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Terraforming Mars is the game I recommend to people who loved Wingspan and want to know what comes next. It is bigger, heavier, and asks more of you. The components are famously uninspiring compared to prettier games at similar prices. I’m known to be a sucker for a pretty game and even so, it is one of the most satisfying engine-building experiences in board gaming.
Designed by Jacob Fryxelius and published by FryxGames (Asmodee for UK distribution), Terraforming Mars plays 1 to 5 players in 120 to 180 minutes. Yes, that is a commitment. It earns it.
What Is Terraforming Mars?
You are a corporation competing to terraform Mars: raising the temperature, increasing oxygen levels, and covering the surface in ocean tiles. You also build cities, forests, and other structures. The game ends when all three global parameters hit their maximum values.
The mechanism is straightforward: each generation (round), you draw cards, buy some to add to your hand, and use your production income to play cards and take standard actions. Cards do almost everything: raise parameters, generate income, trigger special abilities, and score end-game points.
The engine builds slowly. Early games can feel like you are spending resources for minimal return. Then, around the middle of the game, the cards you played three generations ago start combining with the cards you played last generation, and the whole thing clicks into a satisfying chain of effects.
Key Game Information
| Players | 1-5 (best at 2-3) |
| Play time | 120-180 minutes |
| Designer | Jacob Fryxelius |
| Publisher | FryxGames / Asmodee UK |
| Categories | Strategy Games, Engine Building Games, Science Fiction Games, Solo Games |
| Mechanics | Engine Building, Hand Management, Tile Placement, Resource Management |
| Theme | Science Fiction and Space, City Building |
| Complexity | Medium-Heavy |
| Best for | Strategy players who want deep engine building and are comfortable with a longer play time |
How to Play Terraforming Mars
Each generation consists of:
Research phase: Draw four project cards. Pay three megacredits each to keep them, or discard. Managing which cards to buy is a real economic decision.
Action phase: Players alternate taking one or two actions until both pass. Actions include: playing a project card, using a card action, claiming standard projects (convert resources into board actions), using your corporation ability, or converting plants or heat into global parameter improvements.
Production phase: All players gain income based on their production tracks for each resource type.
Corporations provide different starting resources, production rates, and card draw advantages. The corporation choice at the start of the game significantly shapes your strategy for the entire session.
The global parameters (temperature, oxygen, and ocean tiles) advance as players take specific actions. Each step on a global parameter often awards a bonus. Racing to trigger these bonuses while building your engine is the core competitive tension.
The Components Question
Let me be honest about this because the original post danced around it. The base game components are not good. The player boards are thin and resources slide around. The card illustrations have an almost educational-textbook quality. There is no dramatic artwork here.
This genuinely does not affect how much I enjoy the game. The system is so engaging that the components fade into the background quickly. But if visual presentation matters to you, look at the Ares Expedition version (a card game adaptation) or invest in third-party overlays and upgraded player boards, which many players do.
The digital versions (particularly on Steam and Board Game Arena) solve this entirely.
Playing at Different Player Counts
1 player: A timed solo puzzle: terraform Mars within a set number of generations. Works well and is a good way to learn your corporations.
2-3 players: My preferred counts. The game moves quickly and strategic decisions are more legible. Best balance of depth and pace.
4-5 players: More variation in strategies and more competition for milestones and awards. Play time increases noticeably. Downtime between turns is a real issue at five.
Expansions
- Prelude (2018): The best expansion. Gives players strong starting advantages that speed up the early game significantly. Near-essential after your first five plays. Changes the pacing in ways that make the base game feel slow without it.
- Venus Next (2017): Adds Venus as a fourth global parameter. A nice addition for variety but not essential.
- Colonies (2017): Adds off-board trading hubs with new strategic options. Good for variety after many plays.
- Turmoil (2019): Adds a political layer with party mechanics. More dynamic but also significantly longer. Best for experienced groups who want more complexity.
- Hellas and Elysium (2017): An alternate map with different placement bonuses and global parameter locations. Good for replay variety.
Buy order: Prelude first, always. Then Venus Next or Hellas and Elysium for variety.
Digital Versions
Terraforming Mars has excellent digital implementations. The Steam app is well made with AI opponents and online multiplayer. Board Game Arena has an implementation that handles the card text and production tracking cleanly and supports asynchronous play. BGA is my preferred way to get games in between longer sessions.
The digital versions solve the component quality issue entirely and automate the production tracking that can slow down physical games.
If You Like Terraforming Mars, Try These
- Ark Nova: Heavier engine building with a zoo conservation theme. Comparable complexity and similarly deep. If you love Terraforming Mars, Ark Nova is the natural next game.
- Dune: Imperium: Lighter, with deck-building added. A good stepping stone toward Terraforming Mars complexity.
- Wingspan: Much more accessible, but shares the card-driven engine building satisfaction. Start here before Terraforming Mars if the weight feels daunting.
- Gaia Project: More complex than Terraforming Mars. Space colonisation with asymmetric factions and a deeper spatial element.
- Race for the Galaxy: Much faster, card-driven economic game. Shares the technology progression theme. Good warm-up game.
Final Thoughts
Terraforming Mars is a classic for a reason. It is deep, replayable, and produces a kind of slow-building satisfaction that few games at any complexity level replicate. The thin components and long play time are real barriers for some players, but neither reduces the quality of what is happening mechanically.
Prelude is the expansion to buy first. The digital versions are worth playing regularly alongside the physical game. And if you find yourself wanting more after many plays, Ark Nova is waiting.
Terraforming Mars earns every hour you put into it.
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