Designer: Jacob Fryxelius

Terraforming Mars has been hailed as one of the biggest success of 2016, in fact, it was named Gamersdungeon.net game of the year for 2016 as well.  With all the hype and perfect 10 reviews from everyone and their mother, it stands to reason the game has a lot to live up to.

Approaching this game objectively was very difficult for me, having already claimed it as Game of the Year, you almost assume that its going to get a perfect score, so I will remind my readers that around here we do things by the book.  I chose Terraforming Mars as game of the year because that judgement is based solely on my personal opinion.  I apply zero objectivity, I simply find a game I think sets a new standard of design, one that rises above the rest in my mind and that’s the one that gets the accolades. When it comes to my review processes things get a lot more niddy-griddy and focused.

Ok without further delay here is your gamersdungeon review of Terraforming Mars!

Overview

Final Score:  (3.65 out of 5 Stars)

Terraforming Mars as the title suggests all about turning the red planet green.  Each player represents a future mega corporation tasked with making our closes neighboring planet habitable.   This is done largely through the playing of cards, resource management and tile placement on a map of mars.

The game features core mechanics like card drafting, representing the researching of technology, managing a variety of resources including the all important mighty dollar and putting elements into play both cards and tiles that adjust the planets temperature, oxygen levels and fill the planet with oceans, cities and greenery as well as populating it with all manner of life in later stages.

While this may appear to be a mutual venture, it is anything but, in fact, Terraforming Mars is very much a competition to see which corporation can make the greatest contribution to making the planet habitable and the competition is filled with nasty plays and take that moments.

Terraforming Mars is definitively stylized and designed as a Euro game, but it is far more interactive and perhaps one might even say cut throat then your typical benign Euro.  This combined with a unique theme certainly makes Terraforming Mars stand out of your typical Euro fare.

Components

Score: 
Tilt: 

Pros:  Good Quality Components, Great Board Center Piece.

Cons: Stock art on cards is very poor.  Flimsy player boards.

The component quality of Terraforming Mars is a real mixed bag and unfortunately while the good is great, the bad is awful.  On the one hand you have this beautifully artistic representation of the planet in the center stage, with a quality board and high quality tiles to go with it.  You’ll populate that board with high grade and very thematically colored cubes as well as put into play high quality cards.  In general the components of the game are sturdy and made to last and while as is often the case there are a few weak links like the flimsy player mats, all and all there is very little to complain about here.

Still there are some oddities that really distract from the general quality of the components and artistic presentation.  For one, the art on the cards themselves ranges from beautifully illustrated works of art, to stock photo’s of really random shit like a god damn white pudil that are outright ugly.  Its a very strange contrast, distracting to a point and while much of the art is fantastic, a great deal of it can only be described as not art at all, but random photo’s downloaded from facebook of peoples pets or random people standing around.  Its a shame, its clear the publisher simply didn’t have the money to maintain the level of art quality throughout the game and really does take away from the games general artistic presentation.

Its sadder still because the theme is so interesting and unique, yet so much is lost as a result of these very poorly chosen stock photos.  The component quality of Euro games usually takes a back seat to gameplay and longevity in my humble opinion, but in this particular case, because the theme itself is such a big selling point of the game, the card art suddenly becomes very important, in particular in the art style which detracts from the game.

You get used to it after a play or two and I can’t say I’m disappointed with the components here, but it certainly wasn’t perfect.  I may be judging it harshly, but of all the things I hate in games, stock art is among the most offensive.  Just never, ever do this.  Not unless the art has some sort of link to a TV show or movie and even then its usually not good.

Theme

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Pros: An amazingly thematic game with a high level of connection to mechanics.  Its just pitch perfect.

Cons: Again Stock Photos, they really drain a lot of energy out of the theme.

The theme is really the biggest selling point of this game, which is very unusual for a Euro game.  The concept of Terraforming the red planet not only comes at a perfect time when such topics are being seriously discussed at NASA, but also because its so interesting to explore the technologies that apply to terraforming a planet.  Simply put, its just a really fun concept and much of the reason that Terraforming Mars was voted Gamersdungeon.net game of the year for 2016 was the theme.

