Doctors Paul Wake and Sam Illingworth
Jacob Fryxelius’ Terraforming Mars sees players take on the role of giant corporations tasked with turning the Red Planet into a world capable of supporting human life.This remarkable feat, performed over many generations, is achieved by increasing the oxygen level, raising the temperature and manufacturing oceans on Mars. The game ends when the previously inhospitable environment is considered habitable – once it meets minimum “global parameters” for terran life – and the corporation that contributed the most to the endeavour (the player holding the highest “terraforming rating”) wins. While the game has been recognised for its compelling gameplay – it was nominated for the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres – its underpinning science and inspirational subject matter are also worthy of note.
In a recent workshop that we ran for the Institute of Physics (on the use of tabletop games to communicate science), the participants were impressed by the sophistication and accuracy of the science embedded within Terraforming Mars. Cards such as “space elevator”, “nitrogen-rich asteroid” and “extremophiles” were thought to be not only well balanced in terms of game mechanics, but also accurate with regards to the science that they depicted. Many of these cards led to further discussions about the complexity and necessity of terraforming Mars.