Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition Card Game Collectors Edition ,1 to 4 players, Orange

Fun game that plays pretty quickly once everyone knows the rules. It’s easy enough to get setup comparable to similar strategy games. Quality build with complex strategy layers. Gameplay setup fits on a standard kitchen table.

This game showed up very quickly, in pristine condition. It is the "streamlined" version of the regular Terraforming Mars game, which I have not yet played. But this game is fantastic on its own merit and still incredibly complex and satisfying to play. We sunk many hours into it, so don't plan on being finished in the time frame listed on the box. I run a board game club at my office and I am always looking for streamlined games that I can play. We have a few regular board game enthusiasts as well as a few folks who join us for smaller games. This is a medium to heavy board game that requires a lot of attention to detail, and despite being "lighter" than standard Terraforming Mars it is insanely fun to play, with a focus on strategic card selection and creating a tableau of cards that work well together. It is an "engine builder" , so play starts out a little slow but quickly picks up pace. The instructions state that players should do their actions in each phase simultaneously to speed up play, but we felt it was best to go individually, as we helped each other to keep track of all of our moving parts. Despite this being a "competitive" game, we wound up playing with open hands and discussing the way cards worked to help one another learn, especially on the first playthrough. I think you could play it as cooperatively or competitively as you like. Players take the role of companies, competing to do the most to terraform Mars for human life. Winning comes down to points, and some folks may find that aspect a little uninteresting. But the cards themselves, and the way everything interacts, as well as the science and logic put in by the game developers became the most interesting aspect for us. A wonderful game for science nerds or space enthusiasts. It seems like it will have fabulous replayability.

Fun game. Great solo or with other players.

This version is quicker to to playthrough and less expensive than the original terraforming mars game but just as fun to play. Great for people interested in learning/playing thr game but not wanting to spend hours playing and dropping as much money.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition inherits a lot of its excellent gameplay from its predecessor, but distills the mechanics down to make a quicker and a bit easier to learn game. How is it different? Like its predecessor, you draft cards to play into your tableau to create an engine that generates heat and oxygen (earning you more money and victory points). Unlink the original, you do not play cities, forests, and oceans* onto the board for positional victory points. Oceans are already present and they just earn you some bonus money and resources when you flip (activate) them. The game leans more heavily on the card play mechanic. Each player selects a phase to play on their turn, and all players get to play that phase (but the selecting player earns a bonus). This is similar to games like Puerto Rico or Race for the Galaxy. Depending on the phase, you may draw cards, play cards, take actions, or generate resources (money, heat, plants). But is it better? I think so, by a bit. I like the building out of the board of the original, but there is very little to no downtime in this game since all players play simultaneously. It’s quick to set up, quick to play, and good at all player counts (3 might be the best - hard to say). It even has solo and 2-player cooperative modes. Honestly, if you like Terraforming Mars, you’ll almost certainly like this. Even if TM is not your thing, this version seems to be rid of the parts that annoy some players. It’s a good, quick play engine builder. I’d call it a 4.5 out of 5. I might give it a fifth star, but I need to play a few more times at different player counts.

For people who are intimately familiar with Terraforming Mars, this will seem like a familiar game with fewer complications. For people who have no clue what Terraforming Mars is, this is a great game that teaches people about how Mars could be terraformed in a card game with simultaneous actions. This is great as a 2-player game, though it is even better as a 4-player game. Since I only own licenses to Terraforming Mars on Steam and Google Play, having Ares Expedition on my game shelf feels right. If I could only own either Terraforming Mars (with all of its expansions and upgrades) or Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, I'd buy Ares Expedition and be very happy with it. A fun part about this game is choosing which one phase out of five to play. Since each player does this, there could be one to the number of players different options available (which is why playing with four people is better than with two people). If all players choose the same phase, not as much happens on the turn (since the phases chosen indicate the abilities of the round). The purchasing mechanic is nice since the steel and titanium accumulate over time and add discounts to the card prices (without resetting the steel or titanium amounts). This is different than in Terraforming Mars. Having a specific Action phase is great since that allows for triggering the various actions on the cards and/or on the player board (like funding an ocean or forest). I noticed we didn't play the Action phase much in the 2-player game. I'm very thankful for Branden and Lexi from All Aboard Gamer teaching us the game at Dice Tower East. They did a great job and we tried to buy the game there, but it was sold out. I look forward to receiving the three expansions that are due to be released soon.

The game has a lot of different mechanics, discounts, bonuses and calculations to keep track of, so only people that are willing to spend hours in a game that requires thinking hard, will enjoy this. But that being said, this is one of the best games I have played. It is engaging, it constantly makes you think, not just about your game, but if you want to maximize your tasks, about your opponents' moves as well. It is a complex game, but for board game geeks, it is definitely one of the best games out there. It has the complexity of Terraforming Mars, but is slightly shorter and more fast paced than the full game.

I have always considered myself an avid gamer. I've enjoyed video games, board games, card games, and so on. My wife grew up playing card games and some board games, and we've enjoyed playing less complicated board games and card games throughout our marriage. This was a step up in complexity for my wife and at first she was overwhelmed. After playing through a game, things started to click into place for her. After playing a few games, she felt like she had stumbled into a victory. After playing a half dozen games, she may be arguably better than me at the game. The game at first may seem complex if you aren't used to this type of game, but once you have the basic mechanics down it is quite enjoyable. I also feel like the concept that you are working toward a common goal (even if you are competing) enjoyable because even if you don't walk away with the most points at the end of the game, you've built a production line and have helped to finish the terraforming project on mars. I really find this game enjoyable, and would definitely recommend at least giving it a try.

Tenía mis dudas sobre el, porque no soy muy fan de la temática espacial y futurista en juegos de mesa, pero este si me gustó mucho y su versión solitaria funciona muy bien y es divertido. Me encantó.

Wanted to add a few extra players to the base 4. This expansion adds some upgraded phase cards to the base game, but the instructions itself states you can't use them if you don't have discovery which is weird that it was included in this one. The main attraction for this is the addition of 2 extra players plus the infrastructure which is what I wanted. It also adds an awkward TR score track that is added to the left side of the board to give you extra space for you to keep score but once you get past TR 25, you have to use the cramped score track again. Still I would buy just for the extra players + infrastructure

Love this game! Easy to play, clear and descriptive instructions, excellent quality of materials. A great game, playable by two people and which takes many of the same concepts from Terraforming Mars (full edition) and tweaks them a bit to make for an interesting, enjoyable - and shorter - game. Highly recommended. Suggest getting the expansion pack "Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition: Discovery", for even more interesting competition.

Bella espansione del gioco Terraforming Mars per chi vuole giocare in due o tre in modalità cooperativa. Una partita in due giocatori dura dall'ora e mezza alle due ore. La modalità difficile è molto sfidante, richiede continui cambi di strategia e un pizzico di fortuna per non perdere. Non correre di rischio di annoiarvi. L'unica pecca è la scatola perché non ha un vero e proprio coperchio ma si apre solo da un lato rendendo scomodo estrarre e ritirare il materiale del gioco. Ad oggi, non esiste una versione in italiano ma la versione in inglese è perfettamente comprensibile

Großartige Erweiterung! Die Krisen, die den Spieler unter Druck setzen, machen das Spiel sehr interessant. Perfekt für Solospiel.