Terraforming Mars – Best Mars game ever?

Terraforming Mars Review: Build a Living World on the Red Planet

Why the Game Works

This is me and my wifes favorite heavy board game to play.

To be honest shes not the biggest board gamer but this game is the one we have played the most of all the games I have presented for her and I have had in my collection.

Terraforming Mars in short is an engine-building game about turning a dead planet into a home. You each run a corporation and try to become the most succesfull at the end of the game by inventing technologies and contribute to terraforming Mars. You’ll be raising the oxygen level and heating up the planet and place oceans. Along the way, you build a network of cards that feed your economy. In essence it is a card game. Because the cards are the game and you have to increase your income and wealth to be able to play more and more insane cards from your hand. For instance, create a huge mirror in space that reflects the sun light and increase the heat on the planet or crash a moon into the planet to create heat.  

The game is played in generations. Each generation has a research phase, an action phase and a production phase. You draw cards, play them and gain resources. When oxygen, temperature and oceans are all maxed out, the game ends.

A fun thing in the game is realism or realisation of how long terraforming a planet actually takes. So we found out that even into the 3rd or 4th round. Because all rounds are 1 generation. So if you think about it, then after 3 generations everyone you know and your self are all dead. A game is about 14-18 generations. So you are long gone once the planet is terraformed and habitable.

In one game, I played a card that made everyone’s life harder and got a huge Terraforming bonus that put me well ahead. Everyone looked at me like I had kicked a puppy. I said “It is only Mars.”

Gameplay & Rules in a Nutshell

Teach this in three parts: the board goals, the actions and the card types.

• Research: Draw four cards and buy the ones you want.
• Actions: Take one or two actions: play a card, use a standard project, claim a milestone or fund an award.
• Production: Gain resources based on your production tracks.
• Terraforming rating: Each step you raise a global parameter boosts your rating and income.
• End: When all three parameters are maxed, final scoring decides the winner.

Corporations give each player a different start. Cards give powerful combos, so the more you play, the better your engine gets.

Who Is This Game For?

• Players: 1–5
• Playing time: roughly 120 minutes
• Complexity: medium-heavy, around 3.2 out of 5 on BGG weight
• Age: 12+

Great for groups who enjoy building engines and long-term planning. It suits fans of sci-fi and chewy strategy. It is not the best fit for fast-paced game nights.

This is a long game. You are looking at an easy 3 hour game.
But it works in any player number. Love it at 2 and 3 players. 4 players doesn’t add much to the experince but is still good. Sweetspot is 3 players.

Why Is This Game Good?

Reviewers praise the huge card pool and the sense of progress. Many say the theme and mechanics line up well. Players like that the game works for solo play and for groups. It is also known for strong replay value.

Criticisms: the card draw can feel random, and the interaction is limited. Also, the production is a bit plain in the base game.

Our Verdict

Terraforming Mars is a classic modern engine builder. It is satisfying, replayable and full of clever combos. It’s one of me and my wifes favorite games of all time.

Highly recommended.

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