Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Foundations
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Foundations Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Foundations contains additional player boards, cubes, and phase cards so that Ares Expedition can be played with up to six players. This expansion also includes two additional game boards. One is a larger score track. The other adds a fourth terraforming metric: infrastructure.
Additionally, there are new project cards that involve infrastructure.
Contents
- 1 infrastructure track
- 1 supplemental score board
- 10 phase cards
- 20 upgraded phase cards
- 22 project cards
- 1 corporation card
- 2 dual-layer player boards
- 2 player aids
- 1 card divider
- 1 clear cube to track infrastructure
- 13 black player cubes
- 13 white player cubes
- 50 copper cubes
- 12 silver cubes
- 12 gold cubes
Setup
Player setup is exactly the same as with the base game, using the black and white cubes and phase cards for the additional players.
- Set the supplemental score board to the left side of the board. Players can use this board to have additional space when multiple score cubes are on the same number. When going below 5 or above 25, players should move their cube to the score track on the main board and continue on there.
- Set the infrastructure track along the top side of the board and place a clear cube on the 0% space on that track. It is recommended to only use this track for games with 5 or more players. You can use it in lower player count games, and it will make the game last longer.
- Shuffle all of the new project cards into the project deck.
- If this is your first time playing with this expansion, replace the corporation card Inventrix and the project cards Adaptation Technology and Special Design from the base game with the ones provided with this game.
When you are playing without the infrastructure track, remove all of the project cards with the 5+ icon next to the card number.
Card Notes
Inventrix (corporation card, 33 MC)
- Starting text: "At the start of the game, draw 3 cards. You start with 33 MC."
- Effect: "When playing a card with requirements, consider infrastructure, oxygen, or temperature one color higher or lower. This cannot be modified further by other effects."
Adaptation Technology (project card, cost 12)
- Effect: "When playing a card with requirements, you may consider the infrastructure, oxygen, or temperature one color higher or lower. This cannot be modified further by other effects."
Source note: the rulebook prints this card partly covered by the Special Design card; only the effect text above is legible in the rulebook.
Special Design (project card, cost 3)
- "You may play an additional blue or red card this phase."
- "For the next card you play this phase, you may consider the infrastructure, oxygen, or temperature one color higher or lower."
Phase Card Notes
The rulebook prints the phase cards and upgraded phase cards only as card art, with most of each card covered by the cards in front of it. Only the text that is fully legible is reproduced here.
Development phase card (Phase I, base)
- Ability: "Pay 3 MC less for the card you play this phase."
Research phase card (Phase V, base)
- Ability: "All players draw 2 cards and keep 1."
- Bonus: "Draw an additional 3 cards and keep 1 additional card."
Research upgraded phase card (Phase V, Upgraded)
- Ability: "All players draw 2 cards and keep 1."
- Bonus: "Draw an additional 2 cards and keep an additional 2."
Source note: the text of the other 9 phase cards, the other 19 upgraded phase cards, and the project cards is not legible in the rulebook and is not reproduced in this file.
Player Aid
The printed player aid, reproduced as the expansion prints it:
The game is played over the course of several rounds. Each round is divided into three steps: Planning, Resolve Phases, and End.
A. PLANNING STEP - Choose what happens this round! Each player simultaneously reveals a phase card from their hand. Flip the phase tokens for the chosen phases. A player is not allowed to pick the same phase two rounds in a row.
B. RESOLVE PHASES STEP - Execute your plan! Players resolve the chosen phases (and only the chosen phases) in order. There are no turns, so each player plays the phase at the same time. You will receive a bonus during the phase you selected. A description of the phases are on the back of this card.
C. END STEP - A small bit of clean up. Each player discards down to ten cards in hand, taking 3 MC for each card discarded. Flip all of the phase tracker tokens to the closed door side, and start the next round.
GAME END: The game ends when all of the global parameters have been completed - oxygen is 14%, temperature is +8°C, and 9 oceans tiles have been flipped. Victory Points (VP) are awarded for Terraforming Rating (TR), forest tiles, and points on cards. The player with the most VP wins!
Gameplay
Gameplay for five and six players works the same with the following exception:
Source note: the rulebook prints this sentence with no exception text following it.
Infrastructure
There is a fourth terraforming metric that must be completed before the game ends: Infrastructure. There are new project cards that increase infrastructure.
Additionally, there are two new standard actions that increase infrastructure:
- Spend 15 MC to increase infrastructure 1 step.
- Spend 5 heat and 3 plants to increase infrastructure 1 step.
Whenever you increase infrastructure, you gain 1 TR and draw a card.
End Game
The game ends in the phase in which all four terraforming metrics are completed:
- All the oceans are faceup.
- The oxygen is maxed out.
- The temperature is maxed out.
- The infrastructure is maxed out.
Discovery
Upgraded phase cards were first included in the Discovery expansion alongside the Award and Milestone tiles. In order to use upgraded phase cards in your game, you will need to own Discovery.