Terraforming Mars rules refresher

Read the refresher

You win by having the most victory points at the end of the game. You get there by raising your terraform rating, by placing tiles on Mars, and by playing project cards that score points.

Quick setup reminder. The nine ocean tiles sit in their stack on the board, temperature starts at minus 30 degrees, oxygen at zero percent, and the generation marker goes on space 1 of the terraform rating track. Every player starts at 20 on that track. In the base game, pull out all the Corporate Era cards, the ones with the red and white icon in the lower left corner, from both the project deck and the corporations. Each player puts a marker on 1 on all six production tracks, so you begin with one production of everything. Deal everyone two corporations and ten project cards. Simultaneously choose one corporation and decide which project cards to keep, at 3 megacredits each, then reveal in player order and take your starting resources. The unchosen corporation goes back in the box, unbought cards go face down to the discard pile. The first generation skips the player order and research phases, so you go straight to the action phase.

Every generation after that has four phases. First the player order phase: the first player marker moves one step clockwise and the generation marker moves up one. Then the research phase: everyone draws four cards and buys any number of them at 3 megacredits each, discarding the rest face down. There is no hand limit. Then the action phase, where players take turns clockwise, each turn being one or two actions, or passing. Passing puts you out for the rest of the generation. The phase ends when everyone has passed. Finally the production phase, done simultaneously: first move all energy cubes to the heat box, then everyone gains megacredits equal to their terraform rating plus their megacredit production, plus all other resources according to their production tracks. Then remove your markers from used action cards so they are ready again.

On your turn, the actions you can mix and match are: play a card from hand, use a standard project, claim a milestone, fund an award, use the action on a blue card, convert eight plants into a greenery, or convert eight heat into a temperature raise.

To play a card, check its requirement, pay the cost, then resolve the immediate effects in whatever order you like, then place it. Steel pays for cards with a building tag at 2 megacredits each, titanium pays for space cards at 3 each, with no change given for overpaying. Requirements only need to be true when you play the card. You must be able to perform the card's effects, with three exceptions: you may play a card that raises a global parameter already at its goal, one that adds resources you have nowhere to put, and one that removes resources from a player if you cannot or choose not to. Production changes without a red border always affect you and must be performed. A red border on an icon means you may target any player, including yourself. Red-bordered resource removal is optional and can be done partly, but all of it must come from one player. Red-bordered production reduction must be performed, so if no opponent has it, you lower your own or do not play the card. Red cards are events and go face down in a personal pile after being played; their tags only count while being played. Green automated cards are stacked face up with the top row visible and their tags keep counting. Blue active cards stay visible, and their actions may be used once per generation each, marked with your player marker.

The six standard projects are always available and repeatable. Sell patents discards any number of cards from hand for 1 megacredit each. Power plant costs 11 for one energy production. Asteroid costs 14 to raise temperature one step. Aquifer costs 18 to place an ocean tile. Greenery costs 23 to place a greenery. City costs 25 to place a city and raise your megacredit production one step.

Tile placement matters. Ocean tiles only go on the reserved blue areas, are owned by nobody, and raise your terraform rating one step. Greeneries must go next to another tile you own if that is possible, otherwise anywhere available, and they raise oxygen and your terraform rating. Cities may never be placed adjacent to another city, with Noctis City on its reserved area as the exception. When you place any tile you take the printed placement bonus of that area, plus 2 megacredits for each adjacent ocean tile.

Remember, every time you raise oxygen, raise temperature, or place an ocean, your terraform rating goes up by the same amount. Once a parameter is at its goal it cannot rise further, and you get no rating for trying.

Milestones cost 8 megacredits to claim, are worth 5 points each, and only three of the five may ever be claimed, one player each. They are: terraform rating of at least 35, three cities, three greeneries, eight building tags in play, or sixteen cards in hand at the moment you claim. Awards have no requirement to fund. The first award funded costs 8 megacredits, the second 14, the third 20, and only three may be funded. The funder gets no special claim; at the end, whoever leads that category scores 5 points and the runner-up scores 2, except in a two-player game where there is no runner-up award. Ties are friendly, so tied players all get the same placing, and if more than one player takes first, no second place is given. The five categories are most tiles owned, highest megacredit production, most science tags, most heat cubes, and most steel plus titanium cubes.

The game ends when all three global parameters have reached their goals: oxygen at 14 percent, all nine oceans placed, and temperature at plus 8 degrees. Play finishes that generation, and after the production phase every player in turn order gets one last chance to convert plants into greeneries, taking placement bonuses as normal. Then score. Start from your terraform rating, add awards, add 5 for each milestone you claimed, then the board: one point per greenery you own, and one point per city you own for each greenery adjacent to it, no matter who owns that greenery. Finally count points on your cards, including resources sitting on cards and your face-down events. Highest total wins, and ties are broken by the most megacredits.

A turn, played out

It is generation 6 and your turn. Oxygen stands at 6 percent. Your terraform rating is 27. You hold 10 plants, 7 heat and 11 megacredits. On Mars you own 1 city and 2 greeneries. The red player has already claimed one milestone, the terraform rating one, so two of the three slots are still open. Your heat is 1 short of the 8 you need for a temperature raise, so that option waits. Your plants, though, are enough. Your first action converts 8 plants into a greenery. It must go next to a tile you own, so you pick the empty area beside your city. That area also touches 1 ocean tile and shows 2 plant icons printed on it. You drop from 10 plants to 2, then the placement bonus brings you back up to 4. The ocean next door pays you 2 megacredits, so you now have 13. Oxygen climbs to 7 percent, and your terraform rating goes up with it, to 28. At the end, this greenery scores you 1 point by itself, and 1 more for your city beside it. That greenery is also your third. Your second action claims the three greeneries milestone. You pay 8 megacredits and drop to 5, and it is worth 5 points at the end. Now only one milestone slot remains for anyone at the table. Your turn is over, and play passes clockwise to the player on your left.