Terraformers: Strategy Guide

A turn-based strategy guide to Terraformers: how support and expectations decide your runs, an opening build plan, lifeform and terraforming sequencing, trade, and what the New Frontiers, Megastructures and Independence DLCs change.

Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.7.90 (20 July 2026) with the Independence DLC. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Support is the game. Your population's expectations rise over time. If your support income falls behind, crises follow. Everything you build should ultimately feed support.
2. Explore before you build. Send leaders to explore locations first — resource depots, crystal caves and natural wonders change where you want cities.
3. Pick project cards for synergy. Each turn you choose from randomly proposed projects. Adjacency bonuses inside a city matter a lot; plan layouts.
4. Get energy and food online early. Most buildings and lifeforms need them, and shortages stall everything.
5. Increase your hand size early. Projects that let you see or pick more cards pay off over the whole game.
6. Start bacteria early. Lifeforms follow a chain: bacteria, then plants, then animals. Each stage needs terraforming parameters (heat, rain, atmosphere, oxygen) and the previous stage.
7. Trade routes fix imbalances. Export what you over-produce (often science) for what you lack (often titanium).
8. One city should become your spreader hub. Concentrate lifeform spreaders and their boosters in one well-placed city.
9. Leaders are your action economy. Their specializations and skills are worth planning around.
10. Read the scenario goals. Victory conditions vary by scenario: population, terraforming milestones, lifeforms, cities and more.

Core Concepts

Resources

Planet-scale parameters include temperature/heat, atmosphere/pressure, oxygen and water/rain. Raising them unlocks new lifeforms and eventually oceans.

Turns, cards and hand size

• Each turn you are offered project cards. The game uses multiple project decks so that relevant options show up regularly, rather than purely random draws.
• Projects that increase the number of cards you see or pick are high priority in the opening.
• You can undo a city founding in the same turn (restored for Independence cities in patch 1.7.90).

Expectations and crises

• Expectations rise periodically; patch 1.7.76 slightly increased how often they rise after turn 40.
• When a crisis event comes, you usually get choices; bad luck is partly balanced — negative events become less likely after you suffer one.

Cities and adjacency

• Cities are founded on locations such as craters, plains and lava tubes; ocean locations open up later.
• Buildings inside a city get adjacency bonuses from neighbours. Plan a few turns ahead so the best combos fit.
• Robots and population both contribute to city development; late game, population scaling tends to be the stronger path for support.

Opening Plan (Turns 1–20)

1. Explore with leaders immediately. Look for titanium first, then silicates and other deposits.
2. Found your second city around turn 10 on a resource-rich location. Plains are cheaper to develop than rocky terrain early.
3. Energy first: aim for a comfortable positive energy income by about turn 10.
4. Food second: farms plus soil improvement projects.
5. Science third: labs and a University so you can research key techs and export science.
6. Hand-size projects: grab research/development projects that improve card options.
7. Bacteria spreader by roughly turn 20. Pick a bacteria that produces heat if your planet is cold — many plants and animals need warmer zones.

Mid Game (Turns 21–50)

• Plants need rain and nitrates; get the first plants spreading around turn 30.
• Animals follow once plants are established, roughly turn 40.
• Spreader hub: make your second city the home of your spreaders and the projects that speed their growth. A gene-storage building that accelerates spreader growth in that city is a big payoff.
• Rain and oceans: water projects, aquifers and space projects raise ocean levels. Ocean locations then open docks and ocean-specific cities and farms.
• Support city: found a dedicated high-comfort city (equatorial lava tubes work well) and stack support-producing buildings such as parks.
• Trade: keep adding trade routes; they solve most late shortages.

Benchmarks many experienced players aim for: two or three plant and animal spreaders by turn 50, with terraforming parameters close to their targets.

Late Game (Turns 51+)

• Push more spreaders (four or more of each type) and prestigious lifeforms.
• Complete remaining terraforming parameters.
• Use many trade routes to fund space projects quickly.
• Aim for strong food production to eliminate support bottlenecks.
• Shift toward population growth for scaling support.

Leaders

Leaders explore, and each has specializations and skills. Examples from recent patch notes:

• Dejah Robinson — her independist rally skill (Independence era) gives +6 support per turn but triggers a 2-turn trade embargo; you cannot use it during an active embargo.
• Craig Blake — his specialization gives +1 food production per 5 new food production (changed from 6 in patch 1.7.76).
• Cammile (Lost Explorer) — lets a 1-population city have more extra buildings (4 after patch 1.7.76).

Choose leaders whose bonuses fit your current phase: discounts and exploration early, production and spreading mid-game.

