thought I would not, but your brain picks up…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a sucker for these games, but even then this is now the perfect entry to begin your journey through the Mosaic series. The story is nice, but even more than that you have a difficulty slider which can allow for multiple replays through or to simply let you get adjusted to the minesweeper format. I personally selected the hardest difficulty (I thought I could handle it after doing every other mosaic game), but unless you consider yourself a master of minesweeper I'd stay a bit away from…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →mark ffrench i would follow you anywhere. for real though, I started with Proverbs earlier this year, I messaged my discord server that I was slowly going insane due to one giant minesweeper puzzle, and then worked my way through the all of the rest of the games mark ffrench had developed (including logic town). I've had mosaic of the strange wishlisted ever since I found out about it, and it did NOT disappoint. It's not the exact format of the previous ones, but that is 100% okay, I really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's exactly as you see it, but has decent difficulty settings to make it just right, optional hints, and mistake warnings so you don't waste too much time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mosaic of the strange shakes up the formula of Mark Ffrech's games. While it is missing the satisfaction of completing a huge mosaic it adds new difficulty options. This is great because the regular difficulty did not pose a challenge. The x-files add an interesting backdrop. I recommend. :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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