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Expansion Review #4: Terraforming Mars: Venus Next

# of Players: 1-5
Playtime: 2-3 Hours
Core Mechanic: Action Selection
Theme: Space
Type: Euro
Weight: Heavy
Year: 2017

Rating: 7*

Terraforming Mars is a game that is ripe for expansions. The heavy dependency on cards would make it easy to implement as well. The first expansion was two new maps which I have not played yet, but I also see that being more of a mini-review when I do since on the surface they don't do much to add or change the game play. However, the second expansion, Venus Next, added a new board and a whole stack of new cards. How would this change the game?


The Venus board adds a fourth global parameter, the Venus scale, in addition to the original temperature, oxygen, and ocean. Advancing this scale will increase your Terraform Ratings and provide you with bonuses, but  unlike the original three global parameters, the Venus scale is not an end game condition. It is possible that depending on how the cards are distributed that some games will see a heavy focus on the Venus scale while others not so much. In addition to this global parameter, the Venus board adds a new standard project to advance the Venus scale and four new city areas.


New cards and corporations are added to the game as well. Some cards add a new resource, Floaters, that act in the same way as microbes and animals. Some cards will have a Venus tag on them, which similar to the tags found in the base game will coordinate with other similar cards to help build an engine. There is also a new milestone and award included with the expansion. The Hoverlord milestone provides TR for having at least 7 floater resources while the Venuphile award is won by having the most Venus tags in play.


Finally, the other big thing that gets added to the gameplay is a new phase - The Solar Phase. This new phase happens after the production phase, and only if the game has not ended due to all the end game conditions being met. In this phase, the first player for this round will advance a non-maxed global parameter or place an ocean tile. No bonuses will be triggered during this phase. Essentially, this phase, at least in this expansion, keeps the game moving at a decent clip due to the additions brought about by the rest of the expansion, which puts less focus on the global parameters. As a variant, this new phase can be skipped but the rulebook notes that the game will be longer as a result and that eventually this phase will need to be included for future expansions.


My thoughts on the expansion? While it adds a few new gameplay elements and provides an alternate path for victory, it does not seem essential at all since I think the game is enjoyable with or without it. So it is something that can be added for replayability, but in no way do I think it is necessary. In some ways, the addition of all the cards that are just related to the elements introduced in Venus Next dilutes the card pool, making it difficult to find the combinations of cards from just the base game. However, with so many expansions that have been released since, perhaps one of these will add more to the Solar Phase and emphasize some of the changes that Venus Next brought, making it one day essential.

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