Terraforming Mars Board Game

I got Terraforming Mars for my birthday back in February but since I was going through a rough time I didn't get the gumption to try it out, then summer hit and we were busy living life outside, but finally a lazy Labour Day weekend arrived and my son Wilmik and I broke it out and learned how to play.

It was a little intimidating at first with tons of cards, tiles, and cubes but the instructions were clear and the game mechanics were straight forward that we got the hang of it pretty fast.

Basically the story is this: you represent a corporation trying to terraform mars and get the highest score. You score points by raising the temperature, making greenry, founding cities, and for accomplishing milestones, awards, and large projects. The game is for 1-5 players.

A few turns in, we have got a decent amount of water and Wilmik has planted a lot of greenspace.

My player card. From top to bottom, left to right: Money (for projects), steel (for building), titanium (for space projects). Bottom: plants (for greenry), energy (for heat and projects), and heat (for raising temperature). I'm getting ready to green the surface of mars and raise the temperature soon.

Wilmik's zone.

Many turns later, oxygen has been maxed out, average temp is approaching zero, and only a few aquifers left to place.

Not enough cudes for traking titanium so started using my old warhammer dice. On the left we see some of my ongoing projects which either add victory points or allow me actions.

Wilmik has a lot of completed projects (green) but only a couple ongoing ones (blue).

The game ends once all 9 aquifers are placed, oxygen reaches 14%, and temperature is +8 degrees C.

Our final board.

I got VPs for importing animals including small animals, fish, and livestock.

Wilmik added a lot of microbes and brought in pets for the people.

We tallied the end score and Wilmik won 82 to 71 victory points. His early push to green the planet made the difference as he scored VPs both for upping the oxygen level and the green tiles themselves.

Next time we will try the more advanced corporations with unique rules and the milestones and awards.

Good game, would recommend.