The fantastic aspect of the game is that the theme and mechanics are so closely connected, the core gameplay just drips with thematic presence, it may in fact be one of the most thematic Euro games I have ever played.  As you put out cards their is logic to their existence, for example you can’t start putting out animals until the temperature and oxygen levels are high enough, or you might not be able to leverage early technologies late in the game when the planet has already become too warm.  There are also all sorts of big epic plays like crashing moons into the planet to create oceans, or lobbing nuclear arsenals to raise the heat levels.  You just have a sense of growth and progress on the planet over time and you really see it develop into a habitable world.

The developer has done an amazing job with a well chosen theme and above anything else about the game, the theme is really what stands out.

Its true that many of the arts, because they use stock photos kind of detracts a bit from the game, but this is more a minor annoyance than a real problem for the theme of the game.  I expect, sometime in the future we will get a much cleaner version of this game, its very obvious it was simply underfunded, which is a shame.  This is definitely a good candidate for a future kick-starter campaign or a deluxe version.

Gameplay

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Pros: A wide range of wonderfully connected mechanics that work on many levels with rich and dynamic strategies to explore.

Cons: A bit long, in particular at higher player counts. Might be too aggressive for some.

While the theme lives and breathes almost in its own space, much of its successful presentation and feel comes from a really wonderful combination of mechanics.

The asymmetrical corporation for starters give you a feeling of ownership and us versus them, each with unique powers that create distinct opportunities for your corporation denied to everyone else.  This creates a healthy dynamic start, while simultaneously setting the player up for a sort of position in the project at large.

Next up are the cards themselves.  I love the fact that you draft the cards and then decide which ones you want to pay for and keep.  This creates an opportunity to deny your opponents the cards they might want to take, without getting stuck with a card you don’t need (often the case in drafting mechanics).  It also creates a moment of contemplation where you plan your move and choose cards to fit your strategy, while simultaneously considering your resources and the timing of each card.  More importantly the cards themselves are great thematic representation of development and growth of the planet.  Each card is important and has a place in someones strategy and as such, there is little waste here.  Its all very dynamic and well thought out, its very clear this mechanic was heavily tested.

Finally you have the board itself and again, the mechanics and theme merge to create a perfect union as you compete with other corporation to be the first in a wide range of technology and development races.  Your pushing for every advantage, creating cities, oceans, working the temperature and oxygen levels and trying to command nature to your benefit.

There is a lot of take that in this game and things can get pretty nasty with a wide range of direct assaults, as well as positional elements on the map and the various competition races for milestone awards.  Its a pretty hostile environment given the kind of benign theme and it may be a bit of a turn of players who don’t like that sort of targeted attack mechanic.  For me personally this is a vital element that is absolutely needed as otherwise it would be a very solitary game with extremely limited interaction.  The ability to strike out at point leaders works as a natural catch up mechanic and while of course people can be mean and attack the guy that falls behind, this typically works to their detriment as its the point leaders you need to go after.  There is a thought out balance there and it’s important to recognize that it works to the benefit of the game.

Other game play elements include your tableau where you collect cards that adjust your resource production and create new actions you can take.  The flow of the game is such that in the early turns you might only be able to take one or two actions per generation (round) but by late game you could be taking 8 to 12 actions in a generation.  More importantly the actions become more and more interactive in the course of the game, creating an almost battle like system where one player might be creating microbes to score points, while another introduces microbe eating animals that eat them.  Then later someone might introduce a predator that eats animals and so the progress of life on the planet starts to take on a life of its own.  It of course does wonders for the theme of the game, but mechanically it creates competition and interaction between players.

The end game scoring is also a bit tricky because while points = money during the course of the game, usually raising your Terraforming Rating (a kind of point/money resources) requires some sort of set back or cost to you.  Its often more beneficial to put out blue cards that create new actions for you, or play cards that raise your resources, but these usually don’t do much for your TR which is where the real race is.  There are always trade offs, managing these decisions is really where all of the strategy and tactics of the game live, doing it well is the only way to achieve victory.

