Mesos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Setup
• How to Play
  • 1. Place Totem pawns on the Offer track
  • 2. Resolve Actions
  • Food and Prestige Points
  • Taking Character cards
  • Taking Building cards
• End of the Round
  • 1. Resolve Events
  • 2. Discard all Character and Event cards in the bottom row
  • 3. Move all remaining Character and Event cards from the top row to the bottom row
  • 4. Restore the top row
• Beginning of a New Era
• End of Game
• Expert Variant
  • Setup
  • Beginning of a New Era
• Appendix — Building Cards Description
• Credits

Components

• 2 Turn Order tiles
• 7 Offer tiles
• 94 Tribe cards (84 Characters, 10 Events divided into Era I-II-III)
• 2 Final Event cards
• 21 Building cards (6 of Era I, 7 of Era II, 8 of Era III)
• 5 Summary cards
• 48 Food tokens (33 1-food tokens, 15 5-food tokens)
• 75 Prestige Point tokens (25 1/-1, 10 3/-3, 10 5/-5, 10 10/-10, 20 20/-20)
• 5 Totem pawns

Overview

In MESOS, you are the leader of an ancient tribe, and as such, your role is to nurture the growth of your tribe by adding new members, ensuring its sustenance, constructing buildings, and addressing the unfolding events. In each round, you must place your Totem pawn on the Offer track. Then, following the pawns' order on the track (from left to right), you will acquire Character or Building cards and add them to your tribe. Each card has specific effects and may provide Prestige Points (PP) during or at the end of the game. The winner at the end of the game is the one who has managed to bring the most prestige to their tribe.

Setup

1. Return to the box all Offer tiles showing (on the back) a number of players (3+, 4+ or 5) not corresponding to the players in the game. Then, arrange the Offer tiles to form the Offer track, placing them next to each other in ascending order from left to right based on the letter indicated on each tile.

2. Take the Turn Order tile that shows on one side a number of spaces equal to the number of players. Place it with that face up to the left of the Offer track and return the other tile to the box.

3. Return to the box all Tribe cards showing (on the lower right corner) a number not corresponding to the players in the game. Then, divide the Tribe cards according to the back (ERA I, II, and III), and shuffle each stack separately. Finally, form the Tribe cards deck, face down, placing the two Final Event cards at the bottom (in any order), above them the Era III deck, then Era II, and finally the Era I deck on top. Place the assembled Tribe deck next to the Turn Order tile.

4. Draw from the Tribe deck a number of cards equal to the number of players plus 1 and place them face up below the Offer track to create the bottom row. If you draw Event cards, place them above the Offer track in the top row and continue drawing until you have revealed the necessary cards.

5. Draw from the Tribe deck a number of cards equal to the number of players plus 4 and place them face up above the Offer track to create the top row. If there are already Event cards in the top row, draw only the number of cards needed to complete the row.

6. Divide the Building cards based on the back (Era I, II, and III), shuffle each stack separately. Then, based on the number of players, randomly take the specified number of cards for each Era, as indicated in the following table, to form 3 face-down decks:

   Players	Era I	Era II	Era III
   2	1	2	3
   3	2	2	4
   4	2	3	4
   5	2	3	5

   Return the unused cards back to the box. Then:

   1. Place the Era I Building cards face up in the top row to the right of the Tribe cards;
   2. Place the Era II and III decks face down next to the playing area; they will come into play during the game.

7. Place the Food tokens and the Prestige Point tokens on the table to form the general supply.

8. Choose a color and take the corresponding Totem pawn. Also take a Summary card.

9. Randomly place the Totem pawns on the Turn Order tile. This will determine the turn order for the first round.

10. Finally, regardless of the number of players, the 1st player takes 2 Food tokens, the 2nd and 3rd players take 3 Food tokens, while the 4th and 5th players take 4 Food tokens.

How to Play

A game of MESOS unfolds over 10 rounds until the Tribe cards deck is depleted. In each round, you need to carry out the following two phases, in order:

1. Place Totem pawns on the Offer track

Following the order of the Totem pawns on the Turn Order tile, from top to bottom, place your Totem on an available Offer tile (i.e., a tile where there is no other Totem already).

