Mesozooic

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 6.5 out of 10

   TigerRocketLife

   A super cute puzzle game in which you build your own dinosaur zoo! This should appeal to younger gamers with an interest in dinosaurs and those who enjoy sliding puzzles. Dad's review: "The game was different than I was originally expecting but still a fairly fun game. I'm not generally a fan of timed games but I think it is done well with this game as it keeps the game moving quickly and also provides an element of excitement. The fact that there are essentially three components, strategizing your original hand, beating the clock and a puzzle game is a fun shift from what we normally play. 3.5 stars." Mom's review: "This is definitely not the kind of game that Ryan and I are usually drawn to. I love puzzles and I used to love slide puzzles as a kid, I had a 3D frog one that I could do with my eyes closed. So I thought I would enjoy this one way more than I actually did. I think it's the time limit that got me, haha! I'm not as sharp as I used to be so that sand hourglass was vicious. We decided to do away with it and end the round when the first person completed their puzzle and that was still exciting and fun. Ryan once finished his puzzle so quickly, I only managed 5 points that round. We usually get at least 20. It's more fun without the timer and with the advanced cards. Probably not a game we'll play routinely. 3 stars." Final rating: 3.25/5 stars

2. 7 out of 10

   chriswray84

   My mini review: https://opinionatedgamers.com/2018/10/20/essen-2018-quick-thoughts-on-5-games-mini-reviews-by-chris-wray/

3. 5 out of 10

   jgoyes

   2022-06-27 Initial Rating: 4.0 (June 2022) Mesozooic is another one of those games I didn’t know anything about it before playing it. After I did, I can say I was pleasantly surprised as it is a fun and quick family game, but I will sell my copy ASAP as Mesozooic is not a game for me. Mesozooic´s rules are very easy to teach, you can do it under 5 minutes. Playtime is around 30 minutes. The game´s components are ok. The art is very good. The theme is pasted on and that´s sad as I do like dinosaurs. Gameplay is fun. First there is a draft phase in which players get the cards they need. I generally don’t like games in which drafting is the central mechanism, but, as Mesozooic is so light, I don´t care much about this. After the draft, players shuffle their cards and deal them face down in from of them. The idea is to slide them as fast as you can creating the right attractions to score VPs. This part of the game is fun and novel. The decisions needed to play the game are very easy to process, but the real-time phase makes the game fun for me as even if you drafted the best cards, it is very possible you cannot make them score. I think Mesozooic is a good family/casual game. I LOVE that the timer of the real-time phase is so short (45 seconds), this is the best feature of the game for me. As the real-time phase is so frantic it is very easy to make a mistake or to outright cheat. The luck factor is high and present in the game. When player play the cards in front of them, some configurations will be much easier to solve/maximize and there is no way to counteract this. IF you get bad luck with the cards, there isn´t sufficient skill in the world to make you score high. As the game plays so quickly (and it´s fun) I don´t care much about this, but it still bothers me. Best with 4 players. The replay value seems low as each game feels exactly the same. Bottom line, I was pleasantly surprised by Mesozooic as I was expecting an awful game, but it is actually a good and fun family game. It is easy to explain and quick to play but I crave heavier experiences so I will sell it ASAP. I could play it again if requested but my desire to do so is low. In this category of game, I prefer to play Pakal which is superior in every way IMO. Current Rating: 5.0