Gameplay is extremely rewarding in Terraforming Mars, you have a sense of personal growth of your tableau, you have the sense of progress on the planet as it becomes more and more habitable and there are constant realignments of strategies and opportunities that come up as you gain new research cards.   The designers have really tapped into the essence of great game-play here, when it comes to design, this game is not over-hyped, it really is a wonderful melting pot with a very streamlined and natural flow.

One drawback of the game is down time.  I have played it two, three and four player at this point and I have to say that the higher the point count the more down time and considerably longer the game draws out.  Really it misses the sweet spot by quite a bit, its just a bit too long even in a 3 player game it step over the comfort zone.  By the very late game you just kind of wish it had wrapped up 20 minutes ago.  I think with experienced players it will become more manageable but I don’t think I would want to play this with more than 4 players.

Replay-ability and Longevity

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Pros: Plenty of dynamics and asymmetrical play creates great replay-ability.

Cons: A bit heavy, a bit too long for back to back plays.

There is plenty of dynamics in the game thanks to the card play and asymmetrical corporation to give the game some longevity.   It is however a fairly heavy and fairly long game so its not something your going to pull out all the time.  After playing it three times in the course of a couple of weeks I felt very much that I needed a break from it.  I think its very re-playable so I don’t think that’s an issue, but it certainly has that weighty feel that will have you considering whether or not you want to get involved with a game that overstays its welcome my a smidget or two.

I think the biggest boon for this game is that the theme is so refreshing, so if you stay away you start to remember how cool planet building is and are drawn back to it.  As such I think this one will remain in my collection for quite a while, it has that instant classic feel to it.

Conclusion

Terraforming Mars in my eyes is two things.  First, its a design achievement.  I tip my hat to the designer for creating something truly unique and clever.  This is a smooth game that represents the theme mechanically so well, in particular for a Euro game which usually don’t make particularly strong connections to theme.

Secondly is of course the theme.  I absolutely adore this concept, its such an easy sell too.  The designer has done a really great job of capitalizing on the theme of Terraforming a planet, for science-fiction nerds like me this is an absolute must have in your collection.

There are a few blunders like the stock photos and a perhaps the game is just a tad bit too long with a little too much down time, but their are logical explanation for both and both can be either overlooked or over come.  Stock photos, well, you’ll just have to get used to that.  As for the downtime and pace of the game, I think with experienced players you can really shave off quite bit of the playing time.

All and all this is a great game that belongs in your collection if your a Euro game fan, a science-fiction fan and in particular if you love thematic games and the concept of Terraforming a planet interests you.  I think if you don’t like take that games, you might want to try before you buy here.  It might be a bit too much for some gamers to handle, though I would argue its definitely an important inclusion for the game.

Designers: Wei-Hwa Huang, Thomas Lehmann

When it comes to a list of my favorite games to play, Race For The Galaxy is one that falls into the category of games that I like to call “love to play them, hate to teach them”.  That is to say, I think its a fantastic game, I will happily pull it out and play it but only with people who already know how to play.  Trying to teach Race for the Galaxy is a bloody nightmare to the point that I almost never do it.

Along comes Roll For The Galaxy, a dice based version of the same game, in the same style by the same designer.  The concept and goal is the same, build up your space empire by colonizing planets, discover technologies and of course doing it faster and better than the other guys.  Like Race for the Galaxy, Roll For The Galaxy is a race to the finish line but instead of cards, it uses a combination of tiles and dice.

Overview

Final Score:  (3.9 out of 5 Stars)

Roll For The Galaxy is a game of resource management and while its driven by dice, unlike most dice based games there is not that much luck involved.  Its really a game of manipulating your dice (resources) to create the most optimal engine that scores the most points.

Now the fun part about both Race for the Galaxy and now Roll For The Galaxy is that you have limited control over which phases will be played during a round and its in this roll selection mechanic much of the games strategy takes place.  You have to try to guess what your opponents will do, guess right and you can leverage their chosen actions as well as your own.  This is how you really get the edge in Roll For The Galaxy and as such its both a game of resource management and reading minds.