Each Offer tile shows:

• A space where you can place your Totem
• The action you must perform (usually the number of cards you can take and the row from where you can take them)
• A letter indicating the tile's position on the Offer track

2. Resolve Actions

In turn, starting from the player with the leftmost Totem pawn on the Offer track and proceeding to the right, resolve the action indicated on the Offer tile where you placed your Totem.

With the exception of tile A (available only in 5-player games), which provides 3 Food tokens, all other Offer tiles allow you to choose and take Character and/or Building cards from the upper and/or lower row, as indicated on the tile itself. You can never take Event cards from any row. If an Offer tile allows you to take multiple cards (even from different rows), you can freely choose the order in which to take them. If, on your turn, there are no more available cards in the rows from which you should take them, you receive nothing. If, however, there are still available cards, you must take them.

After resolving the action on the Offer tile, return your Totem pawn to the Turn Order tile, placing it in the first available space starting from the top. If the space where you placed your Totem provides a Food bonus, immediately take the specified number of Food tokens. The player placing in the last space must pay 1 Food token if they have one. Only if they don't have Food to pay, they lose 2 Prestige Points. The arrangement of Totem pawns on the Turn Order tile determines the turn order for the next round.

Example: Players will place Totems on the Offer track in this order: red, violet, yellow, white, blue. After they placed their Totems, they will resolve actions in order from left to right:

• Yellow takes 3 Food tokens, then moves the Totem back to the first place of the Turn Order tile and takes 3 additional Food tokens;
• Red takes 1 Character/Building card from the bottom row then moves the Totem back to the second place of the Turn Order tile and takes 1 Food token;
• Violet takes 1 Character/Building card from the top row;
• Blue takes 1 Character/Building card from the bottom row and 1 Character/Building card from the top row (in any order);
• White takes 2 Character/Building cards from the top row and 1 Character/Building card from the bottom row (in any order). Then, moves the Totem back to the last place of the Turn Order tile and pays 1 Food token (only if they don't have Food, they lose 2 PP).

Food and Prestige Points

Whenever you take a certain amount of Food, take the corresponding number of Food tokens from the general supply and place them in your personal supply. Whenever you need to pay Food, take the appropriate number of Food tokens from your personal supply and return them to the general supply.

Whenever you gain Prestige Points (PP), take the corresponding number of Prestige Point tokens from the general supply and place them in your personal supply. Whenever you lose Prestige Points, take the appropriate number of Prestige Point tokens from your personal supply and return them to the general supply. If your score becomes negative, use the reverse side of the Prestige Point tokens.

Taking Character cards

When you take a Character card, simply add it to your tribe by placing them in front of you in columns of the same color, leaving only the icons in the top corners visible.

Note: Adding Character cards to your tribe has no cost; however, during the Sustenance Event, you should have enough Food to feed them all, or else you will lose Prestige Points (see Event Description below).

There are 6 types of Character cards:

Inventors — At the end of the game, Inventors provide a number of Prestige Points equal to the number of Inventors in your tribe multiplied by the number of different Invention icons you have. There are 10 different Invention icons.

Gatherers — During the Sustenance Event (see Event Description below), they provide a discount of 3 Food tokens on the total you would have to pay. Note: You do not take any Food from the Gatherers under any circumstances.

Shamans — Shamans can show from 1 to 3 icons. During the Shamanic Ritual Event, having the majority of these icons provides Prestige Points; having the minority, on the other hand, results in losing Prestige Points (see Event Description below).

Builders — During the game, each Builder reduces the Food cost of every Building card you take by the amount indicated in the top right corner. At the end of the game, each Builder provides the Prestige Points indicated in the lower left corner of the card.

Artists — During the Cave Paintings Event, you can gain or lose Prestige Points based on the number of Artists in your tribe (see Event Description below). At the end of the game, you gain 10 Prestige Points for every 2 Artists in your tribe.

