Terraforming Mars, A Review

I’m just going to go ahead and tell you that Terraforming Mars is great. Fantastic. Wonderful. You get it.
And it also might not be for everyone. I’ll get into that in a moment.

So what do you do in this game?

Terraforming Mars puts you in the role of a corporation, whose job is to do make Mars a hospitable planet. You raise the temperature, oxygen, and create oceans to make Mars habitable.
How you do that is up to you and the cards you play.
At the root of the game is engine building, where you’re slowly making your corporation more and more efficient and gaining resources and using actions. The game starts off real slow, but over time you’ll start to really think about what to do.
You’ll have two actions each turn, going round and round until everyone passes. A generation (a round) ends, and you do it again, but this time, if you played your cards right, better.
The game ends once three conditions are met: The temperature on Mars has reached 8 Celsius, nine ocean tiles have been placed on the board, and the oxygen on the planet has reached 14%.
Whichever corporation has the highest score (a combination of your terraforming rating, forest tiles, city tiles, and card bonuses), wins.

Is it any good?

If you love games where you take your time building something and see it become more and more efficient, if you enjoy space themes, and you enjoy thinking deeply about your actions, this game is for you. There are tons of cards that make the game feel fresh every time and so many ways to create your own style of play.

On the other hand, if you want something quick, this isn’t for you. A game can run between an hour and a half to two, maybe longer with 5. If you want something lighter, this may not be for you or your group. Chance also plays a factor, so if you don’t like the draw of the card determining your play style, you might not enjoy it.

Again, I love this game. It’s a puzzle waiting to be solved, using cards wisely and creating combos to maximize your potential. It leaves me thinking and wanting more.

Rating: I want to play this all the time/10