Components

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Pros:  Streamlined, clear and easy to understand iconography supported by explained text on everything makes learning the game easy, high quality tiles and dice.

Cons:  Player mats are a bit flimsy, the insert is too small to fit all components so you have to pull it out to fit everything.

Rio Grande Games has a mixed reputation when it comes to component quality but with b Roll For The Galaxy they really put in the effort here.  The quality of the tiles is the absolute best it can be, the dice quality is also above grade and while some of the player mats are a bit flimsy there are some nice organizational touches here that make every component very handy for streamlining gameplay.

You have shields to hide your dice area, cups for collecting and rolling dice and there is fantastic organization of information on everything.  Really most of the components act as player aides so while the game has a lot of iconography like Race for the Galaxy did, its less confusing because the rules of each icon are always spelled out on the tile or player mat.  This makes the game very easy to reference and easier to pick up.

My biggest complaint about Race for the Galaxy is the difficulty in teaching it and this is largely due to the fact that the game has a ton of Iconography and its not explained anywhere in the player components, its all stored in the rule-book or index card requiring constant reference.  In Roll For The Galaxy they have solved this problem and its a huge blessing, deserving of all my praise.

Roll for the Galaxy is not a complex game, but there are a lot of special powers on the tiles, unique actions and a variety of special rules.  Thanks to the layout of the games components however, it all becomes second nature after a couple of rounds of play.

While there was quite a bit of art pulled from Race of the Galaxy, the majority of it is new and this was also a great decision.  The game feels fresh and the art work is colorful and themed just right even if you already own and have played Race For The Galaxy.

All and all the component quality here is really fantastic, I see little to complain about other then the player mats which are a bit flimsy and will definitely wear and tear over time.  The insert was also really bad, it doesn’t leave enough room in the box to fit everything so I had to throw it out.  Not really a big deal, but you have to wonder what they where thinking.

Theme

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Pros: A sense of “race” remains in the game, art work does a lot to promote the theme.

Cons: Very abstracted and disconnected in most places.

Rio Grande Games generally makes Euro style games and Roll For The Galaxy, despite being a dice based game, is very much a Euro game.  Despite its roots, Roll For the Galaxy has more theme then most Euros.  Your building a space empire, playing out improvements, technologies, installing governments and colonizing planets.  All the science-fiction bells and whistles are here supported by great art that heightens the perception.

That said the game is not really particularly thematic, its all very abstracted, though in a dice game this is a given.  Its clear that everything that could be done to make this game thematic was, but it still does not result in an overwhelming sense of time and place.  It works well as a science-fiction theme and being based on Race for the Galaxy it retains that “space race” feel, but the theme here is pretty interchangeable, it could have just as well been themed to be medevil Mediterranean trading or well pretty much anything with trading and exploration.

I don’t think this really has much impact on the game though, you don’t really sit down to it expecting a thematic experience.  Its a fairly short, strategic dice game with roll selection and resource management.  The mind games of trying to guess your opponent strategy and intended action each turn is a lot of fun, but I’m not sure how that ties into the theme at all.

Needless to say the theme is sufficient, but isn’t going to overwhelm the senses and that’s just fine.

Gameplay

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Pros: Great core mechanics, streamlined and fun.  The game pace and timing is just right in the sweet spot.

Cons: Very little player interaction.

I consider gameplay to be of utmost importance in a game like this as it involves dice and that is very easy to fuck up.  In fact, I would say the overwhelming majority of dice games are huge disappointments to me so when I find a good one like Roll For The Galaxy its cause to celebrate.

Roll For The Galaxy functions on several levels, its actually far deeper than any dice game I have played before to the point where I’m not sure it fully qualifies as a dice game in the sames sense that Voyage of Marco Polo or Kingsburg may arguably might be considered to be in a category other than dice game.

On the surface its a game of resource management.  You roll dice in your cup which represents your available resources or work force.  The icons on the dice determine what options are available to you although there are countless ways to manipulate the results, in particular once you get a few developments into play.  Your also managing your money to bring already used workers back into your cup for your next turn.  There is a kind of engine here you have to coordinate to ensure you always have some resources to work with and much of the strategy of the game revolves around this cycle.

