Terraforming Mars - A Tabletop Game That Is Stimulating And Fun!

Terraforming Mars

I wasn’t in the market for a new board game when I learned about Terraforming Mars from an ad on Facebook, but the title got my attention. My curiosity led me to look up a video on YouTube about the game and I decided to get it. Fortunately, the local game store had a copy on the shelf. I almost passed on the game when I saw the price was $70, but I bit the bullet and bought it anyway. Since then, I have played the game numerous times and am enjoying it more each time I can get a game in.

Terraforming Mars is a tabletop board game in which the goal is to make the Red Planet habitable to human life. The concept is that Earth has become so overpopulated that resources are running out. Humans are moving out into the solar system to find and adapt new places to live. Mars is one possible candidate planet for this purpose, but there are many obstacles to overcome as one might imagine. First, Mars is very cold and inhospitable to human life. As far as we know, there is no life on Mars, and evidence that there once may have been, liquid water on the planet. Lastly, there is no oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. So therefore, the object of the game is to raise the temperature (to a maximum of +8°c, or 46°F), the atmospheric oxygen content (up to 14%), and surface water to levels that would make the planet marginally habitable. To win the game, one amasses the most points in the form of a “Terraformer Rating.” The game accommodates from one to five players.

Upon opening the box, there doesn’t appear to be much. There is a game board, a lot of cards, numerous markers of various kinds and colors, individual larger cards to keep track of resources, tiles to represent cities, forest, and water, and the instruction book. The box is oversized and there are numerous plastic ziplock bags included to keep everything in order when storing the game.

Along with the  colored player markers with which a player keeps track of various parameters, there are markers that represent currency in the form of Mega Credits, or M€ for short. These consist of large gold, medium sized chrome, and small copper colored cubes that are used to purchase various cards or actions. These are replenished during the game. Other markers keep track of oxygen, temperature and what generation the game is in as time goes on.

There are three different kinds of action cards involved in the game which include event cards that when played, cause something to happen such as the landing of an asteroid, which will cause the temperature to rise on the planet. There are effect/action cards that allow a player to gain benefits when certain conditions are met. Finally there are the automated cards that can also provide benefits. The cards cost various amounts of M€ to play depending on how a player benefits from using them, so the more benefit, the more the expense.

Each player also receives a player board to keep track of their resources as the game goes. There are also corporate cards that give a player their starting M€ amounts and corporate cards that are strictly for beginning players which are not to be used by more experienced players.

The game is played in four phases. Phase one is the player order phase in which a marker is placed before the first player. That person will be the first to play during the action phase. Second is the research phase, in which all players are dealt four cards and they choose which ones they want to play. In the action phase, players take turns playing cards or performing actions until they are no longer able to do so, or until they so choose not to perform actions. When all the players in the game have passed, players enter the production phase in which they collect their earned M€ to begin the next generation.

In my experience playing Terraforming Mars, it is almost intimidating at how complex the game can seem to someone who is just beginning to learn. There is a steep learning curve to this game, but once one begins to understand how it works, it is a really very simple game.  There are a lot of small details to be learned in how to use the cards properly, but again, once a person has a grasp of the game, it gets simpler and one can concentrate more on their strategy as opposed to the rules. If one is considering getting Terraforming Mars, I recommend watching some of the videos available on YouTube that will help flatten some of the learning curve involved. I found five that were particularly helpful, all recorded by Michael on his YouTube channel, “Toucan Play That Game.” Click HERE to access all five of the videos including an unboxing of the game, a game overview, two of the game being played, and finally Michael’s review of Terraforming Mars.

What I like about Terraforming Mars:

According to the box, it should take between 90 minutes to two-hours to get through a game. I have yet to play a game that has lasted less than three hours. As a matter of fact, Chrissy and I recently played a game that was just short of four hours long. So, as one can see, it takes both a time commitment and a lot of patience to play, especially when one is a beginner. This is a great game when the weather is bad, or if one just wants to spend some time with friends or family. There is a mild sense of intensity to this game and while it may seem that it would take a long time to get through, the hours seem to pass rather quickly. I would imagine that more experienced players can cut down on the time factor.

The other reason that this game appeals to me is that once the basic gameplay is understood, a player can really ramp up the strategy that can be involved with scoring the most points. Many of the cards involved in the game work well with other cards, and figuring out what those combinations are is a challenge. As an educator, I love the way this game tends to exercise a player’s abstract thinking skills. Along with card combinations, there are ways to lay the tiles on the board that will also net one points, or cost points to one's opponent. This aspect of the game is not obvious and requires a player to have imagination and to think ahead. So while one is having fun playing the game, one is also getting some brain exercise.

The downside of Terraforming Mars:

What I disliked about the game has nothing to do with the gameplay as much as it is with the packaging of the product. When one open the box, there are a lot of pieces that have to be stored and there is no way to organize those components. It takes a long time to set up the game and the table becomes quite cluttered with parts. It is also quite inconvenient when something is out of the reach of players at different ends of the table. The game comes with several small zip-lock bags to store the components in along with the game board, instructions, cards, and a set of larger cards to keep track of resource. One problem is that if someone accidentally bumps their own or another’s resource card, the markers on those cards can go careening everywhere. It would be virtually impossible for a player to remember where their markers would actually go if they become misplaced. Fortunately, if one is willing to invest more money in the game, there is a solution.

While searching for videos to learn to play Terraforming Mars, I found that there are also several sets of accessories that one might use to solve the problems. The one I purchased is a complete Terraforming Mars organization system that has many advantages. The Terraforming Mars Organizer from The Broken Token company includes a set of twelve trays that organize all of the game components. What’s more, the twelve trays fit perfectly in the Terraforming Mars box. It is a bit pricey at $50 (when ordered directly from the maker, otherwise, the price varies), but well worth the money if one plays the game with any frequency. When the organizer arrives, it comes in a box with several laser cut wood sheets and an instruction sheet. There are also videos available that show step-by-step how to build the various pieces and how they are placed in the Terraforming Mars box.  I built my kit using the videos. It took me about three hours to assemble the kit using wood glue and a small lightweight hammer to make sure all the pieces fi

In my humble opinion, this organizer is great because it allows for really fast setup of the game. It also keeps everything organized and makes it convenient for players at both ends of the table to reach markers quickly. It also eliminates the possibility of ruining a game by accidentally bumping and misplacing markers on the resource card. There are other organizers and accessories to go with Terraforming Mars available for less, but I like the complete organizer from Broken Token.

This Just In!

I have recently learned that there are expansions to Terraforming Mars. One is a two-sided alternate playing board that has the opposite side of the planet from the one on the original board and another view of mars looking north from the south polar region. These two new game boards offer a few twists from the original, but pretty much the same game. Also available is a variant entitled “Terraforming Mars: Venus Next.” According to what I have learned, it is a companion that is designed to play along with the original set. If that isn’t enough, there will be another expansion called “Prelude” that is also designed to be played along with Terraforming Mars. I think all of the expansions are affordable and I will be ordering them soon.

In any case, whether one chooses to get accessories or not, Terraforming Mars is a fun game that will make one think and is also fun at the same time. Despite a bit of a learning curve to play, I have had many hours of entertainment and fun from this game.

Well, there it is…

Qapla’!

Edited by Benjamin Arrowood