Terraforming Mars

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Details

Sourced from: https://jmo.name/games

Player Aid Author: Jarrod Moore

Description

Compete with rival CEOs to make Mars habitable and build your corporate empire.

Expansions in Use

  • Prelude

  • Place game board in centre of table
  • Place 9 ocean tiles on their space
  • Place temperature and oxygen markers on starting positions
  • Place generation marker on 1 on the terraforming rating (TR) track
  • Prepare project cards deck:
    • Remove all cards with a red and white circle icon in the bottom left corner:
      • These are corporate era cards, which extend the length of the game considerably
    • Shuffle the remaining project cards
    • Place deck face-down next to the board, with space for a discard pile next to it

  • Each player places the following on their board:
    • Place production markers on 1 space of each track
  • Place scoring marker on 20 space of TR track
  • Deal the following cards to each player:
    • 2 corporation cards:
      • Beginner players can instead receive 1 beginner corporation card
    • 10 project cards
    • 4 prelude cards
  • Choose a starting player:
    • Official method: Last player to win a game of Terraforming Mars
  • In turn order, players reveal their corporation and get their starting benefits:
    • Players must have exactly one corporation and as many project cards as they wish to keep:
      • Each card will cost 3 credits to keep:
        • If you start with the beginner corporation, ignore this cost
      • Discard all cards that do not wish to keep face-down
    • Gain the benefits shown on the corporation card you chose
  • Players now choose their prelude cards:
    • In player order, each player plays their chosen prelude cards and gains the benefits
  • Start the first round at the action phase:
    • The first player order phase and research phase are skipped

Terraforming Mars is player over a series of generations. A generation contains 4 phases:

  • Player Order Phase
  • Research Phase
  • Actions Phase
  • Production Phase

  • Note: This phase is skipped in the first generation
  • Whoever has the first player marker gives it to the player on their left
  • The generation marker is moved up one step

  • Note: This phase is skipped in the first generation
  • Each player draws 4 cards
  • Players then pay 3 credits for each card they want to keep
  • Discard the unkept cards face-down
  • If the deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile

Players take turns, in player order, going round and round the table until all players have passed.

On your turn, you may do one of the following:

  • Take 1-2 actions
  • Pass

The actions available to you are:

  • Play a Card in your Hand
  • Use a Standard Project
  • Claim a Milestone
  • Fund an Award
  • Use the Action on a Blue Card
  • Build a Greenery Tile with 8 Plants
  • Increase the Planet Temperature with 8 Heat

If you choose to pass, you are out of the round and may not take any more actions this generation.

Each player does the following:

  • All cubes currently on the energy box on your player board move into the heat box
  • Receive credits equal to your current TR
  • Receive cubes equal to the production level for each resource on your player board:
    • You lose credits here if your credit production is negative

The game end is triggered when all of the following conditions are met:

  • Oxygen level at 14%
  • 9 oceans placed on map
  • Temperature at 8%

Once the game end is triggered, the game ends after that generation, after the production phase.

Before final scoring commences:

  • In player order, players get one more chance to convert plant cubes into one or more greenery tiles:
    • Score placement bonuses as normal

Final scoring then commences.

Players score for the following categories:

  • Your TR is your basic score to which you will add points from all other categories
  • Score funded awards:
    • For each award, rank all players and award VP:
      • 1st place: 5 VP
      • 2nd place: 2 VP
      • Ties are friendly
      • 2P: Only 1st place is awarded
      • If more than one player scores the 1st place bonus, no players receive the 2nd player bonus
  • Each claimed milestone is worth 5 VP
  • Cities and Greeneries:
    • Greenery tiles are 1 VP each
    • City tiles are 1 VP for each greenery it has next to it:
      • The owner of the greenery tile doesn't matter here
  • Cards:
    • Add the VP on cards that collect resources
    • Add VP on all remaining cards in your play area:
      • You do not count cards still in your hand

The winner is the player with the most victory points.

