The Comprehensive Guide to Terraforming Mars Expansion

Becoming the master of the Red Planet is now more fascinating than ever with your arsenal of Terraforming Mars expansions at your disposal. Deep space colonies and the construction of Luna Metropolis are only two of the scenarios that may be played in the expansions' extra maps and game rules, which give the basic board game more complexity and chaos. Which add-ons, however, are the most revolutionary? Which expansion is the best to purchase initially? You can find a detailed description of every add-on in the game, along with a recommended order of purchase, in this guide.

How Many Expansions of Terraforming Mars Are There?

As of right now, Terraforming Mars has five official expansions. But Stronghold Games is developing three more, the first of which will be made accessible on Kickstarter. A few more add-ons expand the universe of Terraforming Mars beyond the confines of the well-known board game. But first, let's examine the primary expansions before moving on to them.

1. Preface to Terraforming Mars

The early generations of Terraforming Mars may be rather sluggish, as you may have seen if you've played the game without any of its expansions. When the game starts, you are in the thick of engine-building action since the cards in Terraforming Mars: Prelude immediately boost your corporation's production and terraform rating. It's unquestionably the greatest for this reason alone. Mars's Terraforming expansion to purchase initially. The Prelude In order to provide even more gameplay variation, the expansion also introduces five additional firms.

2. Terraforming Mars: Elysium and Hellas

Two more gaming boards that explore Mars' far side are included in Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium. Positions of ocean spaces alter, as do placement bonuses and the placement constraints of cards like Noctis City. Every board also provides fresh prizes and milestones that drastically alter your approach. The map of Hellas shows a sharp increase in temperature. The pricey cards in the game have a greater effect on the Elysium map than before.

3. Bringing Mars Back to Life: Settlements

Your company may now reach the furthest reaches of the outer solar system with Terraforming Mars: Colonies. The locations where players may either create a colony or launch their trading ship in search of resources are represented by a randomized selection of the new colony tiles that are put during setup. They will gain from your transactions if you trade on the moons and planets where your rivals have established colonies. There are even more opportunities to win thanks to the Colonies expansion, which also included five new firms and 49 new project cards.

4. Mars Terraforming: Chaos

If you've previously bought all three of the aforementioned expansions but would want more gameplay variety and mechanics for Terraforming Mars, you may choose between Turmoil and .Next Venus. Mars Terraforming: Chaos is the most intricate game expansion available, made especially for players with expertise. One of its features is the newly created committee board, to which you may appoint representatives from political parties and shape which party will control the future generation. After that, the governing party enacts laws that change the rules of the game. Every generation, in addition to the committee board, a number of worldwide occurrences will also occur. These events will cause significant disruption to the game by limiting resources, lowering the temperature, and even demolishing cities.

5. Setting Up Venus to Terraform Mars: Next

Similar to the temperature and oxygen scales, the Venus track, a new global parameter added to Terraforming Mars: Venus Next, raises your terraform rating. But because the Venus track need not be completed in order for the game to conclude, depending on which businesses are active, it may sometimes be completely disregarded. Hence, Venus Next is the expansion with the lowest priority on this list. It does, however, include 49 new project cards, five new businesses, and a few more milestones and rewards, all of which are wonderful to have.

Extending the Universe of Terraforming Mars

There is more to the universe of Terraforming Mars than just the base game and its add-ons. Here are some more methods to enhance your Terraforming Mars experience if you just can't get enough of this amazing cosmos.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is easily confused with one of the expansion packs for the original game. It is, nonetheless, a stand-alone game that streamlines a lot of the fundamental elements of the original. It plays at a much quicker tempo as a consequence. Oceans are fixed in place and just need to be turned, thus tile placement is no longer crucial to winning the game—the oxygen and temperature criteria that were previously related to it have been retained. There are three expansions available for the game as well: Discovery, Foundations also An emergency.

The Dice Game of Terraforming Mars

The Dice Game of Terraforming Mars is an additional stand-alone game that recycles a lot of the original's elements. The creation of resources is randomly determined by dice, and the game may be finished with only two of the three global settings. For younger gamers who like the Terraforming Mars concept, it's a nice option.

Mars's Terraforming Project Books are interesting curiosities that provide a thorough history for the board game's happenings. The series starts with The Terraforming Mars Book Trilogy and has three entries total. The narrative carries on in Edge Of Catastrophe and is concluded in Shores Of A New Horizon, the last book in the series. Gamers who have played the Turmoil expansion will find the events of the novels most logical since they center on the Terraforming Committee and its impact on the taming of the Red Planet.

Terraforming Mars Puzzles

For serious collectors and fans, there are also Terraforming Mars puzzles available in addition to the games and books. The corporations puzzle showcases an entertaining presentation of all the corporation and board game tile and card iconography, while the Prelude and Colonies puzzles concentrate on the important art from the expansions that they are named after.