Terraforming Mars is a game about planning exactly what you’re going to do every generation, and adapting rapidly to the situation while your opportunities disappear around you. What was gramps thinking?! There is nowhere near enough titanium on Mars! Couldn’t he see that steel is the true future of the red planet? Should you start laying down cards to increase my plant production so that you can overrun Mars with forests, and eventually bring yourself to victory as the most eco-conscious wanna-be-Navi in this future world? Or should you maybe focus on producing titanium so that you can tow comets, build cities on Jupiter’s moons, and end up terraforming Mars as a byproduct? You’ll make a decision as to which path to take based on what you see in your cards, and a few generations down the line you’ll find that your new cards don’t align with your initial trajectory and you’ll need to adapt. Each generation players draw project cards, decide which ones they want to purchase and then take turns performing one or two actions until each player has decided to pass.Ī game of Terraforming Mars will have you looking at your starting hand of cards, awash in possibilities. In Terraforming Mars, players play through generations (rounds) trying to raise the three base terraforming ratings to their maximum. Did I say working together? I meant working feverishly to do all of these things as fast and as effectively as possible, before anyone else can.
Terraforming Mars is a game where you and 1-4 of your closest frenemies work together to make Mars habitable to humans, using methods as humble as bringing moss to the carbon-rich planet, or as extreme as crashing one of the planet’s moons into itself. There are a number of zealous devotees of the game, and surely a few detractors, but it’s undeniable that Terraforming Mars has found its way onto the shelves of many hobby shops worldwide, and into the hearts of many gamers. Published in 2016, this game skyrocketed to #4 of all time games on Board Game Geek, and usually finds its home in the top 20 of most “best of” lists around the web. Terraforming Mars is one of the modern board game giants.