DLC Overview

Independence (final DLC)

• Factions: Scientists, Industrialists and Humanists. When founding a city you choose which faction leads its local government; there are 21 policies across the factions.
• Government: factions earn seats as they gain influence. The seat distribution decides whether Mars becomes a democracy, an oligarchy or a dictatorship; letting one faction dominate slides toward autocracy.
• Mandates: 50 in total, in five tiers. A faction gaining a seat grants a powerful one-time mandate.
• Independence: Earth holds every seat at the start; each seat won by a Martian faction is a step toward independence.
• Patch 1.7.90 changes: after founding a city you pick from 2 new policies for that faction's next city, and if a faction goes a long time without a new city you get an event suggesting a policy change.

Megastructures and moons

• Megastructures cost a lot but give planet-wide effects; since 1.7.90 their costs correctly contribute to tech cashback. Patch 1.7.82 stopped some megastructures from being buildable on the moons in certain scenarios, so plan them for Mars itself.
• Moon cities are base game, not DLC. Cities on Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos arrived with the 1.0 release (March 2023). You discover them through events and need to complete a space project to reach them. Independence adds a special moon city policy.

Marsolympics (free, July 2024)

A free update added the Marsolympics: you train athletes, and if Mars fields more than Earth sends, you get a global comfort-of-living boost until the next edition; lose and comfort drops. A new edition is held every 8 turns, so treat it as a recurring support swing — invest when you can win, and bank support beforehand when you can't.

Independence: Playing the Politics Well

Independence is the biggest change to how a run plays, so it deserves its own plan:

1. Decide your target government early. Democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship is set by the seat distribution. If you want balance, alternate the faction you assign to each new city.
2. Match cities to faction goals. Influence comes from developing cities along the goals of the faction that governs them — a Scientists city should actually produce science.
3. Treat seats as a timer. Earth holds every seat at the start. Each seat a Martian faction takes is a step toward independence and also hands you a one-time mandate, so time faction growth for when a mandate will help most.
4. Hold mandates for the right moment. Several mandates act on locations (for example the mine mandate and "Extract Aquifer"), and patches 1.7.79 and 1.7.90 made those usable on ocean locations too — watch the flood warning with Extract Aquifer. Patch 1.7.82 stopped proposing mandates that would push an already-maxed terraforming parameter.
5. Watch trade during embargoes. Dejah Robinson's rally triggers a 2-turn trade embargo; 1.7.90 fixed a bug that could drive resources negative during one, but you still lose trade for those turns.
6. Re-evaluate policies. Since 1.7.90 you choose from 2 new policies for a faction's next city, and a long gap without a new city for a faction triggers an event suggesting a policy change.

Update History

Balance changes in 1.7.76 matter if you follow older guides: for example the Regolith Burner went from 12 to 15 titanium but now gives 2 atmosphere per adjacent rock instead of 1, the Warehouse got cheaper, the Carpenter costs more (10 power and water) but discounts other buildings by 5 resources instead of 2, and the Advanced Food Processing tech is much cheaper (15 science) but gives 1 support per food, water or nitrates income increase instead of 2.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Building before exploring. You lose the chance to place cities on the best deposits.
• Neglecting hand-size projects. Slow card access costs many turns.
• Starving energy. Nothing runs without it.
• Spreading spreaders across every city. Concentrating them with growth boosts is far more efficient.
• Ignoring trade routes. Most mid-game shortages are solved by trade.
• Rocky terrain too early. Development costs more energy when you have little.
• Letting one faction dominate in Independence, pushing Mars toward dictatorship when you do not want it.

Advanced Tips

• Plan adjacency two or three buildings ahead.
• Export science for titanium when construction stalls.
• Stack support in one high-comfort city rather than spreading small bonuses everywhere.
• Use mandates at the right moment — they are one-time effects.
• Watch expectations timing and bank support ahead of the next rise.
• Custom scenarios: the scenario editor lets you set your own goals; patch 1.7.82 fixed scenario point totals for some goals.

FAQ

Is Terraformers finished? Yes, Independence (April 2026) was announced as the final DLC; patches continue (1.7.90 in July 2026).

How do I win? Complete your scenario's goals, typically a mix of terraforming, population and lifeform milestones, while keeping support ahead of expectations.

What is support? The measure of your population's backing. It must keep up with rising expectations.

Which DLC should I get first? Megastructures for big strategic toys; Independence for a new political layer; New Frontiers for more places to build. The Terraformers Collection bundles the base game, all three DLCs and the Supporter Pack, and owning all three DLCs unlocks an extra exclusive scenario.

Are Phobos and Deimos DLC? No. Moon cities came with the free 1.0 release; New Frontiers adds outposts elsewhere in the solar system.

Why do my plants not spread? They need prerequisites such as rain and nitrates, suitable temperature, and established bacteria.

Does it support gamepads? Yes; several recent patches fixed gamepad-specific issues.

Sources

• Steam store page — Terraformers
• Steam news — Terraformers patch notes (1.6.36 to 1.7.90) and Independence announcement
• Steam News API — Terraformers announcements 2022–2026 (1.0, New Frontiers, Megastructures, Marsolympics)
• Steam Community guide — How to win consistently in all difficulty settings and scenarios