Terraforming Mars
Ranked 12 of 15 board games by recommenders
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.
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.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong Mars theme
“don't bother with the steam edition. It has been plagued with bugs”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Modern Board Games: and why you should play them (2022)” “is a board game that heavily references these novels which i highly recommend”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I created a Mars colony RPG based on Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books” Replayable with expansions
“don't bother with the steam edition. It has been plagued with bugs”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Modern Board Games: and why you should play them (2022)” “It's great but really needs the expansions, don't play without”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I created a Mars colony RPG based on Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Needs expansions to play well
“It's great but really needs the expansions, don't play without”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I created a Mars colony RPG based on Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books”
Other board games people recommend
The four most recommended other board games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D Chess | 16 | 2 | 89% | 1 | — | — |
| Tiao | 14 | 1 | 93% | 2 | — | — |
| Diplomacy board game | 12 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| Root by Leder Games | 11 | 4 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Terraforming MarsThis page | 6 | 1 | 86% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Massive replayability with a lot of expansions to add to replayability and the theme is really really good.”
“don't bother with the steam edition. It has been plagued with bugs”
“Best played with 3d printed parts to keep your nezos in place.”
“make amazing suggestions in this list, including two of my favorites: Terraforming Mars and Brass Birmingham”
“building their engines without much negative player interaction”
“The beauty is that it visually looks really complex and advanced, but the gameplay isn't really that much complex more than wingspan.”
“It's great but really needs the expansions, don't play without”
“is a board game that heavily references these novels which i highly recommend”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.