Is Terraforming Mars good for kids? Age and difficulty

Each player runs a corporation that is helping to make Mars liveable. Over many rounds you buy and play project cards, build up an income of money, steel, titanium, plants, energy and heat, and place ocean, greenery and city tiles on the map. Every step you add to the temperature, oxygen or oceans raises your terraform rating. The game ends when all three reach their goal, and the most points wins.

What age is Terraforming Mars for?

Box says 12+

We suggest 11+ with an adult helping, 12+ on their own.

The turn is simple, take one or two actions, but the game runs on over 200 project cards that each carry their own requirements, costs, tags and effects, and a first game is a long one. An 11 year old can play with an adult reading cards and doing the sums, and 12 is when they can read the cards, manage six kinds of resource and plan an engine on their own.

  • Hard to learn
  • 1 to 5 players
  • 90 to 120 minutes
  • About 20 minutes to set up (our estimate)
  • Competitive

Players can hurt each other's plans directly. Players can block each other. Players can steal from each other. Content: Science fiction about making Mars liveable, run by competing corporations. There is no fighting or violence. Some cards let you remove up to 3 of an opponent's plants or lower their production (one card steals a titanium production), and tiles you place can block each other.

Rated from the rulebook, checked 2026-10-19

How we rate games

Rules as of the FryxGames and Stronghold Games English rulebook (2016).

Where do these facts come from?

Age, players and play time come from the publisher. The difficulty and our age suggestions come from reading the official rulebook. We have not built a lesson or setup guide for Terraforming Mars yet.

What else could you try?

  • 7 Wonders Duel: Build a city and wonders in a tense two-player duel with three ways to win.
  • Abandon All Artichokes: Build a deck and dump the artichokes before anyone else.
  • Brass: Birmingham: Build industries and transport links in a heavy economic game set in the Industrial Revolution.
  • Colt Express: Plan your moves, rob the train and watch everyone's plans fall apart.

Spotted a mistake or got a suggestion? Tell us

Found this useful? You can buy me a coffee.