Two-Player Terraforming Mars Strategy: Winning the Duel

Terraforming Mars plays well with two. It is a different game, though. The rulebook changes only one rule for two players. But having one rival instead of three or four changes how you value almost everything.

The rule change: awards

In a two-player game, second place in an award scores nothing. Only the winner gets 5 VP. Ties are still friendly, so if you tie for first, you both score 5.

That makes awards sharper:

• Fund an award only if you expect to win it. There is no consolation prize.
• A tied award is a wash. You both score 5, so it does not change the gap between you.
• An award you lose is a 5-point swing in a game where the gap is all that matters.

Every point is a swing

In a multiplayer game, a point you take from one rival also helps the players you did not hit. With two players, there is no one else. Anything that costs your rival a point is as good as a point for you.

That changes several choices:

• Attacks are stronger. A red-bordered effect that removes plants or lowers production lands on the only player you need to beat.
• Denial is stronger. Claiming a milestone your rival wanted takes 5 VP from them, and the gap moves by 5 even if the milestone did little for you otherwise.
• The map is a duel. Your greenery next to their city gives them a point. Your city blocking their best city site takes points away. With two players, you can see these trades clearly.

The test for every move is simple: what does this gain me, minus what it gains my rival?

The draft with two

The draft variant works the same with two players, but the cards go back and forth between you. Follow the passes and you learn a lot.

Each draft, you see your pack of 4 and three cards from your rival’s pack. Work through who kept what:

• From your pack, your rival keeps one of the 3 you pass them, and later the last card you pass them. You know both.
• From their pack, they keep their first pick, which you never see. Then they keep one of the 2 you pass back, which you can work out.

So you know three of the four cards your rival drafted every generation. Only their first pick is hidden. You do not know which ones they will buy, but you know what they could have.

Use that to deny the right card. If their pack and their tableau both point at plants, the plant card you pass them is a gift.

A longer game

With two players, fewer hands are raising the parameters each generation, so games tend to run more generations than with four or five. That gives engines more time to pay off.

• Production stays valuable longer. Keep buying it a little later than you would at a full table.
• Blue cards and resource cards that score over time get more uses.
• The clock is in fewer hands. Each of you controls half the terraforming. If you are ahead on points, you can push the tracks hard and shorten the game on purpose.

Milestones with two

Only 3 of 5 milestones can be claimed, and there are only two players to claim them. Often you and your rival will split them. Two ideas help:

• Claim the contested one first. If you both qualify soon for Mayor, and only you are close to Builder, claim Mayor. Builder may still be there later.
• Count what is left. Once two are claimed, the third is a 5-point swing. Know who is closest.

Practicing the duel

Two-player games are the easiest to set up and the fastest to play, which makes them good practice for everything at Level 3. Online, Board Game Arena supports the draft and Prelude, so you can play many duels in a short time. After each one, compare your score by category with your rival’s. The category with the biggest gap is where the game was decided.