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Description
Mexica plots the development of the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. Players attempt to partition it into districts, place buildings, and construct canals.
Districts are formed by completely surrounding areas of the island with water and then placing a District marker. The player who founds a district scores points immediately.
Canals and Lake Texcoco act as a quick method of moving throughout the city. Players erect bridges and move from one bridge to the next, which costs 1 action point regardless of the distance. They must also erect buildings. This costs action points, the exact number being dependent upon the building's size.
In the scoring phases of the game, players score points (El Grande style) based upon their dominance in a District. In the 4 player game, players with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd most buildings score decreasing numbers of points.
Only districts are scored in the first scoring round.
In the second scoring round at the end of the game, all land areas are scored, not just districts.
The player with the most points wins.
Mexica is the third game in the Mask Trilogy.
Year Published
2002
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Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 2 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video rFXl2HCeb54
Cardboard Herald game_review at 0:00 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 60281 · mention_pk 152695
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Fun and engaging activity
- Intuitive and quick to learn
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Approachable for kids and adults
Cons
- Depth is limited; may not satisfy players seeking heavy strategy
- Rules are soft and can be underspecified
- Not highly innovative within the stacking/party game niche
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cat-token — If a cat token is drawn, the cat must be hung in competitive play.
- Cooperative Game — Game supports cooperative play to reach a height or competitive play where toppling ends the round.
- cooperative_vs_competitive — Game supports cooperative play to reach a height or competitive play where toppling ends the round.
- Cube tower — Draw cubes to reveal the color of the tower you must place.
- dice-rolled color/placement — Roll dice to determine which color tile to place and into which quadrant.
- draw-cubes — Draw cubes to reveal the color of the tower you must place.
- height_as_objective — The goal is to build the tallest towers possible within the rules.
- shared_decision_points — Players influence placement by voting or choosing color for the next layer when required.
- topple-based_win_condition — In competitive mode, the round ends when a tower is toppled; generally, the non-toppler wins.
- tower-placement — Place towers so wires do not exit the board, touch the board, or touch other wires.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Necima is wild.
- It's not particularly smart.
- not exactly revolutionary, but it is a blast to play.
- There's something going on here.
- it's a shallow game yet also very tall at the same time.
- I've played a lot of stacking games and it's hard to say that this one is particularly great, especially because it's so soft in its rules.
- as an activity, it just continues to be fun.
- If you like puzzly sorts of games, ones where the emphasis is less on the mechanics and more on the activity itself
- Necima has a good chance of being that for you.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video PlAZqDPiD3k
Getting Games game_review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 28824 · mention_pk 84601
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Deep strategic depth that rewards careful planning and adaptive play.
- Engaging and tense majority scoring that remains accessible despite underlying complexity.
- Dynamic map evolution with canals, bridges, and temples creating varied pathways and threats.
- Rule set is straightforward and approachable, enabling quick teaching yet offering substantial tactical nuance.
- Three-player games feel solid; potential for interesting balance and interaction with four players.
Cons
- High potential for analysis paralysis, especially as APs accumulate and players consider multiple future turns.
- Wasted or non-productive actions can occur when players move away from regions only to return later, potentially slowing the game.
- Board Game Arena play lacks end-of-turn takebacks, which can exacerbate misplays and hinder learning from mistakes.
- Balance and pacing can shift with player count; four players may intensify competition and lengthen play time.
- Complexity of tracking region ownership and temple distribution can be fiddly without careful attentiveness.
Thematic elements
- Territory control and area majority through deliberate path-building and temple placement within a canal network.
- Grid-based canal and temple construction in a stylized version of colonial Mexico, where players collaboratively shape regions and compete for majorities.
- abstract strategy with a strong thematic veneer; players narrate a dynamic territorial contest rather than a narrative-driven story.
Comparison games
- Tall
- Java
- Tikal
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action point allocation and spending — On each turn, a player has a fixed pool of action points (AP) to spend on moving their worker, placing canals, or placing temples, with some actions consuming more points than others.
- Action points — On each turn, a player has a fixed pool of action points (AP) to spend on moving their worker, placing canals, or placing temples, with some actions consuming more points than others.
- area majority / area control — Players strive to establish majority in enclosed regions by placing temples; scoring rewards the leaders in those regions at mid-game and end-game phases.
- Blocking / locking regions — Players can block or flood spaces with low-level temples to deny opponents access, influencing scoring opportunities and end-state configurations.
- Movement along bridges and canals — A single worker can travel from bridge to bridge via canals, enabling strategic positioning and response to opponents' temple placements.
- Teleportation (high AP cost) — Teleporting the worker is possible but costly, consuming a large portion of AP and often used only in tense late-game situations.
- Temple placement restricted to occupied regions — Temples may be placed only within regions where the player's worker currently resides, creating a tension between relocation and regional expansion.
- tile/board modification — Canals are placed on the board to carve out regions; as play proceeds, the board becomes more populated and regions shift in potential value.
- worker placement — Temples may be placed only within regions where the player's worker currently resides, creating a tension between relocation and regional expansion.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I think this is a really smart game.
- Movement can get really fast.
- The positioning of temples is super important.
- This game is fascinating.
- I quite enjoyed it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video yyh3AEk4Jvg
Adam Porter's Board Game Channel top_10_list at 0:17 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 12868 · mention_pk 37629
Click to watch at 0:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- stunning resin pieces
- beautiful production
Cons
- least favorite of Mask trilogy
- quite mean area control game
Thematic elements
- Aztec
- area control
- city building
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control
- tile placement
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- these games have amazing table presence by which i mean people are going to glance across the room and go what is that person playing and i want to play all these games
- stacking games have table presence like nothing else
- looks beautiful it looks like a load of sweets on the board
- one of my favorite games of all time
- i don't like that sort of game i find that one of the most frustrating game mechanisms
- the central marble dispenser is your main draw in this game
- absolutely brilliant strategic game quite complex game
- it's actually my favorite of the mask trilogy
- i'm almost scared to say this but i don't really like azul very much
- biggest most overlooked game on this list
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video mlRT7tbHk5U
Chairman of the Board top_50_list at 13:42 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5001 · mention_pk 14878
Click to watch at 13:42 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- clever use of rivers and majorities in scoring
- deep strategic options with strong spatial planning
Cons
- can feel abstract and unforgiving to new players
- pacing can be tense due to heavy planning
Thematic elements
- city-building and control via temples and rivers
- Aztec/Mexican civilization
- abstracted, area-control with regional scoring emphasis
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action points — six action points per round used to move, lay temples, or manipulate map features
- AP (action point) style planning — six action points per round used to move, lay temples, or manipulate map features
- Area Control — map is partitioned by rivers and lakes; control yields majority points
- Area control with river/lake division — map is partitioned by rivers and lakes; control yields majority points
- Temple placement and teleport — powerful temples provide high action costs but significant benefits; can shift control
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- there is this more injected element of player interaction
- it's a genius twist
- the market is completely driven by the players
- money is such a tight resource in this game
- the rules overhead is very low
- a timeless design
- you can bet your funds on other people being right
- loads of things to weigh up, a complete package of the game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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Showing 1–4 of 4