Terraforming Mars (board game)

A game of Terraforming Mars that has just been completed

Players represent competing corporations who all have a stake in terraforming Mars. The game board depicts the planet's surface, which is represented by an array of 61 contiguous hexes. Each hex represents about 1% of Mars' surface area. Onto these hexes, players can place oceans, greenery, cities and other special features.[2] The object of the game is for players to complete three terraforming conditions: raise the atmosphere's oxygen level to 14%; raise the temperature from -30 to +8 degrees Celsius; and cover 9% of Mars' surface by ocean (represented in-game as having 9 ocean tiles placed on Mars).

Players accomplish these goals by playing cards that represent various technologies or buildings used to terraform Mars.[3][2] The game is played over a number of generations, each represented as one game round. A generation begins with players drawing cards, then players take turns performing actions (which can be playing cards, using the ability of a card already in play or paying for one of the several actions depicted on the board). Once all players have finished taking actions, players collect income and resources according to their production of the different resources, then the next generation begins.

One of the unique aspects in Terraforming Mars is the Terraforming Rating (TR) system. Whenever a player performs an action that advances one of the terraforming conditions, the player's TR increases. A player's TR not only represents the victory points they have earned during the game, but is also added to a player's money income when collecting income and resources at the end of each generation.

The game ends at the end of any generation when the three terraforming conditions have been met.[4][5] Then, players count up their points, which come from their TR at the end of the game, cities and greeneries that they have placed on Mars, achievements they have claimed during the game and cards they have played, and the player with the highest score wins.

Five expansions have been released:[6][7][8][9]

• Hellas and Elysium (2017), which adds a new double-sided board representing two new regions of Mars, with each region having its own terrain layout and end-game achievements
• Venus Next (2017), which adds a new side-board representing Venus as a new terraforming opportunity and new Venus-related cards for the deck
• Prelude (2018), which adds Prelude cards that players take during setup to jump-start their production and terraforming
• Colonies (2018), which adds areas around the solar system for players to colonize and travel to, providing alternative ways of getting resources without having to play cards
• Turmoil (2019), which adds a Martian government with several political factions, each with their own agendas, which players can influence to gain various bonuses

A legacy variant,[10] a dice game,[11] and a card game (Ares Expedition)[12] are in development and are expected to be released in 2021.

Popular Mechanics named Terraforming Mars as one of its 50 best games of the year.[15] Polygon named Terraforming Mars its runner up for best game of 2016 and best strategy game of 2016,[16] Ars Technica listed the game as one of its 20 best games of 2016,[17] and Vulture called it "the best high strategy game of 2016."[18]

The game was nominated for the 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres award for best strategy game of the year.[19] As of 2021, Terraforming Mars is ranked 4th among all board games on BoardGameGeek.[20]

Hellas and Elysium and Venus Next were the two runners-up for the Golden Geek award for the best expansion to a game in 2017.[21]

Prelude has been received very well by critics for speeding up the beginning phase by giving each player extra abilities at the start of the game.[22]

• BoardGameGeek page for Terraforming Mars. BoardGameGeek.