# Terraforming Mars

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Terraforming Mars and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Players recommend it for its strong Mars theme, replayability and engine-building gameplay with little negative interaction. Most caveat: it really needs the expansions, and the Steam edition is buggy.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong Mars theme (2 comments): "don't bother with the steam edition. It has been plagued with bugs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877005)) "is a board game that heavily references these novels which i highly recommend" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937639))
- Replayable with expansions (2 comments): "don't bother with the steam edition. It has been plagued with bugs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877005)) "It's great but really needs the expansions, don't play without" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938093))

## What people warn about

- Needs expansions to play well (1 comments): "It's great but really needs the expansions, don't play without" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938093))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [1D Chess](https://hackerapproved.com/p/1d-chess.md): 16 recommend
- [Tiao](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tiao.md): 14 recommend
- [Diplomacy board game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/diplomacy.md): 12 recommend
- [Mastermind board game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastermind.md): 10 recommend
- [Azul board game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/azul.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Terraforming+Mars+board+game+Stronghold+Games&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://strongholdgames.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Terraforming Mars", https://hackerapproved.com/p/terraforming-mars/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).