
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition: Essentials: No. of players: 1-4 Playing time: 45-60 minutes Age: 14+ Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition: - Rules of Play says: Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is an engine-building game in which players control interplanetary corporations with the goal of making Mars habitable (and profitable). The same kind of game in terms of engine building and goals, at half the play time. Smaller box, lower price point, much more accessible for new players.
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition: Essentials: No. of players: 1-4 Playing time: 45-60 minutes Age: 14+ Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition: - Rules of Play says: Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is an engine-building game in which players control interplanetary corporations with the goal of making Mars habitable (and profitable). The same kind of game in terms of engine building and goals, at half the play time. Smaller box, lower price point, much more accessible for new players.
Discovery expands the Ares Expedition card game with four new mechanics: awards, milestones, upgraded phase cards, and wild tags. It adds new strategic depth to the base game while keeping the same streamlined engine-building gameplay.
Foundations is the big-group expansion for Ares Expedition, adding extra player boards, cubes, and phase cards to support up to six players. It also introduces two new game boards — a larger score track and a fourth terraforming metric (infrastructure), plus new project cards tied to it.
In Crisis mode, players cooperate to keep Mars habitable after a natural disaster plunges the planet into chaos. Each round a new Crisis card arrives demanding players hit certain goals — fail and terraforming metrics drop, bringing extinction closer. Handle all the crises and re-terraform Mars to win.