(Don't forget to submit the scores on paper!)
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Play nice and fair. Have a good time!
Be respectful of other people's property.
Make agreements with the players at your table.
If you have questions, then please contact a judge.
Reminder: 3 corporations, 4 preludes, 10 cards.
Drafting: clockwise for even generations, counter-clockwise for odd generations.
Winner match tiebreakers: (Official) VP, Money, (Unofficial) Production of Money > Steel > Titanium > Plant > Energy > Heat.
Winner tournament tiebreakers: Tournament Points, Skill, Total VP.
4 Players per table, or 3 if not enough players. Order of table is irrelevant.
Cards: Base game + Era cards + Prelude (no promos/other expansions).
Drafting: clockwise for even generations, counter-clockwise for odd generations. First generation no draft.
Start: THREE corporations, Four preludes, Ten Cards. Random starting player.
Tournament Rank: first by TP (Tournament Points) then Skill. With >64 players, more than one person may win all three, then skill decides. If still (unlikely) tied, then total VP decides.
If you are going to be late or leave prematurely, please notify us
We will try to follow the schedule as strictly as permissible.
When you finish your game, please tidy it up for the next round.
After the round's time has passed, then the current generation is the last generation and Mars will be considered terraformed. Starting from the first player of that round, each player has 3 turns to finish this last generation. You have together 15 minutes to finish and put things in order for the next round. Please note that this will take up time from your breaks.
If you feel another player is playing too slowly, please be lenient and give them some thinking time. Just make sure your own actions count.
In our experience, almost everyone finishes in 1h45-2h15mins, with usually just 1 table that goes to time limit. We expect things to run smoothly as they have in previous tournaments.
Each table will have 4 players, or 3 players when there are insufficient players. Never 1, 2 or 5 players.
In the first round players are randomly paired up for each table.
In the second and third rounds, players are matched up by their tournament points.
If you want to switch due to language / familiarity, please contact us.
However, we simply cannot guarantee for everyone that you will not match up with someone who you know or played before.
Match
At the end of each match, write down on the provided tournament paper: the players names, their final Victory Points, their rank (in case of ties) and signatures. Afterwards, please submit the paper to a judge, and please tidy up your game.
When scoring, the order for the rank is (in order): Victory Points, Money (first official tiebreaker), and then (unofficially, in order, if needed) by Money Production, Steel Production, Titanium Production, Plant Production, Energy Production, and finally Heat Production.
First place gets 3 Tournament Points (TP), second gets 2TP, third gets 1TP, and fourth gets 0TP.
Tournament
Tournament Ranking proceeds first by total Tournament Points over all played matches, secondly by Terraforming Skill and thirdly (unlikely required) total Victory Points over all played matches.
Terraforming Skill is a developed system based on computing differences between players. "The better you perform against your opponents and the better they perform against theirs and so on, the higher your skill". For example: Player A beats Player B by 3 points, and Player B beats Player C by 5 points, then we expect that Player A will beat C by 3+5=8 points. This is done simultaneously for everyone based on all matches. For the mathematically affiliated: each player has a "skill" parameter value that we estimate using the matches' performances (estimated using the 'value iteration' algorithm).
If we have 3 rounds and more than 64 players participating, it is possible that multiple players have 9 TP, and their final rank will be decided by their Terraforming Skill.
We play Terraforming Mars with: Base cards, Corporate Era cards and Prelude cards.
No Promos, No Colonies, No Venus, No Turmoil, No Big Box*, No Custom cards. (you may only use the custom 3D tiles from Big Box)
We play on the Tharsis map with Tharsis milestones and awards.
There is no starting production: everything at zero.
A random player is chosen as starting player. You may use apps like Chwazi.
At the start, each player gets 3 corporations (pick 1), 4 preludes (pick 2), and 10 project cards (pick as many, but cost 3 money each). You can see all of these cards at the same time.
