Rules | Tutorial Video | BGG source

Ares is a fan-made expansion to Terraforming Mars that refocuses the game on the map of Mars, promoting player interaction on the board. The expansion includes new mechanics, new tiles, new cards as well as replacement cards and tiles.

23 cards 11 of which replace base game cards New special tiles to replace the base game special tiles Ocean upgrade tiles Hazard tiles A new milestone and a new award

Many special tiles now grant a bonus to any player who places another tile adjacent to them. The owner of such a special tile gains 1M€ when any player places a tile adjacent to it.

Adjacency bonus is indicated by the yellow hexagon on the tile. For example, when any player places a tile next to the Mohole Area they gain 2 heat and the owner of the Mohole Area gains 1 M€.

In this example, when any player places a tile next to Ecological Zone, they may add 1 animal to any of their project cards, if possible. The owner of Ecological Zone gains 1M€ in any case.

Nuclear zone has a red border and is not considered a tile which grants an adjacency bonus. (Therefore it is not eligible for the new milestone or award.

Three new project cards allow a player to place special tiles on top of existing ocean tiles, granting new properties to the existing oceans.

Placing these tiles does not count as placing an ocean (e.g. it does not give TR since the ocean was already there.)

Placing these tiles do count as placing a tile (e.g. it allows you to collect adjacency bonus from surrounding tiles.)

Entrepreneur: Be the owner of the most tiles that grants adjacency bonus.

Networker: Be the first to place three tiles adjacent to tiles that grants adjacency bonus.

By default, one of these will be chosen randomly and added to the game.

These tiles represent areas of Mars that are particularly inhospitable. Dust storms will be present on the board at the start of the game, while Erosions appear later in the game.

Hazard tiles start with the “mild” side facing upwards, but may be flipped to show the “severe” side during play.

IMPORTANT: When placing a tile with your player marker on it adjacent to a hazard, you must reduce a single production of your choice one or two steps as indicated on the hazard tile.

Example: Paul places a city next to a severe erosion, and reduces his M€ production two steps. Laura places an ocean next to the erosion and takes no penalty, since the ocean does not have her player marker on it.

During play, a player may remove a hazard by placing a tile on top of it. This requires an additional payment of 8 or 16 M€ as indicated on the hazard tile, but also rewards the player one or two TR for making Mars more hospitable.

Global parameter changes during the game will cause changes in the hazards on the moon.

• 5% oxygen, the dust storms become severe. *(Denser atmosphere greately increases the impact of the storms.)

• 3 oceans, adds 2 erosion tiles to the surface. (Introducing water to a super-arid terrain has consequences.)

• -4C, erosions become severe. (Thawing permafrost leads to massive terrain instability)

• 6 oceans, remove the dust storms entirely and the active player gains 1 TR. (With a proper hydrological cycle, the storms finally diminish.)

Q: If you place a tile next to the Ocean City or another special ocean tile, do you still get the 2 M€ bonus for placing a tile next to an ocean?

A: Yes. The special ocean tiles are regarded as ocean tiles on the board in addition to their other special properties.

Q: Will a Dust Storm tile with a bronze cube on it (from the “Desperate Measures” event card) be removed by the “Remove dust storms” marker?

A: No, that hazard tile will not be removed.

Q: Do I gain progress towards the Networker milestone if another player places a tile granting adjacency bonus next to one of my tiles?

A: No. You gain progress when YOU place a tile adjacent to a tile granting adjacency bonus (and thus collecting the adjacency bonus).

Q: What happens if temperature has reached the “Flip erosions to severe side” marker before the marker to “Place 2 erosions” has been reached?

A: When it is time to place the erosions, they will be placed on the board as severe erosions.

Q: When a player removes a hazard by placing a tile on top of it, does that player receive any placement bonus printed on the board on the space beneath the hazard tile?

A: No, the player does not receive any such reward.

Q: Is the special ability of the Mining Guild corporation triggered by adjacency bonus.

A: Yes. But if placing a tile grants bonus steel or titanium from several sources, the Mining Guild may still only increase their steel production 1 step for placing that tile.

• Mars First from Turmoil has a ruling policy: When you place any tile on Mars, receive 1 steel. This applies to Geological Survey.
• Arctic Algae says "When anyone places an ocean tile, gain 2 Plants." This applies to Ecological Survey.

Both of these were confirmed by the expansion designer. But if someone else places an ocean, you only gain two plants.

• When cards describe 'tiles', hazards count. However, when cards describe an empty area, like Hermetic Order of Mars, hazards do not count.

For the person who wants to update the iconography, an .xcf of the source material can be found at https://github.com/kberg/terraforming-mars-extras/blob/main/board_icons_ares.xcf