Hunters — Whenever you add a Hunter without a bow icon to your tribe, you get nothing. Whenever you add a Hunter with a bow icon to your tribe, immediately take 1 Food token for each Hunter in your tribe (with or without a bow icon). During the Hunt Event, you take Food and gain Prestige Points based on the number of Hunters in your tribe (see Event Description below).

Taking Building cards

When you take a Building card, you must pay the Food cost indicated in the top left corner of the card. Then, add it to your tribe. If you don't have the required Food, you cannot take it. For details on Building cards, refer to the Appendix at the end of this document.

Remember: Each Builder in your tribe reduces the Building's cost. If you have multiple Builders, sum up all the discounts of all cards, but you can never reduce the cost below zero.

Each Building card shows:

• Cost in Food
• Prestige Points at the end of the game
• Effect

End of the Round

After all players have finished their turns, perform the following steps in order:

1. Resolve Events

If there are Event cards in the bottom row, resolve them. If Sustenance is among the Events, resolve it last. In the rare case you have to resolve two events of the same type during the same round, resolve them following the Era order.

There are 4 Event cards (Hunt, Shamanic Ritual, Cave Paintings, and Sustenance) in each Era. The same Event shows increasing values from one Era to the next. Remember: You cannot take Event cards to add to your tribe.

There are 4 types of Event cards:

Sustenance — Pay 1 Food token for each Character card in your tribe (Building cards do not count). If, after paying all the Food you have, you couldn't feed all your Characters, you lose the amount of Prestige Points indicated on the Event card for each Character card you couldn't feed (in the example illustrated on the left, you lose 2 PP for each Character you cannot feed).

You cannot choose to lose Prestige Points to avoid paying Food (for example, if you have 2 Characters and only 1 Food token, you must still pay 1 Food token and lose 2 PP; you cannot choose to lose 4 PP and keep the Food).

In any case, keep all your Characters, even if you don't have enough Food to feed them all.

Remember: Each Gatherer gives you a discount of 3 Food.

If there are multiple Events to resolve, Sustenance must be resolved last.

Shamanic Ritual — The player with the most star icons in their tribe gains the Prestige Points indicated on the Event card. The player with the fewest star icons in their tribe loses the indicated Prestige Points. In case of a tie, all tied players gain or lose the indicated Prestige Points (during the resolution of the Shamanic Ritual, if Simone has 4 star icons, Lorenzo has 3, and Arianna and Giada have 2 each: Simone gains 10 PP, while Arianna and Giada lose 5 PP each).

Cave Paintings — To gain Prestige Points with this event, you must have a minimum number of Artists, as indicated by the Event card.

If you have the number of Artists indicated by the Event card in the top line, you lose the amount of Prestige Points indicated (in the example illustrated on the left, if you have zero or one Artist, you lose 3 Prestige Points).

If, on the other hand, you have the number of Artists indicated in the lower line, you gain the indicated amount of Prestige Points for each of your Artists (in the example illustrated on the left, if you have at least two Artists, you gain 2 Prestige Points for each Artist).

Hunt — Take 1 Food token and gain the amount of Prestige Points indicated on the Event card for each Hunter in your tribe (in the example illustrated on the left, you gain 2 PP for each Hunter).

2. Discard all Character and Event cards in the bottom row

If there are any Building cards, however, they remain in place.

3. Move all remaining Character and Event cards from the top row to the bottom row

If there are any Building cards, however, they remain in place.

4. Restore the top row

Draw from the Tribe deck a number of cards equal to the number of players +4 and place them above the Offer track to create the new top row.

At the end of the round illustrated on the right: first resolve the Shamanic Ritual Event, then remove all the cards from the bottom row, then move the highlighted cards from the top row to the bottom row (not the Building card, not the Building card), then draw new cards (number of players plus 4) to create the new top row.

Beginning of a New Era

As soon as you reveal a Tribe card from the next Era (while restoring the top row at the end of a round), the new Era begins. Immediately perform the following steps in order:

1. Discard any Building cards present in the bottom row. This happens only at the beginning of Era III.
2. Move any Building cards present in the top row to the bottom row, and place them to the right of the Tribe cards. This happens at the beginning of Era II and III.
3. Place the Building cards from the just-started Era in the top row to the right of the Tribe cards, face up. This happens at the beginning of Era II and III.