After everyone has selected their corporation, preludes and project cards, then the order of play (in player order): each player plays their corporation (and pays for the project cards using the starting money), then each player plays both of their preludes in the order they like, and then the action phase starts.
If you come across an illegal card, then show that card to all players, discard that card and draw a new card in its place (or in case of drafting, put it in the drafting hand). If you were to play that card from your hand, instead discard it and get 1 money (you should have immediately discarded it). If the card is already in play then you are at the mercy of your opponents: if they accept then you may count the card, but officially that card will not count to your total VP.
We draft every match.
In the first generation (when you select all your cards) we do not draft. From the second generation onwards we draft.
On even (2/4/6/8/10/..) generations, we draft clockwise. On odd (3/5/7/9/11/..) generations, we draft counter-clockwise. Make sure you keep track of generation count.
Drafting proceeds according to the official rules:
Each player gets 4 cards
Choose 1 card and set it aside (not in your hand)
Pass the remaining cards to your neighbour (depending on the generation, clockwise or counter-clockwise)
Receive from your other neighbour their passed cards
Back to step 2, until you receive no passed cards anymore
From the 4 cards that you set aside, choose how many you keep for 3 money each, and discard the rest
After everyone has chosen their cards and paid for them, the first player of the generation can start doing actions.
If you forget an action, forget a trigger or make a misplay, please first try to come to an agreement at your table.
Keep it fair and nice. Everyone can forget something.
When performing actions or receiving triggers, clearly communicate this at your table.
If you cannot come to an agreement then contact a judge.
Officially: it is your own responsibility to play everything correctly. If you miss triggers or actions, then that is unfortunate.
Forgetting an Action or Trigger
Example 1: you forgot to add an animal last generation to an animal card.
Example 2: you forgot to get two plants from arctic algae when an ocean was placed.
Ask your opponents if it is okay to still do the action. Be a bit lenient and nice to each other.
Officially, you didn't do the action, therefore you don't get it.
Making a Misplay
Reverse the steps that you did as you played the card or did the action incorrectly.
When uncertain, discuss with the others on the table.
When you remove a resource, you may choose to remove it from yourself, another player or not remove at all.
When you remove a production, you MUST choose to remove it from yourself or another player. It is not optional. If you cannot, you cannot play the card.
A blue action card is a blue bordered card with a red arrow that is depicted in the textbox above the image.
You must be able to pay the cost, what is depicted left of the red arrow, before you get its benefits.
You may only activate the action once per generation. You indicate this by putting a player block on it, or by 'tapping' it (turning it sideways) if table space permits.
Only blue action cards can have triggers, they have a ":" in the textbox above the image.
When the condition of the trigger is met, you must clearly signal that it has triggered to your opponents. You may also be nice and warn opponents about those triggers.
Unless you have clearly discussed with the other players at the table and they have agreed to your case, you may not take forgotten triggers. Example #1, a city was played last round and you forgot the 2 money from Mars Rovers' trigger. Example #2: I played Pets when there were 2 cities and now there are 8 so I must have 7.
The active player playing the card or action, after paying succesfully for the card in topleft of the card, chooses the order of triggers.
If the card has a red bordered production, then the card only be played if it succesfully can accomplish this.
If you have to pay money as part of resolving the card or bonus from a map (i.e. Hellas) you may do this at any time during the action.
Example 1. A player has arctic algae, and the active player plays a comet that places an ocean and removes plants, that active player may choose to place the ocean, trigger arctic algae, and then remove the plants.
You must copy only and all of the production of a card that you have played that has a building tag.
If it costs energy production, you must be able to pay for it.
You may choose your corporation or one of your preludes if it has a building tag.
Volcanic areas are hexagons on the map with a BOLD name written on them.
If a card requires to place on a volcanic area, and no such location is available, you cannot play that card.
EXCEPTION: Hellas map has no volcanic areas and then you may ignore this condition!
Ask at your table what the ruling is. When still in doubt, ask a judge.