Terraforming Mars
Second time playing this, now with the asymmetrical corporation cards. I won, big (I’m the red sprawl all over the map), but I’m not sure I really earned it. Started with a strong corp, had a strong first draw, lots of luck meant I ended the game with +38$ money production. And that means I really didn’t need other resources.
Looking forward to playing again with the Corporate Era cards, which nearly doubles the size of the deck and probably doubles the length of the game. It’s just such a neat engine / tableau game. Probably my best recent buy.
I enjoyed this one, too. I really like how you’re building your own engine while the group is building Mars’ engine.
Also, if you think you’ll be playing it a lot, I recommend these: http://www.gametrayz.com/game-trayz/terraforming-mars
I highly recommend starting with a draft… Instead of dealing 10 cards to everyone at the start… Deal 6, draft 5 of those passing left. Then Deal 6 more and draft 5 passing right. Then buy from the 10 cards you drafted… Ensures a much more equal start. Give everyone their 2 corps before the draft, but they don’t decide until after. Adds about 10-20 minutes to the game but well worth it.
Keith Stetson yes! I was hoping someone had done this.
Yanni Cooper we drafted but not on the setup turn. I can see it helping, yeah. We played with three last night and the drafting wasn’t onerous.
If you’ve gotta pick between initial draft, and during draft, I recommend initial… A bad start can mean more than occasionally drawing a bad card. That said, I do like drafting an extra card (so in normal research we draft 4 of 5 cards.
I can see a bigger draft being good if we add the corporate era cards. That’s a really big deck to get through.
It looks like a big deck, but you’ll get through it pretty quickly. I really like this game – it’s nothing innovative or amazing, but the way the various pieces fit together was immensely satisfying.
How does this play for two people? Is there a solo component?
Glenn Rittenhouse haven’t played two, and there are solo rules.
It plays pretty well w/ two players and solo… though Solo is very hard! For two players drafting is much more important to ensure a fair game!
Something I like: there’s real science in the game but it’s not as overwhelming as High Frontier. I adore all the crazy ideas side by side.
Keith Stetson those trays are amazing. I’m in for five of them! Grey with stickers, damned things are nearly as expensive as the games themselves.
I swear I should buy a 3D printer just to save money on boardgame bling. I’ll bet someone is posting up files for this stuff.
There are a bunch of them on Thingiverse. They’re too big to fit on my printer, though. So YES you should get a 3D printer, but don’t get one with a smallish build area.
FWIW I blinged mine w/ magnets and drywall corner pounded flat and cardboard. Based off a post on BGG.
Paul Beakley yeah, my buddy got the clear ones because they’re cheaper, but they’re also way harder to use.
I wasn’t feeling the felt finish. Looked iffy in the pictures. But the grey seems nice.