Stronghold Games | Terraforming Mars | Board Game | Ages 14+
Stronghold Games | Terraforming Mars | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-5 Players | 90 – 120 Minute Playing Time
Inside the Box
Each copy of Terraforming Mars contains a rules booklet, a game board, 5 player boards, 17 corporation cards, 208 project cards, 8 reference cards, 200 player markers (transparent plastic cubes, 5 colours), 200 resource markers (opaque plastic cubes in gold, silver and copper), 3 game board markers, 9 ocean tiles, 60 greenery/city tiles,11 special tiles, and a first player tile.
| Dimensions: | 7.62 x 29.72 x 29.46 cm; 500 Grams |
| Model: | STG06005 |
| Material: | Cardboard |
| Colour: | Multicoloured |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Age: | 14 years and up |
| Assembly: | No |
| Dimensions: | 7.62 x 29.72 x 29.46 cm; 500 Grams |
| Material: | Cardboard |
| Quantity: | 1 |
The game is amazing and came really fast took a few games to get the rules down but now I play it with my 13 year old brothe
Item was bought as a present for my son, he’s very pleased with it.
Fantastic birthday gift for my son. He can’t stop playing it with his friends.
People complain about the resource recording cards which are not great as it’s easy to knock the markers off. I bought the wooden versions off the internet, not cheap but excellent quality.
The Prelude expansion speeds things up at the start and gives you more corporation cards but is a bit overpriced.
I bought the expansion which give you two other maps to play on, a double sided board, and this is really worthwhile as your strategies have to change.
So to sum up. Great game with lots of replay and once you get into it, it’s very addictive in a good way.
The box comes with a board, 5 player sheets, 5 bags of player cubes (red, yellow, blue, green, and black), 3 bags of metallic cubes for currency, around 200 project cards, and various tiles which indicate forests, cities, oceans, and other structures. All of these are of a decent quality, and so far we have seen no wear and tear to any of them. The board sometimes doesn’t lie completely flat, but this doesn’t significantly affect gameplay in any way. It is worth bearing in mind that the game takes up a large amount of space, so having a large table or section of floor space clear is a must.
It also comes with a much needed instruction booklet; Terraforming Mars has a steep but not long-lasting learning curve which can seem daunting, but is well worth giving a go. After playing only one game, the whole family had gotten a firm grasp of the basic rules, and we’re now playing near expertly, able to plan ahead and strategise based on our knowledge of the game. Each game takes between 2 and 4 hours, depending on how long it takes indidivuals to decide on their turn. This doesn’t mean the game is boring though; far from it! The gameplay is interesting and even addictive, with none of us noticing how much time has passed while we’ve been playing. You can also never tell who has won the game until the final scoring happens, leading to some tense moments and unexpected winners. This also contributes to constantly wanting to go back for more, so you can improve on your previous score or try different approaches.
Since owning the game, we have also bought 2 expansions; the “Preludes” expansion and the “Colonies” expansion. The Preludes expansion adds a huge amount to the game, and I view it as a necessity as it not only decreases play time (due to providing more resources) but also allows for more focused strategies; the Colonies expansion is also a great addition as it gives players more options within the game.
Overall, Terraforming Mars is a brilliant board game which is well worth the money. Due to the plenty of combinations of cards and strategies, the game has endless replayability, and will make sure you never have a dull board games night again!
Had a great time playing this game. The rules could do with some slight tweaks and the pieces don’t always quite fit on the board towards the end of the game when you have a lot of pieces, it could do with being a bit larger. Definitely gonna look at getting some of the expansions.
This game is, for me, as close to perfect as you can get. The gameplay can be picked up quickly, but there is a huge depth of subtlety which means every game can be very different. The pieces are nice quality and add to the playing enjoyment. The gameplay is only mildly adversarial meaning that it’s hard to screw another player over – I like this! 9.9/10 from me!
one of the best board games I’ve played. There’s a lot to it and it did take a while to play but very enjoyable.
Great first playthrough. The in-game logic is very satisfying and there are a brilliant variety of strategies available.
Bought on offer at 35.99 which is a bargain for the replayability on offer here.
On bad thing is a lack of a box insert to keep things orderly.
I wouldn’t call this an expansion of the game but a game in itself, the rules are slightly different and the game itself lasts shorter. I was not aware at the time of my purchase that the version I got was a collectors edition (no advertising of this was given) so I’m not aware of any differences in quality if there is another version, but the quality of materials is fantastic with internal storage inside the box already being figured out.
There is only one flaw and it’s one that’s carried over from the main game and that’s the lack of tracking of 1/3 of the resources on the player board. Otherwise it’s a solid game.
Great expansion to the game, helps you focus on a specific strategy or boost you towards a milestone at the beginning. Also adds some interesting corporations and project cards. Fairly expensive for what it is though.
Was worried that it may of been a fake due to some of the reviews and because how cheap it is compared to normal. But no, quality is incredible and when you learn the game it is very fun.
Don’t be shocked to find that there’re no compartments in the box to store the stuff because that’s normal, (I did go to my local board game shop and looked at the same game and everything was loose in the box).
Great Game 10/10, not the easiest to learn but just follow the instructions, they are very clear just read it probably. Single player is also very good, you have to terraform the planet before generation 14 which can be challenging.
Best way to learn is to get a group of people and just do it, don’t try and learn then play, just go for it and learn while playing its so much easier.
Excellent game. Looks complicated to start with but you’ll soon find out that it’s easy to learn to play. You can play solo, two players up to five players. My husband and I were looking for a fun two-player game and this is perfect. We get hours of enjoyment out of playing as each game is so different based on the different corporations that you please. I would highly suggest getting the Prelude cards to go with it. It steps up the game. Another suggestion would be to buy plastic sleeves for the cards to help keep them in good shape.
Awesome board game if you like strategy, engine building, loads of cards and science. Takes a while to get into the game at the start but after the first game it is straight forward. The included game variations are great and it is very positive that beginners could easily join a group of more experienced players by having beginner starter cards.
Cons:
– individual player boards are flimsy, should have made out of thicker card board
– it is too easy to accidentaly knock your cubes off your player board, at which point you better remember where they were
– ran out of player color cubes quickly and very often, needing to use money cubes instead, consider upping player cubes
A few of things I did not like:
1 – all the cubes keep sliding around the resource card and you risk loosing track of what amount of resources you are supposed to get during the production stage.
2 – This is just a box with all the items loose inside it. There is no insert just a few bags with the items you use inside a box way to big for the stuff that it contains
3 – resource counters are made out of plastic covered in golden, silver and copper colour that are not uniform. some of these you can see the plastic underneath. These are the worse, they keep sliding and jumping of your fingers when you grab more than a couple at a time. I actually thought of replacing them with coins that are easier to handle as counters.
I know there are a couple of organizers that help solving the box problem unfortunately all the interesting ones do not ship to the uk. One of the brands is available at amazon but out of stock for a couple of months now.
Anyway… Loved it… Until the moment my girlfriend started beating me every time we play it (not bad for someone who hated games like these)… will play it over and over again… probably loose over and over again too, but I’ll keep on trying new strategies