The Terraforming Mars card game is as good as we’d hoped it would be – Ars Technica

The 2016 board game Terraforming Mars is an amazing title.

As evidence, I present the following image:

Nate Anderson

And if a board game becomes popular, you can be sure of one thing: A card game version will eventually arrive. If thats a hit, get ready for the dice version. And then, market willing, comes the roll-and-write version. That may sound like cynical resignation to cash-grabby companies endlessly returning to the same well, but these reimagined versions arent necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some of my favorite games are card or dice versions of bigger board games.

Thats where last years Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition comes in. A card-game spin on the original,Ares Expedition aims to capture the feel of the board game in a smaller, tighter package.

We are pleased to report that it succeeds. Advertisement

Any complaints we had about the production values of the original board game have been fixed.

Aaron Zimmerman

The central board tracks how far along you and your opponents are in terraforming Mars.

Aaron Zimmerman

The new games theme is identical to the original board games. You and up to three opponents take on the role of CEOs of megacorporations working to turn the inhospitable terrain of the red planet into something humanity can call home. While your actions contribute to the main goal of raising three key global parametersthe planets temperature must hit 8 Celsius, atmospheric oxygen must rise to 14 percent, and oceanic coverage must become sufficient to kickstart the planets own hydrologic cyclethis is not a cooperative game.

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The Terraforming Mars card game is as good as we'd hoped it would be - Ars Technica