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Terraforming Mars

1-5 players 120-120 min 8.3 Board Game Geek Rating

Mars terraforming game where corporations compete while collaboratively transforming the planet. Players acquire project cards to boost resource production and terraform rating, managing six resource types strategically. Actions include playing cards, claiming milestones, and placing tiles on the board. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most points when temperature, oxygen, and ocean parameters reach completion targets.

Published 2016

Terraforming Mars

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Prepare the board
Stack 9 ocean tiles in the reserved area
2
Set generation marker
Place the generation marker on space 1
3
Set temperature
Set the temperature tracker to -30°
4
Set oxygen
Set the oxygen tracker to 0%
5
Remove Corporate Era cards
Remove all cards with the small red and white triangle icon on the lower left (for beginner games)
6
Distribute player components
Each player takes a player board and a set of player markers (cubes) in their color
7
Place resource markers
Place a player marker on the "1" space on every resource production track on your player board
8
Place terraform rating tracker
Place a player marker on the "20" space on the Terraform Rating track
9
Receive corporation
Players receive a Beginner Corporation card
10
Gain starting money
Players gain 42 M€ resources
11
Receive project cards
Players receive 10 project cards and keep all of them for free
12
Choose corporation
Players receive 2 normal corporations and select one to keep
13
Draft project cards
Players receive 10 project cards and select which ones to purchase at 3 M€ each
14
Reveal corporations
Players reveal their selected corporation in turn order, gain starting resources or production noted on the card, and pay for kept cards
15
Discard unchosen cards
Discard unpurchased cards face down
16
Begin the game
For the first round, skip straight to the action phase since turn order and research phases were completed during setup

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Phase 1 - Player Order
Pass the first player marker clockwise and move the generation marker up one space
2
Phase 2 - Research
Draw 4 cards and purchase 0-4 of them at 3 M€ each, discarding the remainder facedown
3
Phase 3 - Action
Players choose to take 1 action, 2 actions, or pass
4
Phase 4 - Production
Complete simultaneously with all players
5
Play a card from hand
Check requirements, pay the cost, perform immediate effects, then place the card appropriately
6
Sell patents
Discard 1 or more cards from hand and gain 1 M€ per card discarded
7
Power plant
Pay 11 M€ to increase your energy production 1 step
8
Asteroid
Pay 14 M€ to increase temperature and your terraform rating 1 step
9
Aquifer
Pay 18 M€ to place an ocean tile and increase terraform rating 1 step
10
Greenery
Pay 23 M€ to place a greenery tile, increasing oxygen and terraform rating 1 step
11
City
Pay 25 M€ to place a city tile and increase M€ production 1 step (not terraform rating)
12
Claim a milestone
Pay 8 M€ if you meet a milestone's criteria (only 3 of 5 may be claimed total)
13
Fund an award
Pay to activate an award for end-game scoring (only 3 of 5 may be funded)
14
Use blue card action
Pay the cost shown left of the red arrow to gain the benefit on the right
15
Convert plants to greenery
Spend 8 plants to place a greenery tile (increases oxygen and terraform rating)
16
Convert heat to temperature
Spend 8 heat to increase temperature and terraform rating 1 step
17
Track resources
Use copper (value 1), silver (value 5), and gold (value 10) cubes on your player board
18
Use steel
May substitute for M€ when purchasing building cards at exactly 2 M€ per steel
19
Use titanium
May substitute for M€ when purchasing space cards at exactly 3 M€ per titanium
20
Track production
Use player markers on your board; production over 10 uses multiple markers
21
Negative production
Only M€ production can go negative, down to -5
22
Gain terraform rating
Each time you raise oxygen, temperature, or place an ocean tile, increase your terraform rating 1 step
23
Maxed parameters
If a global parameter is already maxed, you cannot increase your terraform rating from it
24
Bonus steps
If raising oxygen or temperature to a bonus level, gain the attached bonus and any additional terraform rating

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
End game trigger
The game ends after the generation where all 9 ocean tiles are placed, temperature reaches +8°C, and oxygen reaches 14%
2
Finish the round
Complete the current round including the production phase
3
Final greenery placement
Players have one extra chance to convert plants into greenery tiles in turn order
4
Count terraform rating
This is your base score
5
Score milestones
Gain 5 VP for each milestone you claimed
6
Score awards
For each funded award, 1st place earns 5 VP and 2nd place earns 2 VP
7
Score greenery tiles
Gain 1 VP per greenery tile you own
8
Score city tiles
Gain 1 VP for each greenery tile adjacent to your cities, regardless of greenery owner
9
Score card VP
Review each of your cards for any VP conditions
10
Determine winner
Highest total score wins
11
Break ties
The player with the most M€ wins

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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