Board and Tiles
The tracks, the three global parameters and their bonus steps, the map, and the rules for ocean, greenery, city and special tiles.
The game board
- Terraform rating track — all players start on 20
- Generation track — the generation marker starts on 1 and climbs the same track
- Solo start — solo games start at TR 14 and end after generation 14
- Oxygen — starts at 0 %
- Ocean stack — the 9 ocean tiles
- Temperature — starts at −30 °C
- Bonus steps — reaching them gives the bonus shown
- Standard projects — open to every player
- Milestones and awards — extra VP races
- Placement bonuses — what you collect when you place a tile there
- Ocean areas — only ocean tiles go on the blue areas
- Reserved city areas — three areas for specific cities
The map shows the Tharsis region of Mars. Each area is 1 % of the planet’s surface.
Terraform rating
Your 
terraform rating (TR) measures how much you have done for Mars. It goes up 1 step
for every step of a global parameter you raise, and some cards raise it directly.
- It is your income: each production phase you take M€ equal to TR plus your M€ production.
- It is your base score: final scoring starts from your TR.
Global parameters
| Parameter | Start | Goal | Steps | One step means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Temperature | −30 °C | +8 °C | 19 | +2 °C |
 Oxygen | 0 % | 14 % | 14 | +1 % |
 Oceans | 0 tiles | 9 tiles | 9 | one ocean tile placed |
Once a parameter reaches its goal it can’t be raised any more, and raising it gives no TR. You may still play cards and actions that would raise it: just skip that part.
When all three have reached their goals, the game ends after that generation (Game End and Scoring).
Bonus steps
Some steps on the tracks carry a bonus for the player who raises the parameter onto or past them:
| Where | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Temperature −24 °C |  1 heat production |
| Temperature −20 °C | 1 heat production |
| Temperature 0 °C | Place an ocean tile (with its TR and placement bonuses) |
| Oxygen 8 % | Raise temperature 1 step (with its TR) |
Bonuses can chain: raising oxygen to 8 % raises the temperature, which may reach 0 °C and place an ocean, all in the same action.
Tiles
Before placing a tile, check its placement rules below and on the card. Then collect the
placement bonus of the area and 2 
for every ocean next to it.
Tiles never stack: an area with a tile is no longer available.
Ocean tile
Oceans go only on the 12 blue ocean areas, and nothing else goes there. Placing one
raises your TR 1 step. Oceans belong to nobody.
Every ocean on the board pays 2 M€ to any player who later places a tile next to it — even another ocean.
Greenery tile
A greenery must go next to a tile you own if possible. If you have no tile, or
no free area next to your tiles, it may go on any available area. Put your player marker on it.
Placing a greenery raises oxygen 1 step and your TR with it — if oxygen can still
rise. At the end it is worth 1 VP, and 1 VP to each city next to it.
City tile
A city may not be placed next to another city. Put your player marker on it. At the
end it scores 1 VP for each greenery next to it, whoever owns the greenery.
The card Capital places the unique Capital tile: it is a city in every respect and also scores the oceans next to it, as the card says.
Special tiles
Some cards place a special tile. Its placement rules and effect are on the card.
Put your player marker on it: you own it, so it counts for Landlord and your greeneries must go next
to it if they can. A special tile is neither a city nor a greenery and scores nothing by itself.
Placement bonuses
When you place a tile on an area with printed icons, you take what they show: 
steel,
titanium, 
plants or 
cards. On top of that you take
2 for every adjacent ocean. Bonuses go to whoever places the tile, even oceans,
which nobody owns.
Reserved areas
Three areas are reserved for the city from the card of the same name: Noctis City on Mars, and Phobos Space Haven and Ganymede Colony, which are off the map. No other tile may go there.
Volcanic areas
The areas with their names in bold — Tharsis Tholus, Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons — are volcanic. They matter only for cards that need a volcanic area, such as Lava Flows; any tile may go there.
Components and supply
Resource cubes are worth 1 (bronze), 5 (silver) and 10 (gold); where you put a cube decides what it is. Each player has markers in their colour for TR, tile ownership, production and used actions. No component is meant to be a limit: use substitutes if you run short.