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Terraforming Mars(2016)
Games like Terraforming Mars
Looking for games like Terraforming Mars? It's a strategy game with real decisions on every turn — built on asymmetric powers that make your side play unlike any other and spatial puzzles that grow as each new piece lands. This page rounds up 12 of the closest alternatives, scored on mechanical overlap with the original (45%), complexity match (35%), and player-count fit (20%), then weighted by BoardGameGeek community ratings so every pick is one players genuinely rate. The strongest matches come first; the further down you go, the more a game trades exact overlap for a fresh take on the same core appeal.
12 recommendations · scored by ISO
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Imperial Settlers(2014)
One of the closest games in feel to Terraforming Mars, Imperial Settlers mirrors it across closed drafting, contracts, hand management, income, end-game bonuses, take-that plays, progressive turn order, variable player powers, and solo play. At 2.78 weight against the original's 3.27, it's a meaningfully lighter evening — same kinds of decisions, less rules overhead. It supports 1–4 players but sings at two, where the original is happiest at three. You lose the hex-grid tile placement and tag system; in exchange you get multi-use cards and open drafting, so the engine lives entirely in your card tableau rather than on a board.
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Ginkgopolis(2012)
Player count is a rare exact match here: Ginkgopolis runs 1–5 and is best at three, just like Terraforming Mars. Mechanically the overlap covers closed drafting, end-game bonuses, hand management, income, tile placement, progressive turn order, and a solo mode — the essentials carry over, with some drift. At 2.91 weight it sits a rung below 3.27. It drops contracts, tags, player powers, and variable set-up in favor of area majority, layering, a modular board, and simultaneous action selection, but keeps the science-fiction, environmental, territory-building categories, so thematically it lands closer than most on this page.
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Caylus Magna Carta(2007)
Contracts, income, tags, take-that interaction, tile placement, end-game bonuses, progressive turn order, and variable set-up — Caylus Magna Carta covers a lot of the same mechanical ground as Terraforming Mars, though its structure clearly diverges. A 2.87 weight sits below the original's 3.27, making it the somewhat leaner design. Player count fits well: best at three, though it needs at least two people and has no solo mode. What plays differently is the action queue, worker placement, and victory points as a resource replacing closed drafting and player powers — a medieval city-building economy in place of sci-fi terraforming.
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Ark Nova(2021)
Shares Contracts + 9 more
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Newton(2018)
Weight-wise these two are nearly twins: Newton clocks in at 3.37 against Terraforming Mars's 3.27, so expect a comparable level of crunch. The overlap runs through closed drafting, end-game bonuses, hand management, income, tile placement, progressive turn order, variable set-up, and a solo mode, and both hit their stride at three players (Newton runs 1–4). It shares the core of what makes the original tick, with some divergence: contracts, tags, take-that, and player powers are gone, replaced by action retrieval, deck-bag-and-pool building, tech tracks, and point-to-point movement — an Age of Reason travel theme instead of red-planet industry.
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Everdell(2018)
If what keeps you coming back to Terraforming Mars is playing cards from hand to build an income engine toward end-game bonuses — with contracts, tags, variable set-up, and a solo mode along the way — Everdell hits that same territory even as its methods drift. At 2.83 weight versus 3.27, it's a friendlier teach without feeling thin. Both games are best at three, though Everdell caps at four players rather than five. The differences: no closed drafting, hex grid, or take-that here; instead you get worker placement, open drafting, and set collection in a fantasy city-building package.
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Natera: New Beginning(2025)
Natera: New Beginning shares the core of what makes Terraforming Mars tick — closed drafting, tags, income, end-game bonuses, variable player powers, variable set-up, and a solo mode all carry over, though it diverges in notable ways. At a 3.12 weight against the original's 3.27, the depth is nearly identical. It supports 1–4 players versus 1–5, still covering the three-player count where the original shines. The categories overlap on economic sci-fi territory building, but the feel shifts: contracts, hand management, take-that, and hex-grid tile placement give way to open drafting, set collection, tech tracks, and area majority.
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Scythe(2016)
Shares Contracts + 6 more
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Earth(2023)
Shares Contracts + 6 more
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Gentes(2017)
Civilization building is the shared category, and the mechanics back it up: Gentes matches Terraforming Mars on contracts, end-game bonuses, hand management, income, tags, tile placement, variable set-up, and solo play — most of the engine, with real divergence around it. Complexity is close, 3.16 versus 3.27, so the depth is nearly identical. It caps at four players and, unusually for this list, is rated best at the full four, while the original plays strongest at three. In place of closed drafting, take-that, and player powers, you're working with action drafting, action points, a market, and claim-action turn order — a more classically euro rhythm.
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Star Wars: Rebellion(2016)
Interaction is the through-line: Star Wars: Rebellion shares contracts, hand management, income, tags, take-that, variable player powers, and variable set-up with Terraforming Mars, so the skeleton is recognizable even as everything around it changes. At 3.75 weight versus 3.27 it's the heavier commitment. It needs 2–4 players with no solo mode, and it shines at two where the original wants three. The departures are big — no drafting, end-game bonuses, or tile placement; instead area movement, hidden movement, dice-driven conflict, events, and team play turn economic engine-building into a space-exploration wargame. Pick it when you want the sci-fi setting with direct conflict.
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Roll for the Galaxy(2014)
Shares Contracts + 5 more
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