Terraforming Mars BGG ↗

Terraforming Mars · English first edition, second printing · (2017)

Your rating: 9.5

My BGG Comment

I love the idea of making Mars habitable and this engine/tableau building game of industrial production feels very satisfying to me. With all the expansions though the number of cards is huge and luck of the draw does play a role in this. I recommend playing with only one of the bigger expansions and Prelude. Has a solid solo variant: you have to complete the terraforming (Temperature, Air and Water) by yourself in 14 turns or less. Rating 9.5 2026 After 133 plays (often app). When I first played this at a friends house, I knew immediately that I was going to buy this game. And yet, as a mostly-solo player, I barely ever play my physical copy because the solo challenge is really well done on the app and setup is something of a hassle with this game. But I own everything except the big box: all of the playmats, deluxe metal cubes, all of the expansions, the automa... somehow except for the automa and the playmats it all fits into the original base game box (unsleeved cards). This is one of my all time favorite games combining so many of my favorite things about board games: engine building, hex-tiles on a map, having too many cards and making tough decisions, a scifi theme... the original solo challenge is such a good experience that I keep playing it back to back sometimes. I lose a lot but it is winnable. I always play with Prelude, my favorite map remains Tharsis. Venus Next is a nice addition. Last year we had a big 5 player game with all the expansions and it was a blast. The new-ish automa is also really fun to play and simulates the multiplayer in a very different approach from the solochallenge. I hope to play the automa this year. Concerning digital play: This is one of my favorite boardgame apps all around (iOS + Steam). For such a complex game it is really well done. You can easily track all the needed information. There are barely any bugs left these days (I had a total of 1 hickups in the last year). Needs tablet sized screen though I would guess. Rating 9.5