On Mars rules refresher

Read the refresher

You win by having the most Opportunity Points when the game ends. The game ends once enough missions are completed or the colony grows large enough. To get there, you ride the Shuttle between the Space Station in orbit and the colony on the surface. In orbit you gather Blueprints, Technology, and supplies. On the surface you construct buildings, upgrade them, welcome ships, and hire Scientists.

For setup, remember that the left side of the board is Orbit and the rest is the Colony. Two Discovery tiles go face up on the Exploration space. The Warehouse gets three each of Crystals, Batteries, Water, Plants, and Oxygen, or two each with two players. For the Tech tiles, first set aside the Shelter Tech tiles. Split the rest into two sets by the color on the back. One set goes face up at random on the Tech Grid. The other eight go face down in two stacks beside it. With two players, remove that second set from the game entirely. For the Blueprints, stack the Level one deck on top of the Level three deck and deal six face up. The six Scientists go on their display in this fixed order: Geologist, R and D Engineer, Hydrologist, Biochemist, Geochemist, and Systems Engineer, each with its marker on it. The Earth Contract deck goes face down beside them. The starting Mine goes in the center. The other starting buildings go at random on their marked hexes, with the notch toward the bottom of the board. The Research tiles go in their corners, grouped by type. Choose Mission cards: two Short and one Long for a short game, or one Short and two Long for a long game. Put each Mission marker near its related action, and each tracker cube on the space for your player count. The Remaining Missions marker starts on three. On the Life Support System track, the Colony level marker starts on the left of the second row, which means Colony level one. Four random Life Support System Reward tiles go face up across the top.

Each player starts with the following. One of each of the five Resources goes in Storage, and one Crystal goes in the Depot. Your Shelter Tech tile goes in the middle space of the second column of your Laboratory. Your five Ships fill the top five Depot spaces. That leaves only three Crystal slots, and only the bottom three Executive actions are open. One Shelter goes on the main board in the starting position for your player count, and the other four go on your board. One Bot sits on that Shelter, and three go beside your board. You also take eight Advanced Building markers. Three Colonists go in your Living Quarters and nine go beside your board. Your Rover sits beside the board, but it counts as being at the central starting Mine. One Progress cube goes under each Resource. Finally, you take three secret Private Goals. Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player places their Player marker on any empty Turn Order space, one through eight, and takes that space's benefit. The player on the highest numbered space puts the Shuttle on either red Travel space numbered one, on whichever side they like.

Each round has two phases: the Colonization phase, then the Shuttle phase. In the Colonization phase, players take turns following the Turn Order spaces. Order runs from space one on the far left of the Orbit side across to space eight on the far right of the Colony side. On your turn you must take exactly one Main action. You may also take one Executive action, either before or after it. You can only use the Main actions on the side where your Player marker sits. When you're done, lay your marker down. In the Shuttle phase, the Shuttle moves or travels. Then, in turn order, each player decides whether to travel to the other side.

Now the mechanics in more depth. Some actions show a red Colonist. To take those, you place a Colonist from your Living Quarters on one of that action's slots. The actions that work this way include Obtain Blueprint, Research and Development, Construct, Upgrade, and Hire a Scientist. If other players already have Colonists there, you pay one extra for each different other color present. You pay that either with a Crystal or by moving a Colonist from your Living Quarters to your Working Area. With two players, you instead pay one for every Colonist already there, yours included. If all the slots are full, first remove every Colonist belonging to whoever has the most there, which could be you. Those Colonists go to their owner's Working Area. Then you pay based on what's left. Actions showing a teal Colonist can be boosted by moving Colonists to your Working Area. Colonists in the Working Area come back when you travel.

A few core bookkeeping rules. Your Resource storage limit is your number of Shelters on the map plus one, for each type. Minerals can stand in for any other Resource, but not for Crystals, and not for Earth Contracts. Your Living Quarters holds four, plus two for each additional Shelter you build. Newly gained Colonists who don't fit wait beside your board. Gained Crystals go below your Depot and can't be spent this turn. At the start of your next turn they move into the Depot, and any that don't fit are lost. At the end of any turn, no hex may hold more than one piece. Pieces are Bots, Rovers, Colonists, and Advanced Building markers.

Tech tiles power up many actions, and you may use anyone's. If you use another player's tile, they take an Oxygen. At the end of your turn, they can either develop that tile one step for free, returning the Oxygen, or keep the Oxygen.

