MESOS

The Game

MESOS is a tableau game. You collect cards with different abilities to form your prehistoric tribe. This is before the dawn of human civilisation. The different cards are tribesmen with different specialties. You play for a fixed number of rounds, and at the end of that the highest scorer wins. 

The core mechanism for collecting cards is in the second row above. You have a small board for tracking player order for the round, and then a large board for determining how many cards you can collect and from where, the upper row or the lower. During a round, players move their pawns in player order from the small board to claim a spot on the large board. After all spots are claimed, you take cards following a new turn order which is based on the position of your pawn, from left to right. Notice that the spots on the right let you take more cards. If you claim those spots, you will go later in turn order, and you will have fewer choices by the time your turn comes. The positions on the large board also determines the turn order for the start of following round. In addition to that, whoever goes first earns extra food, and whoever goes last loses food. 

At the end of a round, the lower row of cards is discarded, and the upper row is moved down. The upper row is then refilled. This means every card will be available for at most two rounds. If no one wants it, it will be lost forever. 

This is a game of collecting cards, i.e. your tribesmen. There are six types, and they have different abilities. 

Some cards are event cards. You can't take them. They take effect when they are discarded from the lower row. Some events are opportunities to score points. In the picture above the event on the left gives you one food and 3 points per hunter that you have in your tribe. Some events penalise you, for example when it's time to eat and you don't have enough food for your tribe, you lose points based on the shortage. 

These are building cards. They are handled a little differently. They only get moved down once per era instead of once per round. So they stay available for a little longer. You have more time to prepare to buy them. You can't take them outright. You need to pay food for them. Buildings give you points and may also provide other benefits. The one on the left is worth 6 points. It also gives you one food per painter when there is a cave painting event. 

Buildings are randomly set up every game, so there is some variety from game to game. There are three eras in the game, and there are different buildings for each era. The later era buildings are more expensive, but also more powerful. 

The Play

What a lovely little game with so much angst! There is nothing complicated about the game, but it presents so many tough decisions. The events keep you on your toes. You feel like you need all the types of tribesmen to do well or even to survive. But then you also need to worry about feeding them. You want shamans because during the shaman event, the player with the most powerful shamans gains points, while the player with the least loses points. This creates competition. The core mechanism is simple yet effective. You want more cards? Be prepared that you may not have many choices, and you won't have a favourable turn order next round. There is one card which is very good for you, and it'll work splendidly with another card? If you are desperate enough for that first card, maybe you have to claim a position which guarantees you'll get it, and forgo the other card. Apparently simple actions, but these are not simple decisions. 

Among the six types of tribesmen, you will probably need to make some compromises. Generally the more tribesmen you have in one particular type, the more powerful that group will be. So you want to have big groups, and that means you probably have to forgo some other groups. 

I assembled a huge team of builders, and they gave me a deep discount when buying buildings. They helped me buy three buildings, which gave me many points, especially the third one. I did not completely neglect my hunters or gatherers though, because otherwise the penalty from not having enough food would be too painful. 

The Thoughts

Some games are a delight to play, even when they are not particularly innovative. MESOS is a game like this. It is simply well made. The core mechanism is clever and gives you plenty of angst. That's what a good game should be. MESOS is a pleasant experience and it is a game I'd happily recommend.