Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

To set up, place the game board in the center with cubes on the temperature and oxygen tracks, and randomly place face-down ocean tiles on the board. Set out phase tracking tokens, resource trays, and forest victory tokens. Each player takes a player board, sets their production cubes to zero, and places a cube on the terraforming rating track at five. Deal four beginner project cards plus four more, or eight standard project cards, to each player to form their hand, along with a randomly dealt corporation card that provides starting money and resources.

The main objective of Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is to successfully help terraform Mars by completing projects that raise global parameters like temperature, oxygen, and oceans. Players manage resources, play project cards, and perform standard actions to earn victory points. The player who contributes the most and finishes with the highest total score wins the game.

Each round is divided into three steps. First, during planning, players secretly choose one phase card. Second, during resolve phases, all chosen phases are executed simultaneously, allowing players to play green, blue, or red projects, use card actions, collect production, or research new cards. Choosing a phase grants a special bonus. Finally, during the end step, players discard down to a maximum of ten cards, gaining money for each discarded card.

Final scoring triggers as soon as all three global parameters reach their maximum limits. Players calculate their total score by adding their final terraforming rating value, points from forest victory tokens, and any victory points printed on their played project cards. The player with the highest total wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining resources wins.

The game end is triggered instantly once all nine ocean tiles are flipped face up and the temperature and oxygen markers reach the top of their respective tracks. When this happens, players finish the current phase they are resolving and immediately proceed to final scoring without playing any remaining phases of that round.