Just for funsies i thought id make a top 10 list of Terraforming Mars cards. Obviously this is very subjective. And depends on playstyles to a degree. But these cards i think offer the most reliable way of scoring points and are usually strong in a variety of different games or strategies. Im only looking at the base game with corporations and prelude. Without further ado:
10 - Earth Catapult
A decent card to get in your opening hand. You will likely be playing over 20 cards during the course of a game. Maybe even as many as 40. Which means this baby nets you between 40 to 80 megacredits if played from the get go. Pretty good.
9 - Terraforming Ganymede
I have tried to veer away from specialist cards. But i had to include this as it can be really awesome. If you are going full on Jovian and manage to find and play10 Jovian tags this will get you an increase in your TR by 10. Which is enough of a swing to win someone the game. Its a high impact card.
8 - Electro Catapult
Another great card if you get it early. In your average 3 player game you will probably have around 10 generations. So providing you have access to either Steel or plants thats 70 megacredits right there. Especially good if you are generating oxygen with a card like steelworks and ignoring plants as you can use them to fuel it instead of steel.
7 - Pets
A great value card that should net you a decent number of victory points. They are also protected from the pesky predators. And just look at that face - cant not include it for cuteness.
6 - Extreme cold fungus
The best of the microbe cards. Needs another one to go with it. But once properly paired it will increase your TR by 1 every single generation.
5 - Arctic Algae
This card is great for 2 reasons. The first is that in playing it you are almost guaranteed to pick up the gardener milestone if you push for it. And the second is that its a great defensive card to protect you against someone nuking all your plants with an asteroid - as you can usually rush 4 plants and then place a greenery only leaving yourself minimally exposed to an attack. With potentially 19 plants as the pay off and only a mere 11 mega credits, it would cost you 46 to achieve the same effect by using standard projects. Its even better if coupled with a card like Aquifier pumper.
4 - Giant Ice Asteroid
Its the best attack card in the game. And oh boy is it expensive. However, this can effectively neutralise a rival if they are hoarding plants before laying any cities. And on top it will increase your TR by 4, which is more than any other card. It can also gimp the mining corp, who nearly always wants to nab the two oceans with steel and titanium on. All in all its a great power card. But yes its costly.
3 - Strip Mine
One of the few cards that raises Oxygen any number of steps - and this one raises it by 2. But the real pay off is 2 steel and 1 titanium per turn. Thats 7 megacredits per turn without factoring in advanced alloys or the hard 2 TR you get. And it will set you up for the rest of the game - making any building tag more affordable and even helps out with the odd space pick as well. Its also not horrendously expensive. Making it a viable early play. Its drawback is the 2 power. But if you can get some early power generation you cant go too far wrong with this card. Also gets pretty disgusting when paired with advanced alloys.
2 - Large Convoy
With a possible 7 victory points on it, this is the king maker of event cards. And when played can make the difference between defeat or victory. Only Terraforming Gannymede can compete with it in terms of raw potential. But large convoy is more versatile and fits into more strategies than that card, so is consequently much higher up the list. Its only downside is that the ocean is often unplayable and its expense. But even if you cant lay the ocean its still well worth it if you have birds, fish or livestock. The 2 extra cards is just the cherry on top.
1 - Standard Technology
When i first started playing this game, i thought this card was a bit naff. However, hundreds of hours in playing has taught me that it is in fact possibly the best card in the game. Its certainly not good in terms of how many points you can get. Or even in how many resources you can get out of it. But what makes it great is its versatility. Its effectively 4 cards in 1. With standard tech you dont need to buy any power generation cards at all. You dont need any red asteroid cards to raise heat. You dont need any city cards (apart from maybe Noctis City). You dont need aquifier pumping or water from Europa (unless going Jovian). And you can even use it to just build forests rather than growing them. Its even more ridiculous when paired with Credicorps. A greenery suddenly becomes 17 mega credits not 20 (when factoring the 3 bonus credicorps gets for projects above 20 mega credits. It saves you so much cash because you simply dont need to buy that many cards at all. Its also really good with United Nations Initiative and means you can easily pop your special ability every generation no problem. Its cheap. And finally has a useful tag on top. There really isnt a downside to it so gets my first place.
