The time of preparation is coming to its end.  The old high priest was a wonderful man, but even the voice of the gods can’t live forever.  The new contenders have made the most wonderous prophecies for the coming years, and made the right sacrifices to the gods, but do they have the grace and skill to impress Quetzalcoatl the wise god of wind, wisdom, and life with a carving of his favored animal?  Only time will tell!

Coatl is a game of making snakes!  …God why did it have to be snakes?  Sorry, got all Indiana Jones there for a second.  In Coatl, designed by Pascale Brassard and Etienne Dubois-Roy and published by Synapses Games, players act as contenders to be the next Aztec high priest. The last task players must complete to ascend to the high priest’s temple is to carve three ornate coatl, a kind of feathered snake that is revered in Aztec mythology and lore. On their turns, players will draft different prophecy cards and coatl pieces to start designing their carvings.  There are five different colors of prophecy and coatl pieces, and each prophecy card will depict a certain pattern of colors that you need to build your coatl with to score points.  Some of these prophecy cards will give you points based solely on the one pattern you make, but a majority of them will score you exponentially more points by repeating the same pattern in the same coatl. Players need to assign prophecy cards to an individual coatl, so knowing when to make those decisions is key!

Players will also gain points buy fulfilling certain criteria on temple cards.  There are two temple cards that are public, where players will claim them as they complete each of their coatl.  There is also one secret temple card that players will be given at the beginning of the game, that only that particular player will be able to fulfill!  Because of this scoring mechanism, and the drafting nature of the coatl pieces, players will need to keep a close eye on their competitors coatl, making sure you don’t miss out on the temple card you have been diligently going for! 

There are two ways that the game can end; one, a player completes all three of their coatl, or when all of the body segments (all 120 of them!) have been taken from the supply board and bag.  When that happens, every player either gets 1 or 2 more actions to complete the game and score. Exactly who gets one turn and who gets two can be a bit confusing, so make sure you read the rules closely to make sure players are getting their correct number of turns!   Players then count up all their points, and the player with the most points becomes the next Aztec high priest!

Coatl is a wonderfully colorful puzzle.  Deciding which pieces you should draft to match the prophecy cards you have, and the prophecy cards you hope to acquire takes a bit of skill and timing, as other players take what they need to complete their coatl as well.  The art on the cards is phenomenal, and really gives a feel of Mezo-American art.  The drafting mechanics are tight, but they never feel too restrictive.  Players can certainly hate draft to keep pieces away from other players, but unless it directly benefits their coatl, it generally doesn’t make much sense to try.  Some players might find the iconography a little hard to grasp, especially on some of the temple cards, but once you get to playing the symbology should start to flow very easily.  So if you want a great looking puzzle game that has good replay-ability and a wonderful under-utilized theme, give Coatl a try!