Terraforming Mars Solo

[kerravonsen]

I am increasingly frustrated with the Solo version of Terraforming Mars.

For those of you not familiar with it, Terraforming Mars is a game where, as it says on the box, you are terraforming Mars, simplified down to a game that one can play. It is a pretty cool game. The goal is to get three criteria (oxygen, heat, and oceans) up to minimum liveable conditions for humans, which is nine oceans (from none), 14% oxygen (from none), and 8 degrees centigrade (from -30C). Oh, and to get fame and glory (victory points) while doing so. One increases those criteria by undertaking projects such as planting greenery, melting icecaps, and throwing asteroids at the planet. Yeah. And one also needs to build infrastructure to aid you in doing those things. Infrastructure enables you to produce resources, such as steel, titanium, plants, electricity, and heat. And stuff costs money.

The normal game is played with 2-5 players, but there is also a solitaire (Solo) version. Obviously since one isn't competing against other players in the Solo game, one has to compete against something else, so what they've done is give you a turn (Generation) limit. You have to complete terraforming Mars by the end of the 14th Generation or you lose.

And that's fair enough - or would be fair enough if they had not also required a rule variant which makes it practically impossible to win.

The variant is known as "Corporate Rules". The Corporate Rules variant can be played in a multi-player game, but for a Solo game it isn't optional; one is required to play Corporate Rules. This variant adds in a whole bunch more cards, but also requires that one starts off unable to produce any resources. Whereas in a standard game, players start off with the ability to produce one of every resource per Generation.

Because of this, one spends the first five or so generations just building infrastructure without getting any actual terraforming done. That doesn't give one enough time to complete terraforming before the 14th generation. So you ALWAYS lose. That's not very happy-making game-play.

So I thought I'd try the Solo game without the Corporate Rules, and lo and behold, I was able to terraform Mars by the 14th Generation. But maybe that is making things too easy? Dunno. Maybe I'll try doing it where you initially produce only three types of resources instead of all five.

Reporting in later...

So I tried the Solo game giving myself three out of six production randomly by throwing a D6 (I decided to include Megacredit production as well, rather than trying to invent a five-sided die). That seemed a reasonable compromise: I did terraform Mars by the 14th Generation, but I didn't terraform it before the 14th Generation, so that indicates it was neither too easy nor too difficult.

But I've noticed another imbalance in the Solo game. In the endgame, if one is doing reasonably well, one has an incredibly high Terraform Rating (and thus are getting lots of moneys) - simply because there is only one player doing ALL the terraforming: you. So I'm now wondering if it might be a more satisfying play if I played a faux two-player game by playing against myself. With many games, that won't work, because part of the fun lies in not knowing what the other player will do and trying anticipate their moves in order to counter them - which you can't do if the other player is yourself. But with a building game like this one, you're not so much playing against the other players so much as one is playing for the goal. It's more of a race than a battle. So it might be worth trying to do a faux-two-player game.

Reporting in even later...

I am amused. I played a faux-two-player game against myself... and it was a tie. I was expecting the player with more greenery to win, but it turned out that the other player had more victory points on their cards. Which came as a surprise to me, because I wasn't really paying attention to that, apart from building Phobos Space Haven (which was worth 3 VP).

I think I have had enough of playing Terraforming Mars for a while...

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Richard's played masses of solo games of TM. He says he's never heard of the Corporate rules and never used them.

[watervole]

That was me. DW keeps logging me out...

[watervole]

It appears not to have posted the other one...

Basically, Richard has played hundreds of solo games of TM.

Never heard of corporate rules and never used them. (Unless you mean having a corporation?)

You'll find your odds of success vary a lot depending on which Corporation you have. But he's won with all of them, many times. Ecoline is probably the easiest. Avoid Tharsis, that's the hardest.
He says, do everything you can to increase your resources and income. Cards with negative score are really, really useful, as you win by terraforming, not score.

[kerravonsen]

It did post, it was just screened.

No, the "Corporate Rules" are (a) a set of extra cards which have a tiny red circle with a white triangle on them, which one is supposed to add in, and (b) one is required to start with zero production of anything, whereas in a standard game, everyone starts with a production level of 1. It is the lack of production which makes it impossible to win. And, yes, "Corporate Rules" are mentioned in the rule book, and the Solo variation is explicitly stated as using them. But, hey, the rules book could be different in different editions of the game.

