Turn Structure

Each round of the game represents one generation of development and colonization on Mars. At the start of each round, the first player token moves to the next player.

In every generation players perform the following steps:

1) Research: draw four cards and add any number of them into your hand. Pay 3 M€ for each one added and discard the rest. There is no hand limit.

2) Actions: take 1-2 actions from the list below or pass. If you pass, you will not play again for the rest of the round. Continue in turn order until all players have passed. (Note that, during another player's turn in BGA, you can indicate that you will be passing on your next turn by pressing the Advanced Pass button in the 'current activity' box at the top of the page. This allows you to go off and do other things without holding up the game. There is a Confirm button!)

1) Play a card from your hand

2) Use a standard project

3) Claim a milestone (total of 3 times per game between all players)

4) Fund an award (total of 3 times per game between all players)

5) Use an action on a blue card (each blue card may be used once per generation)

6) Convert 8 plants into a greenery tile (increasing the oxygen level and your Terraform Rating)

7) Convert 8 heat into a temperature increase (increasing your Terraform Rating)

3) Production: first convert all unspent energy into heat, then all players simultaneously produce resources and M€ according to their production values. Players also get M€ equal to their Terraform Rating. (Note that M€ production values may be negative.

Playing Cards

Some cards have requirements in order to play them, such as:

- Global parameters (oceans, oxygen, temperature) must be above or below a certain level

- You must have enough tags of a given type already in play (like Science)

- You must be able to produce a specific resource (like Titanium)

Cards have a base cost which must be paid in M€. This cost can be reduced by other card effects. You can also spend resources in lieu of M€ if the card has certain tags:

1 Steel = 2 M€ to pay for any Building card (brown building icon)

1 Titanium = 3 M€ to pay for any Space card (gold sunburst icon)

Carry out all of the card's effects, gain resources, and increase/decrease production values as directed. If a change to a production value is indicated with a red border, you can choose to apply it to another player or to no one at all. (These are usually negative effects.)

After you play the card, it moves to one of three areas on your board depending on their color. You can change how these areas are arranged by clicking on the "three bars" icon in the header.

- Red cards have no further effects and are automatically hidden. They do not contribute tags to your overall totals but may be worth points at the end of the game.

- Green cards have no further effects, but remain in play to contribute their tags. They may be worth points at the end of the game.

- Blue cards have either an ongoing passive effect or an action you can take on your turn. BGA sorts them into two piles for your convenience.

Standard Projects

You always have the following options on your turn regardless of what's in your hand or on your board. Don't forget them! Each standard project takes one action on your turn.

Note that you can also raise temperature or place greenery by spending heat or plants instead of M€.

Sell patents: discard any number of cards and gain that many M€.

Power plant (11 M€): increase Energy production one step.

Asteroid (14 M€): increase temperature one step (and gain one TR).

Aquifer (18 M€): place an ocean tile (and gain one TR). Note that oceans don't belong to the player who placed them, unlike other tiles.

Greenery (23 M€): place a greenery tile (raising the oxygen level and gaining one TR). If possible you must place it next to a tile you already own.

City (25 M€): place a city tile and gain one M€ production. Cities may not be placed adjacent to each other. (Exception: Noctis City may be placed into its reserved spot even if there is already an adjacent city there.)

If you place a tile, remember to gain any placement bonuses depicted in the space you cover up!

Milestones and Awards

Milestones and awards place you in direct competition with other players. With milestones you race to be the first to meet a certain condition; with awards you compete to have the most in a specific category at the end of the game.

Milestones

As an action, you may pay 8 M€ and claim a milestone if you meet its requirements. It is worth 5 VP at the end of the game. Only three milestones may be claimed per game.

• Terraformer: have 35+ Terraform Rating (TR)
• Mayor: own 3+ cities
• Gardener: own 3+ greenery tiles
• Builder: have 8+ building tags in play
• Planner: have 16+ cards currently in hand

Awards

As an action, you may pay some amount of M€ and fund an award. The first award funded costs 8 M€, the next costs 14 M€, and the last costs 20 M€. Only three awards may be funded per game. At the end of the game, check each funded award. The first and second place player in each category score VP (see Game End section). The player who funded the award receives no special consideration.

• Landlord: most tiles in play of any type(s)
• Banker: highest M€ production
• Scientist: most science tags in play
• Thermalist: most unspent heat resource cubes
• Miner: most unspent steel and titanium resource cubes (combined)

Game End

Game ends when there is enough oxygen to breathe (14%), oceans enough to allow Earth-like weather (9 aquifers), and the temperature is well above freezing (+8˚C).

The winner is the player with most VPs at the end of the game. VPs come from:

• Terraform Rating (TR). Each time you raise a global parameter (oceans, oxygen, temperature) your TR increases. Score VPs equal to your TR at the end of the game.
• Greenery. Score 1 VP for each greenery tile you own.
• Cities. Each city scores 1 VP for each greenery tile adjacent to a city you own, regardless of who owns the greenery. The capital city card also scores 1 VP for each adjacent ocean.
• Awards (must be funded). 5 VPs to the winner, 2 VPs to second place. If players tie for first, they all get the bonus and no second place is awarded. If multiple players tie for second, they all get the bonus. In a two player game, no second place is awarded.
• Claimed milestones. Each claimed milestone is worth 5 VPs at the end of the game. Only 3 of the 5 milestones may be claimed.
• VPs on played cards. First, count all VPs on cards that collect resources. Then gather all of your remaining cards (including all your played events!) and count your VPs. If you have Jovian cards, these may have to be counted separately. (To identify this look for the number, or an effect like X VP / Y number of resources, marked inside the planet Mars Icon)

Limitations of digital adaptation

• Cannot choose order of come into play effects of project cards (with some exceptions)
• When order of effect chosen - cannot Draw cards before resolving other complex effects
• Cannot undo single action (Undo will undo 2 actions or until after last Draw)
• You cannot undo when you are the last player to take an action in multiplayer state (i.e. setup, draft, research)

Common rules misinterpretations

If you trying to submit a bug report about possible rules violation please note that at this point it is very unlikely to be a real issue or unique.

Your bug report will be closed automatically unless you provide EVIDENCE in the report itself - which is either text of game log with move number (using Copy Log button) or screenshot.

These are common cases of rules misinterpretation:

• Event tags are not counted
• No more then 3 milestones can be claimed (out of 5)
• No milestone can be claimed in solo game
• Placing forest after last generation does not increase oxygen
• Some cards effects violate the common rules - please READ the text on the card before submitting bug about specific card
• Production reduction is MANDATORY
• Removing resources to activate card is MANDATORY (i.e. Ants)
• Removing animals/microbes is not possible from PETs or when your opponent has Protected Habitats in play
• You can do some action which seems to be unreasonable (such as spending 8 heat when temperature is at max). This move is allowed by the rules and can be legally played as a stalling technique.