Afterward, proceed as usual with a new round.

End of Game

The game ends at the end of the 10th round when the Tribe deck is depleted, and it is no longer possible to restore the top row. At the end of this round, resolve all visible Events, including those in the top row. As usual, the Sustenance Event must be resolved last.

Afterward, add the following Prestige Points (PP) to the total Prestige Points gained during the game:

• PP from Builders in your tribe
• 10 PP for every 2 Artists in your tribe
• PP equal to the number of Inventors in your tribe multiplied by the number of different Invention icons on the respective cards
• PP from Buildings in your tribe (PP illustrated on the card, plus PP derived from endgame effects)

The player who, after this count, has the most Prestige Points wins the game.

In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Food wins. In case of further tie, the victory is shared.

Expert Variant

This variant is designed for experienced players or those already familiar with the game who want a more challenging experience. Apply the following changes to the standard rules:

Setup

During step 6, after forming the three decks of Building cards, lay out all the Building cards face up:

• 6a. Era I cards in the top row, to the right of the Tribe cards
• 6b. Era II and III cards beside the playing area

This way, you'll have knowledge of the Building cards in play from the beginning of the game and can plan your strategy more precisely.

Beginning of a New Era

At the beginning of a new Era, proceed normally by placing the Building cards from the just-started Era (II or III) in the top row, next to the Tribe cards, but they will already be face up.

Appendix — Building Cards Description

The effects of all Buildings apply from the moment you place the Building in your tribe. Exception: for effects marked with the end-of-game icon, you gain Prestige Points at the end of the game.

• Starting from when you have this Building, every time you complete a set of 6 different Character cards, you take 5 Food tokens. You do not receive Food tokens for sets already completed at the time of acquiring the Building.
• During the Sustenance Event, you have a discount of 1 Food token on the total you would have to pay, for each of the indicated Characters in your tribe (Artists/Inventors/Gatherers).
• During the Shamanic Ritual Event, you do not lose Prestige Points if you have fewer star icons than all other players.
• If at the end of your turn (also during the last round), when you move your Totem back to the Turn Order tile, you place it in a space that provides a bonus in Food, you immediately take 1 additional Food token. If you place the Totem in the last space normally, you pay 1 Food token as normal, and the building has no effect.
• Starting from when you have this Building, every time you obtain a pair of identical Inventors (with the same Invention icon), you take 3 Food tokens. You do not take Food for pairs already owned at the time of acquiring the Building.
• During the Shamanic Ritual Event, your tribe has 3 additional star icons.
• During the Shamanic Ritual Event, if you have more star icons than any of the other players, you gain double the indicated Prestige Points. You still gain Prestige Points in case of a tie.
• During the Hunt Event, you take 1 additional Food token and gain 1 additional Prestige Point for each Hunter in your tribe.
• At the end of the game, you gain double the Prestige Points indicated on the Builder cards in your tribe.
• During the Cave Paintings Event, you take 1 Food token for each Artist in your tribe.
• At the end of the game, you gain 6 Prestige Points for each set of 6 different Character cards in your tribe.
• At the end of the game, you gain the indicated amount of Prestige Points for each Character card of the indicated type in your tribe.
• After resolving all actions (once all Totems have been moved back to the Turn Order tile) and before the End of the Round phase, you can take 1 Character or 1 Building card (paying its cost) from the top row.
• At the end of the game, you gain 25 Prestige Points.

Note: Building card effects are numerous and highly variable. This transcription lists each printed effect in the order presented in the Appendix. Consult your Building cards directly to match each effect to the correct card via its icons.

Credits

Game Design: Yaniv Kahana, Simone Luciani Illustrations: Kerri Aitken Art Direction: Arianna Santini Graphics: Arianna Santini, Giada Lo Duca Rules: Stefania Niccolini Editing: Giuliano Acquati

Cranio Creations S.r.l., Via E. Romagnoli 1, 20146 Milano — Italy www.craniocreations.it/en