The Terraforming Mars card game is as good as we’d hoped it would be

The 2016 board game Terraforming Mars is an amazing title.

As evidence, I present the following image:

Note: This image, of a chintzy player mat stamped with clip-art-quality design work, is not from the game we are looking at today. (credit: Nate Anderson)

If a game this ugly can capture the hearts, minds, and continued attention of the devotees of the overcrowded board game market to become a modern classic, you know it's something special.

And if a board game becomes popular, you can be sure of one thing: A card game version will eventually arrive. If that's a hit, get ready for the dice version. And then, market willing, comes the roll-and-write version. That may sound like cynical resignation to cash-grabby companies endlessly returning to the same well, but these reimagined versions aren't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some of my favorite games are card or dice versions of bigger" board games.

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