I've watched a lot of reviews of TFM Ares Expedition and this review seems to look clearly at both games and not just say "This one is shorter and easier" or "Ares Expedition isn't REAL Terraforming Mars" I thought your conclusions were simple but insightful and I'm actually becoming a little more interested in trying Ares Expedition though not as a TFM replacement (The area control and awards/milestones elements are too integral for me to want to excise them completely)
Very true. Played it for the first time and I have to say, it's a better game than OG TM. When it first came out, the lack of a map turned me off, but it keeps, if not enhances the card play of TM and takes out all the fiddly bits that make the game drag to 4+ hours. PLUS you get more cards in this game, not so restricted to the "only 4 cards a round" structure.
I'm not a fan of the original Terraforming Mars at all and I was very reluctant to try Ares Expedition but I was very pleasantly surprised. This feels much cleaner, tighter and (with the different phases) more interactive. Plus the components and production quality are miles ahead.
I've played at 2 player 2 times this new version, but was dissapointed, at first I thought the games was better with more interactions and better cards. But then the game was too long, 1 and 30 minutes or 2 hours long, and we started for the middle part of the game to repeat always the same 2 phases trying to end the game and get all the vp. this soured a lot my gameplay and I wanted to ask if the part of repeating the same phases at the end happen to others too.
2 hours for 2 players seems really long. Generally our group pushes aggressively toward terraforming which drives the end of the game. Generally the first 5 or so rounds no one does actions as a pick, electing to focus on getting cards and resources to play cards that give you more cards and resources, but then the next 5-10 rounds are a good mix of everything. The final rounds I generally see action, production and sometimes the green building card to get some point cards into play.
I'm very curious about Terraforming Mars but never played it (I think it doesn't fit in my group, and I'm the big board games enthusiast/buyer of the bunch). Do you think this one stands by itself, for someone new to Terraforming? And is it a good entry point for a group of "non-euro" gamers?
It's a smaller package so it has far less intimidating of a presentation than TFM. The artwork is welcoming but there may be issues with the iconography. If the iconography hurtle can be overcome, the actions are simple and, as long as Race for the Galaxy wouldn't be a bear to teach to your gaming group, it should work just fine. Also the cubes can slide if you don't get the KS edition so I would be aware of that.
I'm eager to try this. I'm not impressed by TFM based on what it asks of the players. it has a lot of setup and our first 2p game took us over 3 hours. I'd be interested in trying this out as an alternative
My thoughts, after 4 plays, cannot warm to Aries over the original losing the map which loses a lot of deep strategic placement gameplay loads of additional cards and bonuses, too many which does increase the options but at the cost of player overload. ocean reveal in aries pointless and skill - less in 2 player really inferior and takes ages. loses awards and milestones, no replacement. Again takes away a simple concept which had loads of impact and wasnt complex.
Can we expect a new edition of TM with better quality materials? I didn't get the game because the art and the quality of the cubes are horrible for me
@@TheCardboardHerald instead of telling you to move up production the cards say "during production phase, this produces 1 MC". That implies that you don't move up production when you play that card, if that's true, what's the point of the production tracker? They should read "increase production".
@@benholman8444yeah it’s a bit cumbersome but I don’t think it’s broken. The card itself tells you what possession of the card does and the tracker is used so you can keep track when you have oodles of cards in front of you. I hear what you’re saying and it probably could be better in future updates but it certainly hasn’t impacted any of my fun with the game.
@@TheCardboardHerald yes, but the corporation cards do the same thing. It's confusing because if I have a corporation card that says, "reduces the cost of space tags ..." Is that supposed to be affected by other modifier cards or not? It has the symbol for upping production, but didn't say to do that. Our first play, I didn't do that and my wife did. That left me at a disadvantage. The cards should be clear. I do like not having to track steel and titanium, but I don't think this is an improvement over the original.
@@benholman8444 steel and titanium in this are different than other resources in that it makes a blanket reduction in cost rather than generates resources. That said anytime you see the shaded box with a resource symbol on a card or corp, you are to update your trackers. Hope that helps!
To someone who likes but isn't enamored with RftG (though I really love New Frontiers), I think it is, but I think a RftG die-hard would need to give their take.
I have TF (with all expansions), Ares Expedition and Rftg. None of them really replace any other, if only because of the time requirement. TF (with expansions) is still the best experience, because it is more immersive and bigger, more grandiose. It also takes close to 3 hours amd setup/takedown is a beast. Ares is the one we take when we want to play Terraforming Mars, but cannot spend 3 hours to it, which is a lot of times. Ares is still pretty long for a card game. It take somewhere between 60 to 90 minutes. It's certainly more doable on a weekday evening than it's bigger brother, but it's definitely not a filler game. RFTG, because it plays in 20 minutes, still has a spot to occupy. However, it does not feel like the resource management game that TFM is. If i have to pick only one game, it would be Ares. If i had to pick two, it would be TFM and Rftg.
Yeah, I can see that. I still prefer it, especially now that milestones and awards have been added in. A couple of years later I do wish there were slightly more interfacing with the planet, but the system itself is pure. I hate to say it, but I recently let go of my Terraforming Mars big box edition in favor of keeping AE on the shelf.
