Prelude First, Turmoil Later: A Terraforming Mars Route That Grows at the Right Pace

If you already know that Terraforming Mars is your kind of strategy game, the next question is usually not whether to buy more. It is which box actually improves your table first.

That matters because the line does not all pull in the same direction. Some additions make the opening turns sharper, some widen the map and resource puzzle, and some push the game into a more demanding expert space. There is also a separate branch in Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, which looks familiar but solves a different need.

This guide is a practical buying route for shoppers who want the line to grow at a sensible pace rather than arriving as one intimidating stack.

The quick answer

For most tables, the cleanest route is:

1. Terraforming Mars
2. Prelude
3. One flavour box based on taste:
   Hellas & Elysium,
   Colonies, or
   Venus Next
4. Turmoil only when your group actively wants more overhead and a more political board state

If you mainly want a faster engine-building session rather than a longer upgrade path, skip sideways into Ares Expedition instead of forcing the main game to be something it is not.

Why Prelude is the usual first upgrade

Prelude is the safest first add-on because it improves the part of Terraforming Mars that new owners notice first: the slow, tentative opening. Its Prelude cards jump-start your corporation and give the game a clearer early shape without asking the whole table to learn a new subsystem.

That makes it a strong first buy for three kinds of shopper:

• Players who love the base game but want the first rounds to feel less procedural.
• Groups who are happy with the core mechanisms and do not want rules clutter yet.
• Anyone planning a longer-term shelf, because later products such as Prelude 2 build on it.

If you only buy one extra box for a while, buy Prelude. It is the upgrade most likely to feel useful immediately.

Pick the next box by the problem you want to solve

Once Prelude is in place, the best next purchase depends on what your table wants more of, not on release order.

If you want more variety with very little extra overhead

Hellas & Elysium is the neatest follow-up. It adds two new maps with their own milestones and awards, so the decisions around racing, positioning and scoring feel fresher without changing the identity of the game.

This is the best pick for groups who already like Terraforming Mars exactly as it is and simply want the board state to stop feeling familiar too quickly.

If you want more resource-play and a wider solar-system puzzle

Colonies is a better second or third step. It expands operations beyond Mars and adds another route for building momentum, which tends to suit players who enjoy juggling economy lines and spotting timing windows.

Choose Colonies when your table likes bigger strategic arcs and wants the economy puzzle to branch out, not when you are still trying to keep the game lean.

If you want more card variety and extra theme pressure

Venus Next brings the focus out to Venus and introduces a new terraforming parameter alongside extra card variety. It makes sense for groups who want the line to feel broader and more thematic, and who do not mind one more thing competing for attention.

It is less universal than Prelude, but it is often the right buy for players who mostly want the game to feel bigger rather than shorter.

What to buy later, not first

Some boxes are better when your group already knows what it wants from the line.

Turmoil is for tables that enjoy friction

Turmoil is explicitly positioned as an expert-level expansion, and it reads that way in play. Political uncertainty, changing agendas and extra pressure points can be excellent if your group enjoys more interaction and more to track, but it is not the sensible answer to a simple “what next?” purchase.

Buy Turmoil because your table wants more moving parts. Do not buy it merely because it looks like the biggest box on the shelf.

Prelude 2 works best once your shelf already has direction

Prelude 2 is not a direct replacement for Prelude. It is a later-layer upgrade, especially because much of it connects to Venus Next, Colonies and Turmoil. If your collection is still only base game plus Prelude, it is usually too early for this one.

Automa is the solo specialist pick

If your real question is “how do I get more solo life out of this line?”, Automa is the meaningful specialist product. It gives solo players an algorithm-driven opponent structure instead of just racing the clock, which is a much more specific need than a general group upgrade.

When the Ares Expedition lane makes more sense

Ares Expedition is the right answer when you like the Terraforming Mars idea more than you like its full table footprint. It is a stand-alone engine-building branch, not a compulsory step in the main-game route.

That means you should look at Ares Expedition when:

• Your group wants a faster session cadence.
• You want a sibling product for a different night, not another layer of main-game complexity.
• You are buying for mixed-experience players and want a more approachable entry point into the setting.

Once you are in that lane, the follow-ups are clearer:

• Discovery continues the stand-alone line with new content.
• Foundations is useful if you want support for more players and extra boards.
• Crisis is the notable one if your group wants a co-operative challenge instead of the standard competitive rhythm.

If your table already prefers quicker, cleaner engine-builders, it is often smarter to branch into Ares Expedition than to keep thickening the original game.

Three simple buying routes

Route one: for most groups

Base game -> Prelude -> Hellas & Elysium

This route keeps the game recognisably itself while improving pace and replay value.

Route two: for groups who want a bigger puzzle

Base game -> Prelude -> Colonies -> Venus Next

This works for tables that want broader strategy space before they want expert-level disruption.

Route three: for faster nights

Ares Expedition -> Discovery or Foundations -> Crisis if you want co-op tension

This is the route for shoppers who want the theme and engine-building appeal without committing every session to the larger board games footprint of the original.

FAQ

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