Terraforming Mars

1 Overview

Terraforming Mars is a 1–5 player engine-building strategy game set in the 2400s. Players represent corporations competing to terraform Mars — raising the temperature, oxygen level, and ocean coverage to make the planet habitable. The game ends when all three parameters reach their target values. The corporation with the most victory points wins.

The game is known for its huge card variety (over 200 project cards), satisfying engine building, and meaningful decisions every turn. It's heavier than most gateway games but considered one of the great modern board games.

2 Setup

Set up the Mars board in the center. Each player selects or is dealt a Corporation card (with starting resources and special abilities) and a starting hand of project cards. Players draft or choose which cards to keep (paying 3 MegaCredits per card kept). Set Terraform Rating markers to 20 (or your corporation's starting TR). Set all global parameter tracks to their starting positions.

3 A Generation

Each round is called a Generation. A generation has four phases:

1. Player Order: Pass the first player marker.
2. Research: Each player draws 4 project cards and keeps any they pay for (3 MC each).
3. Action: Players alternate taking 1 or 2 actions each turn until everyone passes.
4. Production: All players collect resources from their production tracks (MegaCredits, Steel, Titanium, Plants, Energy, Heat). Heat converts to Energy, Plants can be spent to place Greenery tiles.

4 Standard Actions

On your turn, take 1 or 2 actions from the following:

• Play a project card — pay its cost (in MegaCredits, Steel, or Titanium) and apply its effects.
• Use a card action — some blue cards have actions usable once per generation.
• Standard projects — spend MegaCredits on standard actions: Power Plant (increase energy production), Asteroid (raise temperature), Aquifer (place ocean), Greenery (place greenery tile + raise oxygen), City (place city tile), Sell patents (discard cards for MC).
• Claim a milestone — if you meet its requirement (e.g., 8 greeneries placed), pay 8 MC to claim it for 5 VP.
• Fund an award — pay to establish an award category; at game end, top 2 scorers in that category earn VP.
• Convert 8 plants to a Greenery tile
• Convert 8 heat to raise Temperature 1 step

5 Project Cards

Project cards are the core of the game. There are three types:

• Green cards (Events): One-time effect when played, then turned face-down.
• Blue cards (Active): Have ongoing abilities or per-generation actions.
• Red cards (Automated): Apply effect when played, then stay face-up (contributing to tags and sets).

Cards have tags (Space, Building, Science, etc.) that interact with each other. Building your tag synergies is key to efficient engines.

6 Global Parameters & Tiles

Temperature: Starts at -30°C. Each raise = +2°C. Target: +8°C (20 steps). Raising TR also increases your Terraform Rating by 1.

Oxygen: Starts at 0%. Target: 14% (14 steps). Raising oxygen also raises TR.

Oceans: 9 ocean tiles must be placed on designated ocean spaces. Each placement raises TR and may trigger tile bonuses.

Tiles: City tiles score 1 VP per adjacent greenery at game end. Greenery tiles raise oxygen when placed. Special tiles (nature reserves, mining, etc.) have unique effects from cards.

7 End Game Scoring

When all three parameters reach their targets, finish the current generation. Then score:

• Terraform Rating: 1 VP per TR point.
• Milestones: 5 VP each (up to 3 can be claimed per game).
• Awards: 5 VP for 1st place, 2 VP for 2nd (up to 3 funded per game).
• Greeneries: 1 VP per greenery tile you own.
• Cities: 1 VP per adjacent greenery tile (any player's).
• Cards: Blue and green cards with VP icons contribute to your score.

8 Tips

• TR matters, but VPs win games — raising parameters gives TR, but dedicated VP engines (cards, cities) often score more.
• Keep useful cards — the research phase is where your engine is built. Don't be cheap; good cards are worth the 3 MC investment.
• Watch the end-game trigger — if you're behind, slow down parameter raises. If ahead, accelerate them.
• Pick your corporation carefully — each corporation plays very differently. Beginners often do well with Tharsis Republic (city synergy) or Interplanetary Cinematics (cheap cards).