Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (Collector Edition)

Great solo engine builder!

Very interesting game, I have read it is similar to Race for the Galaxy, which I have never played, so I can not speak on the similarities.
From a solo perspective, it is a very tight engine builder, with a win/loss condition: complete all three terraforming objectives (oxygen, heat, water). You do this by playing cards which can directly increase these tracks, or by paying the main currency, or by paying specific resources for each track, or a combination... There are many ways of completing the goal, there are tons of card interactions which are fun and add some theme to the game.
The game set up and tear down is very quick and for the most part, the game doesn't take up too much space (in late game I end up stacking my project cards).
The down side for solo is that, the game being so tight, you need to make all of your turns count. However if you choose an action that the "automa" chooses you miss out on an action. If this happens by random chance too many times it can cost you the game. Card counting can mitigate this, there are only 5 action cards, but it is not fun when it happens on the first round of a turn. House rule can mitigate this - always see the automa card before choosing your own. But it's not ideal when you have to HR.
One more negative, there are A LOT of cards. It can occur that you will not have the suit (green, blue or red) needed for a certain round. This also can be mitigated, though if it happens too early it will be difficult to catch up.
All that said, it is a solid engine builder, one that I play often and will continue to do so.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (Collector Edition)

Great game, but not as good as it’s more complicated counterpart Terraforming Mars. Still a nice way to play TM faster, and with better components.