BETTER than Terraforming Mars? – Overrated vs Underrated Board Games

Terraforming Mars, on paper, has everything to make it a game I should be crazy about: painstaking attention to detail in a scientifically accurate board game themed around terraforming the red planet. So why isn’t it a hit with me or the friends at my gaming table? In this video, I discuss the glaring issue with Terraforming Mars and what I suggest is a superior alternative: Cryo (2021)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - Intro
1:33 - How these games are rated
1:57 - The best thing about Terraforming Mars
2:46 - What is Cryo?
4:27 - The WORST thing about Terraforming Mars
7:20 - The BEST thing about Cryo
9:54 - Comparing Luck between Terraforming Mars and Cryo
10:30 - Comparing Strategy between Terraforming Mars and Cryo
11:46 - Comparing Complexity between Terraforming Mars and Cryo
13:00 - Conclusion - Is Cryo better than Terraforming Mars ?

[anasriyal]

when you play terraforming mars with prelude,
you start with prelude cards, cooperation and 10 project cards you can really do all the plan you want to play with
mostly there are similar cards for every plan so its hard to miss out all the cards you need.

[mmkcount]

Great video. I think what bothers you in TFM - and i can understand why it can be seen as a flows - also creates a great quality of the game : replayability. Because each time it's so unique. But, I didn't know about Cryo and now and I want to try it, thank you for that.

[nigelgraves]

Nice vid! I have been looking at Cryo for a while and definitely want to try it at some point. Fair comments re TM -- if it doesn't float your boat then no big deal I guess. I think your comment re separating the cards out into Ages is an interesting one. I think the Ages mechanism works well in Underwater Cities -- though I don't feel that UC is as close to TM as some might say (I'd say UC is closer to Agricola TBF). However I have found the cards in UC to be somewhat generic and lacking in any real character: they all have names but I don't find any of them particularly memorable. It's interesting that you mention TTA which is also essentially a card-drafting game: of course, the biggest problem some people have with the Ages system in TTA is that in order to implement the kind of long-term strategy that you would like to see in TM, all of the cards in the deck(s) have to come down the river at some point (whether they are played or not) and so games of TTA for inexperienced players can go on for several hours.

I think the tactical approach of TM is what most of its fans like about it: like Race for the Galaxy, it forces you to make tough decisions on the spot while focussing on a longer strategy (as well as common goals) and I think it fits the theme quite nicely. If one were to actually try to terraform Mars there would no doubt be countless examples of technologies that would be great to have right now but you just can't afford them at the moment or even contractors trying to get in on the act but their services are no longer required as we already have all the water we need etc. These are all represented by the cards that are sometimes no use at the specific time when they are drawn and sometimes are absolutely perfect.

But of course if you don't have fun playing TM then none of that matters :)
Thanks for sharing!

[branislaverken]

Discovered your channel.
First I hear: "terraforming mars is overrated"...

Subscribed

[sumanboselordofnewnation]

I have been playing TfM with "selective progress setup" where cards are sorted for choosing according to their scientific similarities such that players can decide their fate from the beginning and the events are recurring and no one gets to keep them but players can note the points or tags in the event cards at the end. It likely makes the game interesting.

[Vizinho_FGC]

Great review! Though my feelings about TM might not be on the same page as yours, I really liked the structure of it. The parallels between the games mechanics and themes makes this review feel like a great introduction to Cryo, it got me really interested in getting to know it better!

[hmmmstvethebaffled]

I think TMs themes are much better than you described honestly. On the surface level, yes, the game is scientifically and even geographically accurate in a lot of areas. The game does that excellently, like when an ocean forms when temperature hits 0 Celsius, or when the temperature increases cause theres more oxygen in the atmosphere. great stuff, and the cards add a lot to that too.

Deeper down though, youll find a much more compelling theme of corporate greed. The game advertises itself as "you need to save humanity! Mars needs to be terraformed before earth becomes uninhabitable!" However, the more you play and the better you get at this game, the more you realize that in order to beat other players corporations, youll need to extend the game, hold off on terraforming, find ways to harm other players (which harms the goal of terraforming in the long term) and just generally go against the mission.

I really love that. Many cards are savage and give you greater resources, but punish your final point total because they are scummy corporate greed actions. Its so subtle, like, screw terraforming mars, I want to be the richest corporation there is. You completely forget the main goal and become obsessed with greed.

I also love the way you can appreciate your legacy at the end. All of the cards you laid out over the course of the game, all your forests and cities on the map, its beautiful to look at.

I know you say a higher theme usually takes away from mechanics, but I think you misjudged it a little. I dont think its overrated at all, I think its just a good game.

I know how you feel when you talked about getting cards you may not need, and hoping to get the stuff you need in the future to use them, basically relying on luck. However, its really a beginners mistake. It turns out if you find yourself in a situation with a card that you cant play, but MIGHT be able to play in the future with lucky card draws, you are planning for failure. Youll waste resources that could have been spent just raising your TR.

Your idea of age cards is interesting, but i really think its unnecessary. Cards aren't everything in this game; there are so many options other than playing cards, especially with expansions. I will say this game is much better with expansions, which is good and bad (a game should be good with or without expansions).

Anyways, sorry to rant. I like TM a lot, I dont like when people call it overrated. I think its well deserving of its popularity. Its hard to find a game with great themes and mechanics like this.

Btw, found your channel recently, love your vids. Great stuff, will subscribe.

[Alonso]

Have you played Terraforming Mars:Ares Expedition? Many people says it fixes a lot of thing from the original and I would like to hear your opinion on it

[Jypr]

Thank you for this comparison video. Do you think that Cryo has a replayability problem with the limited amount of cards and tiles?

[tas]

I have to agree, TM really needs to have the cards separated into ages or some sort of Tech tree groups, which would be really hard to do (or setup) given the number of cards.

[goran]

Thank you for this video, this game is so under the radar I probably wouldn't even know it existed if not for this, and now it is one of my favourites. Never understood the hype around Terraforming Mars, I tried it a couple of times and have no interest in playing it again. To each their own I guess. Thank you once again, I love the channel and this video format.

[ChanseHungerford]

100% agree. Cryo is amazing and the drafting for terraforming made no sense to me for the reasons that you mentioned.

[nebwatts]

Great video with compelling case for cryo, paper tales with the expansion is a underrated game for me and my family, I would compare it to 7 wonders

[javierdarkona]

You are so spot on that it's amazing. Great minds think alike they say. I arrived at the exact same conclusions after some 10 games. I'd like to try Cryo now. Great video, good job!

[elesvazul]

My only problem with Terraforming Mars is the shit solo game.
Ark Nova, Dune Imperium has way better solo game than TM.
But fortunately the creators admit it, and a new expansion Automa has just came out! :D

[SkyMurphy]

These games look way complicated. Have you played Polytopia (phone game)? I think it has a world building tree you’d like. Please get yourself some soft box lighting.

[Jmansmassathon]

Terraforming Mars is a Mess. Thanks for offering an alternative.

[ROOKTABULA]

You lost me: Theme and Mechanics are better in Cryo so there's a higher numeric value.
Wrt Luck, Cryo is better because there's less of it, so you rate it a 3 for having less (undesirable) luck in the game play and give a 5 to the game with more luck?

[uziekiele]

Have you played Dwellings of Eldervale? That's another Luke Laurie design that has very similar mechanics to Cryo but is a better game than Cryo imo.

[cordtiley]

Your link for Terraforming Mars sends you to buy from Cryo. Idk if that's part of the joke or not lol.