Mezo: Through the Ages Against the Vengeful Gods
Rise to power against the vengeful gods through the ages in battles across vibrant Mayan-inspired regions with Mezo.
I only had a fleeting interest in Mezo when it first arrived. My husband and I played it multiplayer, and while good, it faded into the background of our area control games. But wait! We picked up some expansions for it ages ago, and what was in there? A solo mode! Tentatively optimistic, I decided to see if these mechanics offered a fun solo experience.
Game Overview
Game Name: Mezo
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: John Clowdus
Artists: Chris Byer and Daryl Toh Liem Zhan
Publisher: Kolossal Games
Solo Mode: Included in Mezo: Souls for Xibalba
Over 3 ages, conflicts occur throughout the regions. Vengeful gods appear to offer assistance to their followers. Each battle is vital, yet there are only so many shamans and warriors to carefully plot the course of history. It all hangs in the balance above the darkness of Xibalba.
First Play
November 1, 2022
Complexity
3
Latest Play
November 4, 2022
Expansions
3
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
1 Hour & 15 Minutes
High Score
174
Game Area
40" x 28"
Low Score
125
Controlling Regions
In nearly every battle, the side with the most shamans moves to the calendar. The same is true for the warriors. Simple enough, but so many outcomes!
As I set to work learning the rules, nothing felt overly complicated… Yet there was a lot going on. These bonus calendar and codex spaces felt like mini-goals.
This was all about earning victory points in lots of ways, though. There certainly wasn’t a single way to win!
I was pleasantly surprised by the minimal solo mode components, though. Not too many new elements.
Abilities and Devotion
One of the main sources of final victory points was the devotion track. This was simple enough with its clear levels, but gaining devotion was merely one element.
In a neat way, each age featured a set of available abilities. My choice! Yet only 1 of 3 could be chosen per age, and it often had long-term effects. So… Which was the best?
I liked how these provided some core strategies to focus on, yet didn’t necessarily force me to play a certain way.
Besides, I wasn’t exactly an expert. A lot of my choices were going to be about experimenting, and that was fine!
The Consuming Rot
I chose Au-Puch as my god, mainly due to my favorite way to decide… Alphabetical. Ha ha! Also known as The Consuming Rot, this was a god all about Xibalba.
That is to say, the rough equivalent of an underworld. Units could be recovered and brought back into the fray, and this was a main part of Au-Puch’s strategy.
Such an awesome miniature, too! Lots and lots of details, and simply enormous. That added a lot to the map!
Each god plays differently with a unique ability and different action cards. Au-Puch would be my introduction.
Lining Up for Action
Xibalba began with a few units present. As I mentioned, they could be recovered and deployed to the various regions. My shaman and warrior weren’t locked in!
Most importantly, the vengeful gods used a pair of player colors. All of those units were theirs. Quite a formidable solo opponent with so much power in its units!
I felt like I was about to be destroyed with my small force. Au-Puch was it, too… Against up to 3 vengeful gods.
Still, this type of underdog beginning is often a lot of fun! Maybe I could actually pull off a victory. Just maybe.
Xolotl’s Entrance
My little upstart movement to enter the realm of the gods was far from what Xolotl could handle. The Looming Doom emerged from the shadows with a snarl!
Another awesome miniature! Each vengeful god had an ability that would trigger in conflicts where they had presence, indicated by the red arrows.
This gave me some insight into which conflicts to possibly avoid. Yet all of the information was far from known.
Keep in mind, too, that each age would feature the emergence of a new vengeful god. Quite fierce, indeed!
A Busy Land of Conflict
After the initial deployment, there was a lot going on. Xolotl was still there, just literally hiding in the shadows off to the left! Hochob and Uxmal would be affected.
Au-Puch merely had presence in these linked conflicts, but only a later ability could provide additional strength.
Becan was a unique region where my champion could earn a few more victory points, yet other units couldn’t begin in the same region. Quite the conundrum to think through!
Was this all correct? I had no idea what I was planning to do, although I hoped to at least win a couple of conflicts.
So It Began in Hochob
All of the regions have corresponding conflict tiles, which are shuffled during each age. The order these resolve in is always random, leading to some extra unpredictability.
Hochob was the first conflict of this age. I wasn’t sure what to do, but it was moving right along! And Xolotl managed to help out the vengeful gods a little more. Great!
Actually, I hesitated to win this battle, for the winner had to smite all of their units immediately after the victory.
So I thought carefully about how this might affect the vengeful gods. Could I trick them, just a little bit?
Learning Not to Discount Early Excitement
Many of us have read that it’s never a good idea to judge a solo game from the first play. I also think it’s important not to diminish that feeling of excitement when it’s simply fun and awesome in its own way! That first experience is literally a one-time thing. It’s like the old days of playing with a new toy and not expecting anything from it.
I suppose this entire post should be taken with a grain of salt, but I’m also not one to get overly excited. At this point, I need a solo game to be different and interesting for me to have an amazing experience. Even then, I still rate it as fairly as I can! This one was a complete surprise, as I thought it was going to be clunky and too much from the start.
But I got into this play entirely: I felt like I was in this world, trying to guide a very humble god and group of followers from nothing to compete with the existing gods. Not an easy task! Maybe subsequent plays won’t be as exciting, or maybe they will be. I’ll always be able to look back on this first play of the solo mode with fond memories, though!
