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Terraforming Mars

Expert Terraforming Mars balances card engine with standard projects. Raise TR on odd generations when cards are weak. Milestones at 35 TR are races—claim Mayor or Planner before opponents reach the threshold.

Quick winning principles

  • Buy standard projects when hand has no playable cards and TR raise costs less than 3 VP per step.
  • Use steel on blue cards only; titanium on space and Jovian tags.
  • Claim a milestone the generation you hit 35 TR—waiting one round loses to tiebreak.
  • Plant trees before oxygen raises plant production value for everyone.

Ideal strategy

  1. 1

    Standard project timing: Asteroid and Comet for TR when hand is dead; Power Plant only with building tag synergy.

  2. 2

    Card engine: draw engines need 3+ draw cards before they beat standard project tempo.

  3. 3

    Milestone races: Mayor with three city tiles, Planner with 16+ cards—track opponents' city count every generation.

  4. 4

    Steel efficiency: spend steel at 2:1 on cards worth 3+ VP per steel, never on 1 VP greenery.

  5. 5

    Award funding: fund an award only when you lead that category by 3+ points or it costs opponents 8+ M€.

  6. 6

    Endgame: TR above 40 with greenery for city bonuses beats a thin card combo that stalls at 38 TR.