nivek
As Above So Below
This looks like an interesting board game, it has 2 expansions already...
Terraforming Mars: One of the Greatest Board Games in the Galaxy
Terraforming Mars, or “TM,” is hovering in the top 5 of BoardGameGeek’s “The Hotness” ranking and, in just over a month, has already achieved an overall ranking well within the Top 50 Games of All Time. So why all the hype?
In TM, players take the role of corporations terraforming Mars to make a profit. Players buy/draft cards representing patents for various technologies in order to get the job done, then play those cards and spend megacredits to add structures to Mars’ surface or to upgrade production bases.
If you combine card drafting with hand management, drop in a little tile placement, stir in some resource management, and sprinkle liberally with some asymmetric player abilities, you’ve created the recipe for Terraforming Mars.
This game takes more than a few hours to play, but it feels full and robust the whole way through.
But why is TM so well loved?
Well, having now bought and played the game a second time, I have to say it’s because just how deeply complex the game is. There are literally hundreds of unique technology cards, which means each player can build their own path to victory regardless of what they draft.
Depending on your corporation or early luck, players might end up working one particular strategy or do a little of everything in order to win. In the games I’ve played, the victory points were reasonably close at the end.
Proper placement of tiles such as cities, bio-engineered forests, and artificial oceans is just as important as what cards you buy and play. There are also ways to fund victory point awards for the end game or claim early VP milestones. The winning strategy combines all of these aspects and more.
Terraforming Mars: One of the Greatest Board Games in the Galaxy
Terraforming Mars, or “TM,” is hovering in the top 5 of BoardGameGeek’s “The Hotness” ranking and, in just over a month, has already achieved an overall ranking well within the Top 50 Games of All Time. So why all the hype?
In TM, players take the role of corporations terraforming Mars to make a profit. Players buy/draft cards representing patents for various technologies in order to get the job done, then play those cards and spend megacredits to add structures to Mars’ surface or to upgrade production bases.
If you combine card drafting with hand management, drop in a little tile placement, stir in some resource management, and sprinkle liberally with some asymmetric player abilities, you’ve created the recipe for Terraforming Mars.
This game takes more than a few hours to play, but it feels full and robust the whole way through.
But why is TM so well loved?
Well, having now bought and played the game a second time, I have to say it’s because just how deeply complex the game is. There are literally hundreds of unique technology cards, which means each player can build their own path to victory regardless of what they draft.
Depending on your corporation or early luck, players might end up working one particular strategy or do a little of everything in order to win. In the games I’ve played, the victory points were reasonably close at the end.
Proper placement of tiles such as cities, bio-engineered forests, and artificial oceans is just as important as what cards you buy and play. There are also ways to fund victory point awards for the end game or claim early VP milestones. The winning strategy combines all of these aspects and more.