I think that all gamers at some times just pick up a game because it is cheap and it sounds like it could be fun. Mesozooic is one of those games for me. When the GameZenter had their winter sale, it was there for five dollars. The cover is bright, I like the dinosaur park building theme, and I like drafting. I wasn’t so sure on the real time aspect of it though. Now it is a game that I’ve played a few times, so was my cheap purchase worth it?

How To Play Mesozooic?

Mesozooic is a game that is played over three rounds and two parts. You score at the end of each round, but only your top two rounds score for your final score. That means if you mess up badly, you have a chance to fix it and you might need that in this game.

The first part of a round is drafting cards. You draft parts of dinosaur pens, the monorail pieces, dinosaur enclosures (different from the pens), jeeps, and topiaries. In total you will end up drafting 11 cards. And you want to draft pen pieces that will connect and monorail pieces that can easily connect.

Then comes the real time element to the game. You put out the 11 cards that you drafted in a four wide and three tall grid leaving the bottom right corner open. A timer is flipped and you need to try and arrange your cards in the most optimal way, like a sliding puzzle. So from that bottom right corner sliding the cards around fast and hoping that you don’t manage to mess it up somehow. Once the time is up you score.

What I Don’t Like?

I feel like Mesozooic is kind of a one trick game. The drafting is interesting and there are advanced cards, but it comes down to how well you can do a sliding puzzle. I am pretty good at sliding puzzles. Other people I play with, they are not nearly as good. So inherently people who are good at the sliding puzzle trick are going to do better. Now, doesn’t mean the timer won’t mess you up sometimes as you try and get it perfect.

I also think that the real time aspect to it, not just the sliding puzzle but the real time piece is going to be a lot. The timer is approximately 45 seconds. And I believe that is a good amount of time. If it is shorter no one could do well, it’d just be too fast. If it is longer, then you’d have a lot of players “done”. But those 45 seconds are very hectic. And while I do not mind real time in this because I make the choices in the draft for my puzzle, it is going to be an element people don’t like.

What Do I Like?

I like the artwork on this game. It is cartoony and fun, and there are a lot of different dinosaurs. The production of this game is nice and they kept it simple too. By that I mean, if I need to find a jeep on a card, that is easy to do. Everything you can tell what it is without any troubles. That makes the game easier to play.

I also appreciate how the game scales. I have played at 2, 3, and 6 players and it is fun at all counts. It does something I really like in removing a full set of cards from the draft with player count. Each player picks a director to start and the cards matching the director are shuffled into the deck plus some generic cards. Each director has 11 cards, plus the generic ones means that you can’t know all the cards in the draft.

Another thing I find interesting and enjoy is throwing out your low score. If you look at the negatives, the timed element and the sliding puzzle, though that’s just that some people can be better, it helps to throw out a low score. You might get a set-up that requires you to move buildings from one side to another to score points. Or maybe, no matter what you do, the monorail just won’t line up. But if you do well in the other two rounds, one bad round doesn’t kill you.

Who is It For?

Mesozooic is a good little filler game. At least that is where I really like it. I think a game generally takes 30 minutes, no matter the player count. Teaching will take a bit longer, but that is expected. So I think it is a game that works well for someone who likes to play light fillers, or who needs games like that in their collection.

Mesozooic would work well as a pallet cleanser in between bigger games. It isn’t that it is completely mindless, but with the frenetic element of the sliding puzzle, it just feels different. It is going to give your mind a rest, it is going to get you laughing, and that works well. If someone wants a bigger more serious dinosaur game, Mesozooic isn’t it.

Mesozooic Final Thoughts

This is a fun game for me. I know I mention this at times with game, but I wonder about the staying power of the game. I’ve been wrong on games that I thought would stick for a long time and wrong on light games that I thought I would move on from fast. The reason I wonder about Mesozooic is the one main trick in the game. The drafting is not complex, if I get the right half of a building, next hand I’ll take a left. But will the sliding puzzle stay interesting.

The upside is that I don’t think Mesozooic is a game that will ever be boring or one that I hate. It might just fade faster and more over time. I think it could fall into the category of a game like Splendor, Tsuro, or Second Chance. It is a game that I feel like I’ve played enough but won’t say no to playing again. Right now, though, I am enjoying what this game has to offer. And I do have advanced mode to add if I want more of a challenge.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: C+

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