Tiebreakers are:

  • Player with most credits

Otherwise, the victory is share

Placement Bonuses

When you place tiles out on the map, you get the following bonuses:

  • Any bonus printed on the space you played the tile on
  • For every ocean tile next to your tile, you gain 2 credits

Placement Restrictions

The following restrictions apply when placing a tile on the map:

  • Ocean tiles:
    • Must be played to spaces reserved for ocean tiles
  • Greenery tiles:
    • Must be played next to another tile you own (if possible)
  • City tiles:
    • Must not be played next to another city tile

  • Check the card's requirements:
    • You must meet the requirements and be able to receive the effects
    • You are allowed to play a card that would raise a global parameter when they are already at max level:
      • Just skip that one part, e.g. If playing a card would cause you to raise the oxygen level past 14%, just skip this part of the effect
    • You are allowed to play a card that would give you resources that you don't have space for
    • Any card effect that can remove resources from another player is optional
  • Pay for the card:
    • Pay the credit cost in the top left corner of the card
  • Receive any immediate benefits
    • Any production benefit must be performed
    • Resources or production with a red frame means that you can affect any player you choose (even yourself)
    • Resources or production without a red frame always affect you and must be performed
    • Gain or remove resources as shown on the card:
      • Red frames around resources means you can choose the resources of any player:
        • These are optional, even if you are the only player with these resources
    • Follow any other instructions on the card
  • Place the card in your play area:
    • Events (red cards):
      • Place in a face-down pile after being played
    • Automated cards (green cards):
      • Place in a stack face-up with only the top row of each card visible
      • After green cards are played and resolved, they are only used for their tags
    • Active cards (blue cards):
      • These cards have ongoing effects that may trigger at any time or actions you may use
      • Place these cards separately with the top panel of each blue card visible

The 6 standard projects are:

  • Sell Patents:
    • Discard 1 or more cards from your hand for 1 credit each
  • Power Plant:
    • Pay 11 credits
    • Increase production by 1 step
  • Asteroid:
    • Pay 14 credits
    • Increase global temperature by 1 step
    • Increase your TR by 1 step
  • Aquifer:
    • Pay 18 credits
    • Place an ocean tile
    • Increase your TR by 1 step
    • Collect any placement bonus
  • Greenery:
    • Pay 23 credits
    • Place a greenery tile
    • Increase oxygen level by 1 step (if possible):
      • If it was possible, increase your TR by 1 step
    • Collect any placement bonus
    • Put a player marker on the tile
  • City:
    • Pay 25 credits
    • Place a city tile
    • Collect any placement bonus
    • Place a player marker on it
    • Increase credit production by 1 step

If you meet the criteria of a milestone, pay 8 credits to claim it by placing your player marker on it:

  • Each milestone can only be claimed by one player
  • Only 3 of the 5 milestones can be claimed
  • Each one claimed is worth 5 VP at the end of the game

The milestones are:

  • Terraformer: Have a TR of at least 35
  • Mayor: Own at least 3 city tiles
  • Gardener: Own at least 3 greenery tiles
  • Builder: Have at least 8 building tags in your play area
  • Planner: Have at least 16 cards in your hand when you claim this milestone

  • Players may spend credits to fund an award:
    • 1st award funded: 8 credits
    • 2nd award funded: 14 credits
    • 3rd award funded: 20 credits

The awards that can be funded are:

  • Landlord: Player that owns the most tiles on board
  • Banker: Player with highest credit production
  • Scientist: Player with most science tags in play area
  • Thermalist: Player with most heat resource cubes
  • Miner: Player with most steel and titanium resource cubes

  • Select a blue action card or generation with action you want to use:
    • Each action can only be used once per generation
  • If there is no arrow in the space, then it is an effect that is permanently in effect
  • Otherwise, if there is an arrow printed:
    • Pay the cost of the action to the left of the arrow
    • Receive the benefit on the right of the arrow
    • Place a player marker on the action to show it has been used this generation

  • Remove 8 greenery cubes from your player board
  • Place 1 greenery tile on the map
  • Increase oxygen level by 1 step (if possible):
    • If it was possible, increase your TR by 1 step
  • Collect any placement bonus
  • Put a player marker on the tile

  • Remove 8 heat cubes from your player board
  • Increase the global temperature by 1 step
  • Increase your TR by 1 step

Thumbnail courtesy of BoardGameGeek and the respective publisher.