In orbit, Obtain Blueprint lets you take a Blueprint from the display. You gain the Resource or Crystal shown in its bottom right corner and put one of your Advanced Building markers on it. You can't take a Blueprint without a spare marker, and the display is not refilled. Each boost Colonist gets you another Blueprint. Learn New Technology lets you take a tile from the Tech Grid into an empty space in the leftmost column of your Laboratory, and you gain that space's printed benefit. If both spaces in that column are full, you can't take this action. The bottom row of the Grid is free, the middle row costs a Battery, and the top row costs a Battery plus any one Resource. One boost Colonist gets you a second tile. You can own only one tile of each type, and the Grid refills only when the Colony level rises. Research and Development lets you develop one tile twice or two tiles once each. Each step moves a tile right into an adjacent empty space. You pay the cost shown above the new column and gain the space's benefit. Each boost Colonist adds another step. Resupply takes one Resource or Crystal from the Warehouse, plus one more per boost Colonist. You can only take what you have room to store. Landing Pod sends you straight to the Colony as if traveling, but without placing a Discovery tile. You choose a Colony Turn Order space and your turn is over. If the Shuttle goes from Mars to Orbit later that round, you may still ride it.

On the surface, Control Center moves your pieces. You get two movement for your Bots and two for your Rover, split in any order. Each Crystal you spend from your Depot adds one more movement to either. A Rover Tech tile adds movement to your Rover equal to its level. Pieces can pass through, but not stop on, a hex with an Advanced Building, a Colonist, another Bot, or another Rover. Your Rover picks up any Crystals it passes over. If it ends on a Discovery or Research tile, it may claim the tile, but only if you meet three conditions. First, you don't already have that Research color and letter. Second, you pay any cost. Third, you can use at least some of the benefit. If you can't meet those, your Rover can't end there. A Bot that ends on a Discovery or Research tile destroys it, and a Bot that ends on a Crystal returns it to the supply. A Bot's hex plus all adjacent hexes form its Building Zone.

Construct a Building places a new building on an empty building hex in one of your Bots' Building Zones. You can build from the face down stacks or use the lowest Shelter on your board. Costs follow the chain on your board. Each building costs the Resource just before it, as shown on the building display, so a Water Extractor takes Battery, a Greenhouse takes Water, and an Oxygen Condenser takes Plants. A Shelter costs one Oxygen. A Mine instead costs a Colonist from your Living Quarters placed on it, and that Miner produces a Mineral each time you travel to Orbit. The new building must go either adjacent to one of the same type, which forms a Complex, or exactly two hexes away from one and not adjacent to any. Your Shelters and other players' Shelters count as different types. Joining a Complex requires a matching Tech tile whose level is at least the number of buildings you connect to, counting every building in any Complex you touch. Place the tile face down. Put a Crystal in each adjacent empty hex its arrows point to, then flip it face up in the same orientation. You gain Resources of that type equal to the new Complex size, or one if it stands alone. Shelters give Crystals instead. The first time you create or grow a Complex of a type, move that Progress cube into the Progress area. This doesn't apply to Shelters. Building on a Crystal returns the Crystal to the supply, and building on a Discovery or Research tile sends it to the box. A Bot or Rover on the hex gets moved by its owner to the closest available hex.

The Life Support System tracks Generators, Water Extractors, Greenhouses, and Oxygen Condensers. Each one built moves its column marker up a space. Whoever builds the first new one of a type scores two points. If the marker was below the Colony level row before moving, the builder also scores the reward tile at the top of that column and takes one of the benefits in the top left corner. When every marker reaches the Colony level row or higher, the Colony Status updates at the end of that turn. The Colony level marker rises one row. At level two, the Blueprint display is cleared and the top twelve cards are laid out. At level three, the Level one Blueprints are removed and the last six Level three cards are added. The Tech Grid refills from bottom to top, except with two players. The Warehouse refills to three of each, or two with two players. On the first two updates, everyone scores their Progress cubes: one, two, four, seven, or eleven points for one to five cubes. From level three on, each update also moves the Remaining Missions marker one space.

Upgrade a Building costs one Mineral. It uses a Blueprint you hold on a matching building in one of your Bots' Building Zones. A Level one Blueprint works on any matching building. A Level three Blueprint needs one in a Complex of at least three. You may only upgrade your own Shelters, but Mines belong to no one. Move the Advanced Building marker from the Blueprint onto the building. Any Colonist there goes back to its owner, and any Bot or Rover there is displaced. Each building and each Blueprint can be used only once. An Upgrade Tech tile lets you repeat the process as many extra times as its level.

Welcome a Ship costs one Plant and one Water. It moves a Ship from your Depot to your Hangar, which opens a Crystal slot and an Executive action. You gain either two Colonists, or one Colonist and one Bot, with the Bot placed on one of your empty Shelters. Each boost Colonist moves another Ship at the same cost, but you can't boost with Colonists gained this turn. The total number of Ships you may ever remove from your Depot equals the current Colony level.

Hire a Scientist or Take an Earth Contract allows one Colonist per player on its slots, and those slots never clear when full. You pay the cost shown, and the Geologist costs two Colonists moved to your Working Area. After taking a card, refill the slot with any Earth Contract you choose. A Contract costs one Crystal. Delivery Contracts need the pictured items placed on the card by game end, and Minerals can't substitute. Upgrade Contracts need your Advanced Building marker on that building type within a Complex of at least four.

