Teach the Game
A five-minute script: raise temperature, oxygen and oceans for terraform rating, build an engine of project cards, and score the most victory points.
How you win
“Each of us runs a corporation paid by the World Government to make Mars livable. Together we push three global parameters to their goals: temperature, oxygen and oceans. Every step you raise yourself bumps your terraform rating, and that rating is both your income and your base score. On top of it you score cities, greeneries, milestones, awards and project cards. When all three parameters are done, the game ends after that generation and the most victory points wins.”
- What you need: the most
victory points at the end. Your 
terraform rating
(TR) is your starting score; everything else is added to it. - How you get them: raise
temperature, 
oxygen and place
oceans for TR; place 
greeneries next to 
cities; claim
milestones and fund awards; play cards with VP on them. - Nobody controls the pace alone: the game ends when the last parameter reaches its goal. Full rules: Game End and Scoring.
The boards
- Terraform rating track — everyone starts on 20; it is your income and your base score
- Generation track — the generation marker climbs the same track, one step per round
- Solo start — the solo game starts at TR 14 and ends after generation 14
- Oxygen track — 0 % to 14 %
- Ocean stack — the 9 ocean tiles wait here
- Temperature track — −30 °C to +8 °C, 2 °C per step
- Bonus steps — reaching them gives a bonus: heat production, an ocean or a temperature step
- Standard projects — six projects anyone can buy at any time
- Milestones and awards — 5 VP races for the whole table
- Placement bonuses — what you collect when you put a tile there
- Ocean areas — the blue areas take only ocean tiles
- Reserved city areas — only the city from the card of that name goes there
- Production tracks — what you get each production phase
- MegaCredits — money; your income is M€ production plus TR
- Steel — worth 2 M€ towards building cards
- Titanium — worth 3 M€ towards space cards
- Plants — 8 make a greenery
- Energy — used by cards; left-over energy turns into heat
- Heat — 8 raise the temperature
A round
A round is a generation, in four phases (How to Play):
- Player order: the first-player marker moves one seat clockwise; the generation marker goes up one.
- Research: everyone draws 4 cards and buys any of them at 3
each. - Action: in turn, take 1 or 2 actions, round and round the table, until everyone has passed.
- Production: energy turns into heat, then everyone collects M€ equal to TR + M€ production and every other resource they produce.
Generation 1 skips player order and research: setup already did them.
The seven actions in one line each (full list):
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Play a card | Meet its requirement, pay its cost, do its effects |
| Standard project | Buy a fixed effect from the board: sell cards, energy production, temperature, ocean, greenery, city |
| Claim a milestone | 8 for 5 VP, if you meet it; only 3 of the 5 can be claimed |
| Fund an award | 8, 14 or 20 ; at the end the leader gets 5 VP, second 2 VP |
| Blue-card action | Use one action from a blue card or your corporation, once per generation |
| Plants into greenery | 8  → a greenery, which raises oxygen |
| Heat into temperature | 8  → raise temperature one step |
Taking no action means you pass: you are out until the next generation.
How the game ends
When temperature +8 °C, oxygen 14 % and all 9 oceans are reached, the generation is played to its end and production happens as usual. Then everyone gets one last chance to turn plants into greeneries, in player order, and the game is scored.
Ways to score
| Source | Victory points |
|---|---|
| Terraform rating | 1 VP per step of your final TR |
| Greenery tile | 1 VP each |
| City tile | 1 VP per greenery next to it, anyone’s |
| Milestone | 5 VP each you claimed |
| Award | 5 VP for first, 2 VP for second (no second place with two players) |
| Cards | The VP printed on your played cards, events included; some count resources or tags |
| Negative cards | A few cards cost VP; they count against you |
Tie: most M€ left wins.
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why you need it | How you get it | How you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| MegaCredits | Pays for cards, projects, milestones and awards | TR + M€ production every generation | Spend on everything |
 Steel | Makes building cards cheaper | Steel production, placement bonuses | 2 M€ each towards cards with a  building tag |
 Titanium | Makes space cards cheaper | Titanium production, placement bonuses | 3 M€ each towards cards with a  space tag |
| Plants | Greeneries are TR, VP and feed your cities | Plant production, placement bonuses | 8 plants → a greenery |
 Energy | Many cards and actions need it | Energy production | Spend on cards; left-over turns into heat |
| Heat | Temperature steps are TR | Heat production and every unspent energy | 8 heat → one temperature step |
 Cards | Your projects: production, effects and VP | Research (3 M€ each), card effects | Play them by paying their printed cost |
| TR | Income and score | Raising parameters, some cards | Counts automatically |
Teaching tips
- First game: everyone takes a Beginner Corporation and plays the standard game, without Corporate Era or the draft (Setup).
- Explain the brown production box early: a resource in a brown box is production, outside it is a one-off gain.
- Explain the red border: it means the effect can hit any player, you included.
- Remind everyone that raising a parameter also raises their TR, and that TR is income.
- Point at the standard projects: they are always there when you have no good card.