Mezo Station: How to Play

 

Mezo Station is a homebrewed journaling game that uses only ordinary playing cards to provide prompts and answer simple Yes/No questions.

Take two decks of playing cards.  Remove all but one of the Jokers.  Shuffle the deck.

Each day on Mezo Station you will draw four cards. In sequence, these cards represent the Environment, Pleasures, People and Problems.  When you draw an even numbered card or one of the court cards, then something changes.  If you draw an odd-numbered card, then nothing has changed.

The Environment can represent the weather, the terraine and even the emotional atmosphere of Mezo. Some days the weather will be fine, other days it might be windy and cold. Some days the isolation of the moon might get to you, leaving you feeling meloncholic and sad. Other days, you might really enjoy the fact that you've got an entire moon to yourself. 

Pleasures are nice things that happen. They can range from enjoying the breeze on your face, to getting messages from home, to perhaps discovering something noteworthy or even valuable.

People are the ships that stop at Mezo Station for refueling and/or repairs. Mezo Station is isolated, so people don't drop in very often. Mechanically, the only time People arrive on Mezo is when you have drawn one of the court cards. The type of card determines the type of visitor.

If you draw a Jack, your visitors are Androids or Automatons.

If you daw a Queen, your visitors are Aliens. You can determine if they are humanoid or oxygen breathers by asking Yes/No questions using the even/odd cards to determine your answers.  Even cards = Yes, while odd cards = No.  Feel free to make your Aliens as weird or ordinary as you like.

If you draw a King, your visitors are Humans. They could be colonists or cargo haulers needing fuel, an Authority cruiser on routine patrol, or a merchant vessel needing repairs or looking to make a sale.

Problems are bad things that happen. Perhaps while exploring the moon, you wander through a patch of itchgrass and break out into a bad rash. Maybe the water system's thermal regulators break down and you're stuck taking cold showers until a replacement part arrives. Maybe you catch a space-cold from a passing ship.  Problems shouldn't be life-threatening, just really inconvenient or unpleasant.

The Joker.  I want to stress that this card is OPTIONAL.  Feel free to leave it out of your deck. However, if you do add the Joker, when you draw it, Something Very Bad happens. This is not a Problem, but a Calamity. A vital piece of equipment breaks down. The androids on the station get infected with malware and go berserk. You encounter a dangerous xenomorph of unknown origin that wants to eat you. A war starts.   Depending on what you want from Mezo Station, it can enhance your narrative or derail it. If you daw the Joker, you don't draw any more cards for that day.

This game requires a lot from the player. It is narrative heavy and the player shoulders that burden all by themselves. I found that it helps to assess the daily cards collectively before continuing the narrative.

There will be days where nothing seems to happen. Where all the cards are odd-numbered or the contrast between Pleasures and Problems is nonexistent. Feel free to skip these days and just jump ahead to the next and see if anything interesting happens. 

Generally, the lower the value of a card, the more minor or unpleasant a change should be. Drawing a 2 of Hearts on Problems might just mean you stump your toe. Drawing a King could be interpreted as your favorite Android developing a critical fault that needs to be repaired.

A note on your character. You are a self-sufficient, highly trained individual. If Problems occur on the station, you should be able to at least attempt to correct them yourself or with the help of the androids. That said, sometimes things break down. If your water heater breaks and you ask, "Can I fix this?" and you draw a negative card, then the answer is no. You probably need parts that you don't have.  That said, feel free to attempt repairs at least twice. If you can't make repairs after the second try, just assume you have to request parts and put up with cold showers for a while.

Mezo Station can be as tranquil or as dramatic as you want it to be. If you want, feel free to add more Jokers to your deck, or change the number of court cards to increase or decrease the likelihood of ships docking.  Adjust the deck to suit yourself.

Finally, I put this game together so I wouldn't feel like I had to use Oracle tables or outside prompts, but there's no reason you couldn't incorporate those things into your play if you like.  The purpose of this game, as in all games, is to have a good time.

So, have a good time and enjoy your posting to Mezo Station.