
- BGG rating
- 7.6
Mesozooic: Triassic Mini Expansion
- 2–6 players
- 20 min
- 2018

2018
Rules assistance for Mesozooic
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Mesozooic is a board game released in 2018 for 2–6 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Alexandar Ortloff-Tang and Florian Fay and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Pattern Building, and Open Drafting.
The age of the dinosaurs is back — this time safely behind glass! Build the best dino zoo and impress your guests in a frantic, real-time puzzle game. Dinosaurs are back and the world is clamoring to see them! In Mesozooic, it's your job as the director to plan and construct a zoo that will surpass any others. Fill your zoo with a variety of crowd-pleasing features: wow your visitors with towering dinosaur enclosures, entertain them with prehistoric attractions, and let them travel around the zoo in style on a network of monorails. Over the course of three rounds, players draft the most desirable features into their hand, piece their zoo together in real-time, and score each layout to see who has created the best zoo. After drafting your favorite features, you’ll have to organize them in your zoo—but things won’t always go as planned! Race against time by frantically sliding the cards one at a time to match up features and optimize your zoo’s layout. Complete dinosaur enclosures, connect monorail tracks, and maintain your attractions to score points. The zoo with the best layout will score the most points! When drafting cards, you can choose to customize your zoo however you like. Choose from attractions, monorails, dinosaur enclosures, or topiary. Guests will be dazzled by the larger-than-life attractions at your zoo. Pterodactyls soar through the aviary, dinosaur eggs hatch in the nursery, and underwater creatures swim through the bright blue waters of the aquarium. Your zoo can include any or all of these attractions! To keep things running smoothly, attractions need to be regularly maintained. In order to score attractions in your zoo, you must keep a maintenance truck next to the attraction. While visiting your zoo, guests will need to get around. Hopping on the monorail will quickly transport your guests to other corners of the park. In order to be effective, the monorail’s route must be connected. If you can continue the track, each connection will score points for your zoo. The highlight of the zoo is, of course, the dinosaurs themselves! Let guests come face to face with these creatures from another age. Create the perfect environment for gentle herbivores or powerful carnivores, each in their own enclosure. Each completed enclosure will score points. Careful planning and quick thinking can give you the edge. Astonish guests with the amazing creatures from a land before time. Will guests flock to your dinosaur zoo? -description by the publisher
Mesozooic supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Mesozooic is 20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Mesozooic for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Mesozooic has a complexity rating of 1.6 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Mesozooic belongs to these categories: Card Game and Real-time. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Pattern Building, and Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Mesozooic are: Alexandar Ortloff-Tang and Florian Fay. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Mesozooic as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.