Executive actions cost the Crystals shown and are open only where no Ship covers the Depot space. One of them uses one of your own Advanced Buildings for two Crystals. A Scientist can be moved onto the Blueprint of any matching Advanced Building, even another player's. While it works there, both the Scientist's owner and the building's owner use that action for free. Where an action shows a teal Colonist, Colonists sent to your Working Area temporarily add to a Tech tile's level.

Contributing to a Mission earns the Crystals shown and moves its cube down. When the cube reaches the checkmark, the card is removed and the Remaining Missions marker advances. During your turn, you may complete one Private Goal, only one all game, and take one of its rewards. You may also discard any incomplete Private Goal to use as a Crystal, just not for Contracts.

In the Shuttle phase, the Shuttle moves one space toward the middle. If it is already on the middle space, it travels to the opposite side's Travel space matching the current Colony level. Then, in turn order, players choose. If the Shuttle traveled and you're on the side it left, you ride free. Otherwise, you may travel either way by returning a Ship from your Hangar to the box. If you stay, stand your marker up without taking its bonus again. Traveling to the Colony works like this. First, place a face up Discovery tile on an empty hex exactly three away from your Rover, and refill the Exploration space. Next, retrieve your Colonists from Colony action slots and your Working Area. Then choose an empty Colony Turn Order space and take its bonus. Traveling to Orbit works like this. First, you produce. Each of your Advanced Buildings yields one of its Resource. One on a Shelter yields a Crystal instead. Each of your Colonists or Advanced Buildings on Mines yields a Mineral. Then retrieve your Colonists from Orbit slots and your Working Area, and choose an Orbit Turn Order space and its bonus.

The end is checked at the end of each Colonization phase. If the Remaining Missions marker has reached the end of its track, whether through completed Missions, Colony levels three, four, and five, or both, the end is triggered. Finish that round, then play one more round without its Shuttle phase. Move any last Crystals into your Depot, then score. Progress cubes score one, two, four, seven, or eleven points again. Each Ship in your Hangar is worth three. Return Colonists from action slots on your current side and from your Working Area into your Living Quarters, filling from the bottom up. Then score the number beside your highest Colonist. Each Tech tile scores the value below its column. Built Blueprints score three for Level one and five for Level three, and unbuilt ones lose the same. Each Scientist scores three per Advanced Building of its types on Mars, whoever owns it. Earth Contracts gain or lose their points, and you may still move Resources and Crystals onto them now. Most points wins. Ties go to most Crystals, then most Advanced Buildings, then most Progress cubes, and if still tied, the tied players share the victory.

A turn, played out

You are on the Colony side, your Player marker on Turn Order space 6, in a 3 player game at Colony level 1. The blue player on space 5 has just laid their marker down, so it is your turn. Your Depot holds 2 Crystals. Your Living Quarters holds 3 Colonists. In Storage you have 2 Water, no Plants, and 1 of each other Resource. You have 2 Shelters on the map, so your storage limit is 3 of each type. Your Laboratory holds a Greenhouse Tech tile at level 2. One of your Bots sits right next to an empty building hex, so that hex is inside its Building Zone. On the other side of that hex stand 2 Greenhouses, one blue, one yours, touching each other as a Complex of 2. You want a third Greenhouse there. Construct shows a red Colonist, so you place one of yours on its slots. There is still an open slot, but a blue Colonist and a red Colonist are already there. That is 2 different other colours, so you owe 2 extra. You pay 1 Crystal from your Depot, leaving 1, and move a second Colonist from your Living Quarters to your Working Area. Your Living Quarters is down to 1 Colonist. The one in your Working Area comes back when you travel, and the one on Construct stays on its slot. Now the building. A Greenhouse costs the Resource just before it in the chain, Water, so you pay 1 Water and keep 1. Your new Greenhouse will touch that Complex of 2, so you need a Greenhouse Tech tile of level 2 or higher. Yours is exactly 2, so it qualifies. Had the hex also touched a lone Greenhouse, you would count 3 and be stuck. You place the Greenhouse tile face down. Its arrows point at 2 neighbouring hexes. One is empty, so a Crystal from the supply goes there. The other holds the red player's Bot, so it gets nothing. You flip the tile face up in the same orientation. The Complex is now 3 Greenhouses, so you gain 3 Plants. You had none, so that fills you exactly to your limit of 3. This is the first time you have grown a Greenhouse Complex, so the Progress cube under your Plants moves into your Progress area. That cube will score at the next Colony Status update, and again at game end. On the Life Support System, the Greenhouse marker moves up a space. It was below the Colony level row before it moved, so you score the reward tile at the top of the Greenhouse column, and you take one of the benefits in that column's top left corner. Now the check. The Water Extractor and Oxygen Condenser markers are already at the Colony level row, and the Greenhouse marker has just reached it. But the Generator marker is still one row short, so the Colony does not update this turn. Whoever builds the next Generator will trigger it. You skip the Executive action this turn, saving your last Crystal for movement next time. You lay your Player marker down, and the player on space 7 takes their turn. That Crystal beside the red Bot sits there as bait for any Rover passing through.