So yeah, I'm sure Richard has found it possible to win every time if he isn't hampered by starting off with zero production (apart from any production which one's corporation may give you).

Agreed that you win the solo game by terraforming, not score, which I find rather refreshing, because scoring at the end of any game is tedious. But still, I don't want to play nasty cards, even if it's only me there. Agreed, Ecoline would probably be the easiest, because they have a good advantage with only needing 7 plants to place a greenery tile. It's interesting to consider how some cards and corporation advantages aren't as useful in the solo game as they are in a multi-player game. Like, things which give you advantages when other players do things, aren't going to be as useful when it's only you doing things. And cards whose only purpose is to give you victory points are a waste of space in the solo game.

One thing I also found was that I was less inclined to spend money on cards, because money is scarce in the early game (depending on the corporation, true). Cards which I couldn't use immediately were almost always discarded, because the terraforming is happening at a slower rate with only one player, so it could be a couple of generations until one could use that card, whereas those three megacredits could be spent now towards something which is useful now.

[watervole]

I'm not clear what the problem is with the Corporate Era cards (I had too look up to find out which ones they are, but they're just mixed into our normal deck and don't seem to be particularly good or bad)

Richard always starts with zero production, so I think you're probably playing by the same rules.

Standard projects that give you things like cards and resources (from the sector you build them on) are also ways of getting your economy up a little.

HE says you just have to be really focused on growing your economy in the early turns and ignore all distractions.
Richard also says that he'll buy a useful card if he can use it in the next couple of turns, but no further ahead than that.

[kerravonsen]

Nothing at all wrong with the cards. It's the starting with zero production which is the problem. I have never been able to win when I did that. Never. (sigh)

Richard also says that he'll buy a useful card if he can use it in the next couple of turns, but no further ahead than that.

Yes, absolutely, I already do that. (sigh)

[watervole]

Richard says he lost a lot of solo games before he finally got the knack of it.

[kerravonsen]

That does make me feel better -- you were giving me the impression he'd never lost a single game, and I was feeling as if I was an utter moron.

[watervole]

I remember he got stuck a lot at the start, and some corporations he had to have a lot of attempts before he cracked them. He managed to win with every single one eventually, but it was a lot of games!

[kerravonsen]

So I was motivated to try again, and I DID IT! Three games, one after another, and the third one I managed to complete the terraforming. (Corporation was Creditcor, I thought I'd just try over and over with the same corporation rather than changing)

(!!!)

Things that I've learned:

1. The resources which are most useful are plants, energy, and heat.
2. While tempting as a "value for money" proposition, both steel and titanium can be bloody useless if you don't happen to get cards which you can use steel or titanium to pay for. (More than once I've ended a game with a pile of steel or titanium I had been unable to use.)
3. While plant production is very desirable, if you don't get the right cards, you simply can't increase it.
4. Energy is the only resource which one can increase without having to get a card for doing so.
5. Building cities is less useful than one thinks it is, because a cheaper way of increasing one's megacredits is to increase one's terraform rating.
6. There are certain blue cards which are extremely desirable, and can help make the difference between winning and losing: (a) cards which help produce oxygen, either biologically or through industrial processes; (b) cards which reduce the cost of placing oceans; (c) cards which enable one to increase production of heat or energy every generation rather than just once.
7. Less desirable but still very useful blue cards are: (a) cards which reduce the cost of playing cards; (b) cards which enable you to trade resources for megacredits; (c) cards which add microbes to other blue cards which produce microbes (but only if you have said microbe-producing blue cards, obviously).

[watervole]

Yay!
Well done, you!

Richard's nodding as I read out the list of things you're doing. He says you're absolutely picking up on the tactics. Cities in particular are almost useless in a solo game.

He says he often has to do a lot of standard projects because of the times when you don't get the right cards. And, as you say, terraforming can increase your income faster than cities.

I'm so pleased you stuck with it. You're fabulous.

[kerravonsen]

♥ ♥ ♥