Expert at Terraforming Mars? Further challenge your ability to make Mars inhabitable with these Terraforming Mars Expansions that bring new areas of mars to explore, political challenges and outer colony trading. Our Terraforming Mars Expansions List informs you of the new features and gameplay that each bring to the base game.
But wait! Don’t just check out the expansions. Find out about new standalone games that based of the Terraforming Mars theme.
Terraforming Mars Prelude

Players: 1 to 5 | Game duration from: 90 mins | Game Complexity: EASY
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Terraforming Mars Prelude | 1,743 Reviews | $24.99 $20.30 | Buy on Amazon |
As the mega corporations are getting ready to start the terraforming process, you now have the chance to make those early choices that will come to define your corporation and set the course for the future history of Mars - this is the prelude to your greatest endeavors!
In Terraforming Mars: Prelude, you choose from Prelude cards that jumpstart the terraforming process or boost your corporation's engine. There are also 5 new corporations and 7 project cards that thematically fit the early stages of terraforming a new planet. Prelude is an expansion to Terraforming Mars, and can be combined with any other Terraforming Mars expansion or variant.
Prelude transforms Terraforming Mars-FOR THE BETTER!
It basically adds prelude cards to your deck that provide you with starting resources and/or abilities. Everyone receives four prelude cards. BEFORE choosing your starting corporation, you choose your prelude resources and abilities. Synergize your prelude cards and corporation cards for a nice start.
Prelude essentially makes the game shorter and gives players a clearer direction on what strategy to employ to win!
Prelude does not introduce any new mechanics or rules, instead it boosts players' first few turns so that they do not have to spend all of their time producing resources. As a matter of fact, Prelude should be a part of the base game by now since it benefits the early generations so much you will wonder how you survived without it.
For a new player, the only drawback I see is that there are more decisions to make during setup and start of the game. If you suffer from analysis paralysis, you might find the additional choices to be a bit problematic as you try to find the perfect combination of all the cards dealt to you during setup.
Terraforming Mars Hellas and Elysium

Players: 1 to 5 | Game duration from: 90 mins | Game Complexity: MEDIUM
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Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars Hellas & Elysium The Other Side of Mars Expansion | 1,087 Reviews | $24.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium, the first expansion for Terraforming Mars, consists of a double-sided game board presenting two new areas of Mars:
• Elysium takes players almost to the opposite side of Mars' equator, with vast lowlands for oceans in the north and a dry, mineral-rich south. Place a tile on Olympus Mons, the highest peak in the solar system, to gain three free cards!
• Hellas, the southern wild, includes Mars' south pole and the enormous seven-hex Hellas crater that just begs to become a giant lake. Building around the pole gives you new placement bonuses in the form of heat and possibly even water.
Each of these maps consists of new sets of milestones and awards with relevance for that particular map. Place three tiles around the south pole to be a Polar Explorer, for example, or race to have the most estates beside water on Elysium!
Terraforming Mars Colonies

Players: 1 to 5 | Game duration from: 60 mins | Game Complexity: MEDIUM
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Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars The Colonies | 658 Reviews | $34.99 $29.95 | Buy on Amazon |
We now have a broader view of the world. In pursuit of minerals and resources, corporations expand into all corners of the solar system. The majority of places are not suitable for terraforming, but building colonies may increase your income and your chances of terraforming Mars. Get your trade fleet to distant moons! Take over Jupiter's clouds! Let your Earth assets propel you forward!
Colonies lets you explore outer space. Colonies can be built and trade fleets can be sent. New cards and corporations are included.
Terraforming Mars Turmoil

Players: 1 to 5 | Game duration from: mins | Game Complexity: MEDIUM
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Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars Turmoil | 407 Reviews | $39.99 $34.95 | Buy on Amazon |
TURMOIL lets you take part in politics and navigate a world that is constantly changing. Delegates influence the Terraforming Committee, and Global Events set the course for the future. New corporations and cards are also included.
Terraforming Mars is an EXPERT EXPANSION. In addition to the main game, TURMOIL can be combined with any other expansion or variant. The game length is increased by about 30 minutes.
This expansion is the most complicated expansion but is my favorite one. It is recommended that you play a few round of the base game before playing this.
There are a few interesting abilities that allow players to interact with a political/delegate board depending on what party is leading. It also features a rule that drops Mars' terraforming rating every generation, adding to the sense that the planet is slowly becoming independent of Earth.
Terraforming Mars Venus Next

Players: 1 to 5 | Game duration from: mins | Game Complexity: MEDIUM
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Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars Turmoil | 407 Reviews | $39.99 $34.95 | Buy on Amazon |
TURMOIL lets you take part in politics and navigate a world that is constantly changing. Delegates influence the Terraforming Committee, and Global Events set the course for the future. New corporations and cards are also included.
Terraforming Mars is an EXPERT EXPANSION. In addition to the main game, TURMOIL can be combined with any other expansion or variant. The game length is increased by about 30 minutes.
This expansion is the most complicated expansion but is my favorite one. It is recommended that you play a few round of the base game before playing this.
There are a few interesting abilities that allow players to interact with a political/delegate board depending on what party is leading. It also features a rule that drops Mars' terraforming rating every generation, adding to the sense that the planet is slowly becoming independent of Earth.
Standalone Terraforming Mars Games
These Terraforming Mars game editions are standalone extensions and do not require the base game to play.
Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition

Players: 1 to 4 | Game duration from: 45 mins | Game Complexity: MEDIUM
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Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition Card Game Collectors Edition , Orange | $49.99 $27.99 | Buy on Amazon |
This is a card game version of the popular award winning game, Terraforming Mars. This game inherits much of its excellent gameplay from its predecessor, but simplifies the mechanics to make it quicker and easier to learn.
In the game, the company you work for builds project cards that cost mega credits (MC). Each time you advance terraforming parameters (temperature and oxygen) or flip oceans, you get 1 TR (terraform rating).
MC, heat, and plants are the three resources. You can make these resources with green project cards. You'll also get MC equal to your TR. As you go through the production phase, you track the resources and how much you produce.
Actions and effects are on blue project cards, and events are on red project cards.
A card can have tags, which are used on other cards for effects.
As soon as all the ocean tiles are flipped and the oxygen and temperature tracks are at their maximums, the game ends.
Terraforming Mars Dice Game

Players: to | Game duration from: mins | Game Complexity: EASY
Players use special dice to develop their corporations and terraform Mars into a new home for humanity in Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game. The dice represent the resources players spend to play cards and perform other actions. As you progress in the game, you increase your production of dice, terraform cities, place greenery tiles, and gain various bonuses. A turn consists of either producing new dice (Production Turn) or performing actions (Action Turn). Terraforming Mars (raising oxygen or temperature or placing an ocean tile) grants 2 Victory Points. In addition to playing tiles and cards, you can also win awards and milestones to gain VP. 2 of the 3 global parameters (oxygen/temperature/ocean) must be completed for the game to end. The player with the most VPs wins.