Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Ares Expedition: Discovery adds four new mechanics to base Ares Expedition: Awards, Milestones, upgraded phase cards, and wild tags. Awards and Milestones work very similarly to how they function in Terraforming Mars. Wild tags give players flexibility as to what tag the card has when it is played, and upgraded phase cards give players an even bigger bonus when they play the corresponding phase.
Contents
- 40 upgraded phase cards
- 4 corporation cards
- 3 card dividers
- 38 project cards
- 7 Award tiles
- 11 Milestone tiles
- 40 tag tokens
- 16 3VP tokens
Setup
Before dealing the corporations and project cards, do the following:
- Shuffle the Award tiles facedown. Reveal three of them and set them next to the main game board. Repeat this process with the Milestone tiles. Return the unused Awards and Milestones to the box.
- Each player takes a set of ten upgraded phase cards with card backs matching their player color and sets them near their play area. You will not use these at the start of the game.
- Set the tag tokens in a pile to the side of the play area.
- Shuffle all of the new project cards into the project deck.
You can customize your play experience to only have certain expansion content. If you want to play a game without Awards and Milestones, simply remove all the project cards with the Award icon next to their card number. If you'd like to play a game without upgraded phase cards, remove all the project cards and corporations with the upgraded phase icon next to their card number.
Upgraded Phase Card
Upgraded phase cards function the same as normal phase cards except they have better bonuses. Each phase has two different upgrade options. There are project card and corporation card effects that allow you to upgrade a phase card. To upgrade a phase card, choose one of the upgraded phase cards that were set aside at the beginning of the game. Replace the corresponding phase card from your hand. If you chose that phase this round, place it faceup replacing the phase card you chose this round. If that phase hasn't resolved yet, you will receive the bonus from the upgraded phase card instead of the normal one.
When resolving an "upgrade a phase card" effect, you may choose to upgrade a phase card you have already upgraded into a different upgraded version.
Source note: the rulebook prints the card art and text of only one example upgraded phase card (Upgraded I, Development: "Each player may play 1 green project card." Bonus: "Reduce the cost of the card you play this phase by 6MC."). The full text of the other 39 upgraded phase cards is not reproduced in this rulebook.
Milestones
Each Milestone tile shows a goal. The first player to achieve that goal takes the corresponding Milestone tile. If multiple players achieve the Milestone in the same phase, one player takes the Milestone tile, and each other player takes a 3VP token. At the end of the game, each player will score 3VP for each Milestone they have achieved.
3VP tokens count as Milestones for the cards that mention Milestones.
The printed Milestone tiles are: 9 different tags in play; 8 Green Cards; 10 heat production.
Awards
Awards reward players with VP for having the most or second most of something at the end of the game. The Award tile shows what tag, production, etc. is required to earn that Award. The player who has the most of the shown item at the end of the game receives 5VP. The player with the second most receives 2VP. If there is a tie for first, all tied players receive 4VP and there is no reward for second. If there is a tie for second, all tied players receive 1VP.
The printed Award tiles are: Most building / space tags; Most heat production; Most science tags.
Wild Tag
Whenever a card with a wild tag is revealed, the player who revealed it chooses what tag it counts as. When you play a card with this tag, you will be instructed to take a tag token matching the tag you chose and place it over the wild tag. You choose the tag when you play the card. Therefore, it will trigger effects that affect that tag. For example, if you choose the space tag, titanium capabilities will reduce the MC it costs to play the card.
If you use an effect that reveals cards from the deck, you choose what tag this counts as. If you play (or discard) the card later, you are allowed to choose a different tag.
Variants
Drafting
During setup, after project cards and corporation cards are dealt, players draft their starting projects. Each player chooses one of their eight project cards to keep and passes the remaining cards to the left. This continues until all players have drafted eight project cards. Then players choose which corporation they want to play as.
You can also use the advanced play variant in the original rules that allows you to discard unwanted project cards and redraw a card for each you discarded. This would happen after you draft and before you choose your corporation.
2-Player Dummy Hand
If you'd like an even faster game, you can use a dummy hand. At the end of setup, shuffle an unused set of phase cards and set them facedown near the game board. At the start of the planning phase, reveal a random phase card from the dummy player. That phase is also resolved this round. Once all of the dummy player's phase cards have been revealed, shuffle them facedown at the start of the next round.
There are no other changes to the planning step.