Terraforming Mars (2016)

“Minor quibbles on the mats aside, Terraforming Mars board game is an absolute winner. It's got an awesome theme that works, huge replayability, satisfying engine building, and juicy choices throughout the game.”

“Terraforming Mars is everything you could want from a board game. A science-based board game with deep and interesting decisions that build on top of one another. It’s sensational!”

The reviewer highly praises Terraforming Mars as a strategic and competitive 'must-have' game that involves significant decision-making and offers a strong sense of accomplishment, despite its less-than-stellar artwork.

Tom Vasel highly praises the Colonies expansion, stating he would always include it when playing with experienced Terraforming Mars players due to the added actions and strategic depth it brings, making the game more enjoyable despite minor additional fiddliness and component issues with the trade fleets.

“Imperfection it may be, but there is great beauty in its existence. Terraforming Mars receives my golden shield award. For being the right combination of variables, tweaked and tuned in just the right way.”

The reviewers express high praise for Terraforming Mars, highlighting its exceptional engine-building mechanics, deep thematic integration, and one of the best drafting experiences in board gaming, despite acknowledging its potentially lengthy playtime.

The reviewer highly praises Terraforming Mars, considering it his favorite game from Gen Con that year, highlighting its unique qualities, solid scientific theme, and engaging gameplay.

The reviewers were very impressed with Terraforming Mars, praising its fantastic game design, the extensive card variety, and the engaging player choices that ensure you always have meaningful actions to take. They considered it a highly enjoyable Euro-style game they would enthusiastically recommend.

“So, Is Terraforming Mars worth your money? The answer is triple yes. Tabletop edition, expansions, digital edition. They are all great value and I can only recommend them.”

The reviewer enthusiastically praises Terraforming Mars as a brilliant, deep, and fun game, calling it a "definite keeper" despite minor criticisms regarding component quality, specifically the flimsy player mats.

Rahdo considers Terraforming Mars an excellent and phenomenal design, despite some reservations about the game's length and the inclusion of 'take-that' mechanics. He enthusiastically placed it in his top 10 games of the year.

“The reviewer lauds the game for its deeply immersive and well-executed theme, suggesting it's one of the best thematic games available. While the component quality is noted as a significant disappointment, the superb gameplay is considered to far outweigh this issue, making it a highly recommended experience.”

“Terraforming Mars is a mixture of Euro brilliance, substantial player interaction and an undeniable catchiness.”

“Terraforming Mars is a great package overall, from it base mechanics, to clever use of resources, to unique projects, to many possibilities each player can do.”

The reviewer highly recommends Terraforming Mars, praising its exceptional replayability due to the vast number of unique cards and the strategic variety they offer. Despite minor issues with flimsy player boards and inconsistent card art, the game is considered a must-have for experienced board gamers due to its engaging interaction and satisfying engine-building mechanics.

“For others, this is exactly what they want in a game: a crunchy, engaging brain-burner with amazing theme in an unusual setting.”

Bryan Drake enthusiastically recommends Terraforming Mars, highlighting its fantastic blend of card-driven mechanics and tile-laying, making it a cohesive and highly enjoyable game that even his wife, who dislikes space themes, loves and wants to replay.

The reviewer considers Terraforming Mars a highly enjoyable and easy-to-play board game, consistently returning to it as a long-time favorite for game nights. They praise its enduring appeal and fun gameplay, despite exploring many other board games.

“The game absolutely nails its theme, and its blend of cooperative outlook and competitive urges means its a tight, tense experience the whole way through.”

“I love Terraforming Mars, and it’s one of the most popular games of 2016; I consider it the best game of the year.”

The reviewer highly praises Terraforming Mars for its extensive depth, strategic gameplay, and significant replayability, appreciating how clearly the game's card effects are explained.

“What does matter though is how these cards all start to create the context for what might be the single most satisfying engine-builder I have in my collection. Terraforming Mars remains a genuinely great game with even all of this.”

The reviewer praises 'Terraforming Mars' for its deep strategy, varied paths to victory, and unique card deck that ensures no two games are alike. However, they note that the artwork is mixed and the player boards are flimsy.

The reviewer highly praises "Terraforming Mars" as an innovative and enjoyable hand management and tile-laying game that becomes more rewarding with repeated plays. However, they strongly criticize its over-reliance on random card draws and the exceptionally poor quality of its components.

The reviewer highlights Terraforming Mars as a game that is exceptionally fun and thematic, drawing in a broad audience despite its acknowledged mechanical imperfections and lack of technical polish, ultimately describing it as a game with 'heart' that is satisfying to play.

The reviewers found Terraforming Mars to be a satisfying game with an interesting theme, but ultimately felt it devolved into a "mathy" and "fiddly" experience, losing its thematic appeal and becoming less about strategic puzzling than expert distraction, leading them to not rank it among their top Euro games.