Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars: Prelude Expansion

TM is one of my all time favorite board games. It's always been extremely well received by friends, both gamers and non-gamers. That said, I've avoided this expansion just because it didn't look like that much value. It's just a small deck of cards, that's really it. And, to be honest, the previous TM expansions didn't bring a ton of substance. However, despite the fact that Prelude was the last expansion I picked up, I believe it addresses a mechanical complaint inherent in the base game. TM is a long game, especially with non-gamers prone to analysis paralysis, an especially long game with 4 and 5 players. Prelude shaves off about 30 minutes and 1-2 generations. Now, you may or may not find that a positive thing. I enjoy longer games, but that's not true of everyone. Still, it's not just about a quicker game, that's just side-effect. Instead Prelude offers each player 4 cards of pretty nice, substantive perks, out of which you chose two to keep. These range from one-time resource drops to permanent production increases, and a few other nice touches. All of this helps to jump-start the players' economies and, hopefully, direct them along a pointed strategy. This was something that was rough about the core game. It could take 2-3 generations just to develop any semblance of a strategic aim. This helps point you in a direction, and gives you the resources you need to start making your first bit of headway in that direction...all before the first generation has even materialized. Thus, we generally take 10 generations to complete the game, but now we're doing it in 8-9. I feel like the trade-off is worth it, sacrificing some time off the end of the game, for a tighter, more meaningful game experience for that reduced time is absolutely a positive return, thus I'd recommend playing with this expansion as a permanent addition.

This is in my opinion an essential expansion for the base game, I would not play without it and will advise anyone new to the game to also pick this up and add it from the beginning. Prelude will not introduce any new mechanics or rules or complications to learning the game, instead it will boost players first few turns so that they aren't spent focusing entirely on resource production. Prelude by now really should just be a part of the base game as it is printed and released, it benefits the early generations of the your plays so much that you'll wonder how you managed without it. The only drawback I can see is that for a brand new player it does add a few more decisions to make during setup and start of the game. Also anyone with a bit of analysis paralysis might find the additional choices a bit troublesome as they are trying to find a perfect combination of all the cards dealt to you during setup for the perfect game. It isn't about achieving a perfect game though and I don't think there are exact combinations of cards that can set someone up for a landslide win. Maybe those with hours and hours of games in Terraforming Mars can and will min/max things to achieve a really strong game but for most of us as average gamers this expansion is just a well needed boost to speed things up and make the first few generations less of a grind. Love it, recommend it, and wouldn't play without it. If you're buying the base game add this as well or if you're looking for which expansion to get first this is for sure the right choice.

Terraforming Mars is a great game with some great expansions. Depending on your level of expertise and friends, certain expansions can be challenging to understand and get to the table. Terraforming Mars Prelude is a great, simple expansion that can be added to any game regardless of playing ability. It essentially helps "jump start" the game a little, which is helpful for new players and beneficial for experienced players when playing with the other expansions. This expansion has become part of our base set and is added every time we play.

The is the simplest addition I have ever added to a base game. Just a few more cards but adds a lot by offering new starter corporations and importantly gives additional starting resources. Which is great for helping indecisive players decide on a corporation and starting cards to use those early resources. Also the extra resources at the start often help speed up the game and reduce time required to complete a game.

Makes a fun twist to the game

If you're playing the normal game, it's not that important, because the basic incomes make what Prelude does less impactful. In the Corporate Era, though, this really speeds up the start to help you get into the swing of things in fewer generations, which is nice. That said, you really don't *need* this. You could just give everyone a bunch of extra M€ in the first generation, or have everyone start with 4 power income, or whatever similar thing you'd like. That's easy without spending money to get some cards that you only use once a game anyway.

Great game!

This is a fun addition to Terraforming Mars. My husband and I love all kinds of board and tabletop games, and Terraforming Mars is a good one for including people who aren't quite as geeky as we are. The Preludes expansion makes the game start up faster, adding an extra element that gives players fun early advantages. Usually TM early game is slow, but this makes it way better. The box is cute and tiny, but we just incorporated the cards into the regular box. They are kept mostly separate, but the expansion cards are easy to add in if you decide to play with them. No worrying about sorting through a dozen different decks to add or subtract items. Quality is the same as the base game. I haven't played this expansion with other expansions, because we read that this was the only one you need to buy. It's not a necessity, but I highly recommend adding it to your TM game!

An excellent expansion which speeds up the early few generations of the game, which otherwise can feel a bit slow and also allows for more strategic/synergistic picks of your starting corporation and starting cards.

Très bien

You don't need this to play the game, and you do need the game to play this. It is the most used expansion for Terraforming Mars. Most people I have heard of playing TM used this expansion too. Not compulsory but pretty standard. Adds the pre-game cards to put a spin on starting settings, plus a few extra game cards. Like with all games, have fun!

Consegna rapida e senza intoppi! Espansione del gioco bella e che Migliora l'esperienza di gioco!

A caixa e qualidade do produto seguem a mesma qualidade do jogo base! sensacional! A expansão é muito boa, minha visão geral é que vale muito apena! Alguns pontos para ajudar quem já joga terraforming: essa expansão deixa o jogo mais rápido jogando sem a era das corporação, então se você tem amigos mais apressadinhos , vale muito apena, no modo solo, trás um desafio diferente do original, achei que o maior ganho foi no jogo multiplayer. Dá uma dinamica de agilidade as partidas! A única resalva é para iniciantes, tudo bem comprar para manter na coleção, porém a expansão se torma muito mais gostosa quando você já jogou várias e várias vezes só com o jogo padrão s/c a era das corporações (para quem não conhece, o terraforming vem com um conjunto de cartas marcadas c/ um pequeno triangulo vermelho, essas cartas são parte de um expansão chadada era das corporações e vem por padrão quando você compra o jogo base.)