Mirrored Actions
I finally saw the core element of the solo mode in action during this first conflict. My hand of 5 action cards typically allowed me to use 2 of 3 actions in a conflict.
The trick was the solo opponent’s cards. After I chose my first action and marked it, their card came out and they took the action in the same position as my choice.
In this way, there was a surprise addition of 3 enemy shamans. Ah, but I expected that and hoped for it!
My second action was more informed, as I could see which mirrored action the solo opponent would take. Clever!
Into the Next Age
All 6 conflicts were completed to finish the first age. I was behind by a solid 20 victory points, which wasn’t too bad of a deficit… But I certainly questioned my decisions!
To begin the next age, I drew another random vengeful god card. This time, it was Uayeb who appeared to put a stop to my efforts. Trickery, indeed, but not so unseen!
In this way, I now had to contend with the special abilities of both Xolotl and Uayeb. Conflicts would be difficult.
To its credit, the solo mode definitely gave me the feeling that I was battling very strong and ancient beings!
Never Backing Down
Many of my units were in Xibalba, leading to a pretty limited deployment. Take a close look, and the red units are lacking compared to the yellow and green units.
However, this wasn’t a negative. As I mentioned, it’s rather foolish to try to win every single combat.
So I focused my efforts on the more lucrative areas. And notice Hochob: I was ready to give that up to allow the vengeful gods to suffer the consequences of smited units.
There was a great feeling of watching a sweeping epic take place through the ages… Au-Puch was just getting started.
Reversing the Trickery
Perhaps Uayeb was the master trickster, but I had a few of my own tricks up my sleeve! With this conflict, I first added a warrior from Xibalba to the conflict.
Unfortunately, the vengeful gods revealed their card to immediately add 3 warriors of their own. Well, fine.
I had planned on the second action, but the mirrored option hurt me a lot more. So I took up the backup plan…
The final action was the weakest, yet it would work! It gave me a slight advantage, and then all the shamans were exiled… All on the vengeful gods’ side. Ha ha!
Dealing with Kukulcan
I was still around 15 victory points behind as the third age began. Not an impossible deficit, but this was it!
Kukulcan entered the fray as the final vengeful god, and the board was absolutely packed! Au-Puch had limited options in terms of moving around, too. Oh, Kukulcan.
My other big problem was my distinct lack of units. A lot of them were still in Xibalba, while the vengeful gods had a decent amount to deploy during the start of age steps.
Despite the fact that I hadn’t been playing for too long, this felt like an ongoing battle that I was fully invested in.
Plotting with Abilities
Even though I didn’t win too many conflicts, my abilities gave me a lot of additional strength. My champion provided added strength, as did Au-Puch.
In the third age, I decided that I had a good chance to win 2-3 conflicts. Although risky, that meant I would earn another 10-15 victory points… If it all worked out!
My devotion was pretty high, too, which would grant additional victory points. If only I could stop losing it!
The vengeful gods were difficult to plot against, yet I was starting to pick up on what they were up to. Once again!
Important Pyramids
My strategy was heavily rooted in winning conflicts, but I still participated in another lucrative element: Building pyramids, which were shared between us.
It was important to keep up with the vengeful gods, for these structures were worth ongoing victory points.
Even adding a new layer was vital when it came to collecting immediate victory points. I was still a little behind, but not by enough to guarantee a loss.
So the third age began to wind down. I won the conflicts I wanted to, just barely. But what of final scoring?
Session Overview
Play Number: 1
Expansion: Mezo: Souls for Xibalba
Solo Mode: Included in Mezo: Souls for Xibalba
Play Details: Judged by Eternity
Outcome: 167-154 (Win)
I did it! By making sure my devotion was high enough and investing in that final ability to earn more victory points for successful conflicts, it all worked out. Such a battle! Time didn’t drag on at all, yet it felt like this was a lengthy tale that waged on through the ages. I was thoroughly surprised by this awesome experience. Must play again!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- There is a real sense of struggle against the vengeful gods that creates an interesting and ongoing battle.
- Gameplay is generally straightforward in terms of the rules, but the strategies vary greatly in each conflict.
- All of the miniatures are quite impressive, particularly the gods that stand out and add to the table presence.
- A small hand of action cards is actually very strategic since each card is used during every age in the conflicts.
- Variability is very high with the different combinations of abilities and vengeful gods that might come out.
- Some elements are known, yet the solo opponent action cards create unexpected scenarios to work through.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Not all of the rules are clear, and the solo mode rulebook leaves out some important setup and play instructions.
- A lot of extra content is in expansions, yet this means the base game is incomplete and missing the solo mode.
- It would have been nice to understand more of the stories behind the gods beyond their names and abilities.
- Green and blue cardboard player pieces look almost identical, making it tricky to use both during the same play.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 60%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 150 points.
Win at least 1 game as Au-Puch.
Win at least 1 game as Cabrakan.
Score at least 175 points.
Win at least 1 game as Ixchel.
Continue the Conversation
Have you ever played the solo mode of Mezo? What other solo games have you genuinely been surprised by? I know this is all based on my first play, yet I think it’s worthwhile to celebrate those experiences that are a lot of fun! Area control and battles aren’t easy to simulate in solo, but the vengeful gods certainly gave me a reason to try to pull off a victory!
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