Feel free to disagree or post up your own list
10 - Earth Catapult
A decent card to get in your opening hand. You will likely be playing over 20 cards during the course of a game. Maybe even as many as 40. Which means this baby nets you between 40 to 80 megacredits if played from the get go. Pretty good.
9 - Terraforming Ganymede
I have tried to veer away from specialist cards. But i had to include this as it can be really awesome. If you are going full on Jovian and manage to find and play10 Jovian tags this will get you an increase in your TR by 10. Which is enough of a swing to win someone the game. Its a high impact card.
8 - Electro Catapult
Another great card if you get it early. In your average 3 player game you will probably have around 10 generations. So providing you have access to either Steel or plants thats 70 megacredits right there. Especially good if you are generating oxygen with a card like steelworks and ignoring plants as you can use them to fuel it instead of steel.
7 - Pets
A great value card that should net you a decent number of victory points. They are also protected from the pesky predators. And just look at that face - cant not include it for cuteness.
6 - Extreme cold fungus
The best of the microbe cards. Needs another one to go with it. But once properly paired it will increase your TR by 1 every single generation.
5 - Arctic Algae
This card is great for 2 reasons. The first is that in playing it you are almost guaranteed to pick up the gardener milestone if you push for it. And the second is that its a great defensive card to protect you against someone nuking all your plants with an asteroid - as you can usually rush 4 plants and then place a greenery only leaving yourself minimally exposed to an attack. With potentially 19 plants as the pay off and only a mere 11 mega credits, it would cost you 46 to achieve the same effect by using standard projects. Its even better if coupled with a card like Aquifier pumper.
4 - Giant Ice Asteroid
Its the best attack card in the game. And oh boy is it expensive. However, this can effectively neutralise a rival if they are hoarding plants before laying any cities. And on top it will increase your TR by 4, which is more than any other card. It can also gimp the mining corp, who nearly always wants to nab the two oceans with steel and titanium on. All in all its a great power card. But yes its costly.
3 - Strip Mine
One of the few cards that raises Oxygen any number of steps - and this one raises it by 2. But the real pay off is 2 steel and 1 titanium per turn. Thats 7 megacredits per turn without factoring in advanced alloys or the hard 2 TR you get. And it will set you up for the rest of the game - making any building tag more affordable and even helps out with the odd space pick as well. Its also not horrendously expensive. Making it a viable early play. Its drawback is the 2 power. But if you can get some early power generation you cant go too far wrong with this card. Also gets pretty disgusting when paired with advanced alloys.
2 - Large Convoy
With a possible 7 victory points on it, this is the king maker of event cards. And when played can make the difference between defeat or victory. Only Terraforming Gannymede can compete with it in terms of raw potential. But large convoy is more versatile and fits into more strategies than that card, so is consequently much higher up the list. Its only downside is that the ocean is often unplayable and its expense. But even if you cant lay the ocean its still well worth it if you have birds, fish or livestock. The 2 extra cards is just the cherry on top.
1 - Standard Technology
When i first started playing this game, i thought this card was a bit naff. However, hundreds of hours in playing has taught me that it is in fact possibly the best card in the game. Its certainly not good in terms of how many points you can get. Or even in how many resources you can get out of it. But what makes it great is its versatility. Its effectively 4 cards in 1. With standard tech you dont need to buy any power generation cards at all. You dont need any red asteroid cards to raise heat. You dont need any city cards (apart from maybe Noctis City). You dont need aquifier pumping or water from Europa (unless going Jovian). And you can even use it to just build forests rather than growing them. Its even more ridiculous when paired with Credicorps. A greenery suddenly becomes 17 mega credits not 20 (when factoring the 3 bonus credicorps gets for projects above 20 mega credits. It saves you so much cash because you simply dont need to buy that many cards at all. Its also really good with United Nations Initiative and means you can easily pop your special ability every generation no problem. Its cheap. And finally has a useful tag on top. There really isnt a downside to it so gets my first place.
Feel free to disagree or post up your own list