On the second level you have your action for the round.  Each round you will select one of the five possible actions to take, however each player does the same thing.  Only the actions selected by the player will be triggered, and since you assign dice to actions at the start of each turn, guessing correctly what actions your opponents will take will allow you to take both your action and the actions of your opponents.  This is a kind of mini game of trying to deduce what your opponents will do, its both a big part of the strategy and fun of the game.  Guessing correctly on a regular basis means you will gain a big advantage over time, as will your opponents.  Which again flips things where you don’t want to be obvious with your actions to prevent your opponents from guessing correctly.  Its really a kind of fun mind game, it can even create a bit of Analysis Paralysis.  I really love this aspect of the game.

Finally their is the third layer where you decide what planets to colonize and what developments to build.  Here you have another engine where you explore tiles by pulling them out of a bag when taking the explore action, then choose which tiles to develop.  This is where you will build your long term strategy, a critical component to being successful in the game as the tiles both give you advantages like more dice for your cup, ways to manipulate dice or just outright score points.  The tiles themselves are also worth points and generally the more resources it takes to put a tile into play the more its worth, but of course the longer it takes to get into play.  Its a fine balance of tough decisions requiring you to have a flexible and well thought out strategy.  It is also the trigger for the end game, once any player has 12 tiles out, at the end of the round the game ends.  So there is strategy to how fast you develop, do you go for big hard to put out tiles to score big points, or do you rush to the finish line with lots of smaller tiles.

All of these elements come together to create a very thinky, very engaging game that far exceeds the expectations you might have of a simple dice game.  Much like Race for the Galaxy there is not a tremendous amount of interaction between players, its effectively a space race to see who can do it faster and better, but the game is sufficiently short that this does not become a problem.  You’re really focused on your own stuff, but because of the role selection mechanic your always keeping a close eye on what your opponents are doing in anticipation of having to guess what actions they will take.  It works really well to keep players interested in each others progress despite not really having much you can do to affect it negatively.

I absolutely adored the gameplay in this game, it has the exact same concept/premise of Race For the Galaxy, with the same feeling, but without the overly complex Iconography to slow the game down.  Its very easy to teach and learn and its very short even with a full complement of players.  Its a really great warm up game, yet it has sufficient depth to keep veteran players engaged and interested.

Replay-ability and Longevity

Score: 
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Pros: Scales well, dynamic starts and plenty of randomization to create new experiences each time you play.

Cons: Nothing to complain about

Its really hard to measure the longevity of a game like this, but I think the fact that its a fairly short game (typically under an hour) its replay-ability ratio is very high.  I can see this acting as a warm up game for a lot of game sessions in particular because it scales so well with any player count.

The randomness of tile draws and dice rolling ensure that you are never going to play the same game twice, in fact, I would say even your strategy is very dynamic.  You are going to base a lot of your strategy on what tiles you start with and what tiles you draw, so your not going to walk into this game with a “this is how you win this game” pre-planned strategy.  Every game is different, requiring a different approach,  which does wonders for replay-ability.

Very little to complain about here, its easy to teach and learn, so you really can pull it out at any game session without fear.  It has a great dynamic start ensuring your going to be seeing the game through new eyes each time you play.  Just a good solid mechanic with plenty to explore.

Conclusion

Roll For The Galaxy has turned out to be one of the most solid titles to come out of Rio Grande for quite a while in my eyes.  It definitely surpasses its predecessor Race For The Galaxy and despite being a dice game, its a very strategic game well in the control of the player.  Lady luck plays her part but not nearly to the extent one might imagine in a dice game.

This is a multifaceted game that works on a fairly wide range of depth, yet manages to be easy to understand throughout.  It scales really well, it has a short play time that really hits the sweet spot for warm up games and there is plenty of exploration for repeated plays.

Definitely a highly recommended title for Race For The Galaxy fans and fans of dice games, but really this game is far more than the sum of its part.  This is a thinky, strategic game, worthy of the shelf space of any gamer out there.