In the far far north, in the land of dark days and white nights, flows the river Mezen. From meadows and forest edges, horses gallop towards it, birds flock to it, foxes run to it. Not even the man could resist this river. The man walked to it and stayed for centuries. The nature of Mezen amazed the man so much that he decided to commemorate it. He gathered soot, black as the night itself, and clay, red as the sun, picked up a brush and started creating. That is how the famous Mezen painting came about — the style upon which this game is based.

In Mezen, you take on the role of a northern craftsman, creating intricate ornamental paintings to order. Combine symbols and flip tiles to accomplish goals and earn points.

Each turn, players choose a group of adjacent identical symbols to remove from their "painting" and slide down the tiles above to fill the empty spots. After that, they flip the removed tiles to their opposite side — from white to black — and place them in the newly empty spots. By changing the placement of symbols this way, the players try to accomplish goals and score. Whoever has the most points after ten rounds wins.