Comparison

Terraforming Mars vs Terraforming Assistant

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Terraforming Mars

Lead a corporation to terraform Mars by building cities, forests, and oceans. Manage resources, complete objectives, and increase your Terraform Rating to make the planet habitable. Compete against rivals and lead humanity into a new era.

Highlights
  • Official board game adaptation
  • Play against AI or up to 5 players
  • Online and offline multiplayer
  • Corporate Era variant
  • Solo challenge mode
  • Expansions available for new content
Features
Read full description

CREATE LIFE ON MARS Lead a corporation and launch ambitious Mars terraforming projects. Direct massive construction works, manage and use your resources, create cities, forests and oceans, and set rewards and objectives to win the game! In Terraforming Mars, place your cards on the board and use them wisely: - Achieve a high Terraform Rating, by increasing the temperature and oxygen level or creating oceans... Make the planet habitable for future generations! - Get Victory Points by building cities, infrastructure and other ambitious projects. - But watch out! Rival corporations will try to slow you down... That's a nice forest you planted there... It'd be a shame if an asteroid crashed right on it. Will you be able to lead humanity into a new era? The terraforming race begins now! Features: • The official adaptation of Jacob Fryxelius' famous board game. • Mars for all: Play against the computer or challenge up to 5 players in multiplayer mode, online or offline. • Game variant: Try the rules of the Corporate Era for a more complex game. With the addition of new cards, including 2 new corporations, focused on economy and technology, you will discover one of the most strategic variants of the game! • Solo Challenge: Finish terraforming Mars before the end of generation 14. Try new rules and features in the most challenging Solo mode on the (red) planet. DLCs: • Speed up your game with the Prelude expansion, adding a new phase at the start of the game to specialize your corporation and boost your early game. It also introduces new cards, corporations and a new solo challenge. • Explore a new side of Mars with the Hellas & Elysium maps, each bringing a new set of twists, awards and milestones. From the Southern Wilds to the Other Face of Mars, the taming of the Red Planet continues. • Add the Venus board to your game, with a new Solar phase to hasten your games. Shake up Terraforming Mars with the Morning Star expansion, featuring new cards, corporations, and resources! • Spice up the game with 7 new cards from the Original Promo Pack: Includes everything from the microbe-oriented corporation Splice to the game-changing Self-Replication Robot project. * Try the Big Box Promo Pack and its 23 cards to raise the level even higher. Play as the expert-only Pharmacy Union or enjoy the more relaxed Astrodrill corporation with this DLC! * Establish outposts and trade with them in Colonies! Featuring 49 project cards, 5 corporations, and a whole new game system, Colonies is the most content-packed DLC to date! Languages available: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish Having an issue? Looking for support? Please contact us: https://asmodee.helpshift.com/ Find all the latest news for Terraforming Mars on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwinSailsInt Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwinSailsInt YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/twinsailsinteractive © Twin Sails Interactive 2019. © FryxGames 2016. Terraforming Mars™ is a trademark of FryxGames. Developed by Artefact Studio.

About

Terraforming Assistant

This app digitally replaces your physical player mat for the board game Terraforming Mars. It automates generation advancement, resource setup by corporation, and tracks game history, allowing you to restore past game states.

Highlights
  • Automatic generation advancement
  • Automatic resource setup by corporation
  • View transaction history
  • Restore game state
  • Supports all expansions and promo corporations
Features
Read full description

Replace your physical Terraforming Mars player mat with this easy to use tool. Features include: - Automatic generation advancement adjustments - Automatic resource setup by corporation (including all expansion and promo corporations) - View history of all transactions/adjustments - Restore game state to any point in history Terraforming Assistant is an unofficial companion to the board game Terraforming Mars. Terraforming Mars is the creation of FryxGames and Stronghold Games. Special thanks to Steven Hunnicutt and https://icons8.com/.

Screenshots

Terraforming Mars4 screens
Terraforming Assistant4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Terraforming Assistant at 94% against Terraforming Mars's 45%. Terraforming Assistant also leads on price (Free vs $8.99) and in-app purchases (none vs 6). Terraforming Mars's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (7.6K vs 28). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Terraforming Assistant is free to download; Terraforming Mars costs $8.99 up front. Terraforming Mars sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Terraforming Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Terraforming Assistant holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Terraforming Mars has 7.6K ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Terraforming Mars's written reviews are positive against 94% of Terraforming Assistant's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Terraforming Mars ships an update every 3 weeks, Terraforming Assistant every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Terraforming Mars versus Terraforming Assistant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTerraforming MarsTerraforming Assistant
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (7.6K ratings)4.9 (28 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.0% of reviews94.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.6K — better28
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#42 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size353 MB1 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperTwin Sails InteractiveAlan You

Customer experience

Terraforming Mars

All ratings7,460 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.9%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews902 reviews
Positive45.0%
Neutral15.9%
Negative39.1%

Terraforming Assistant

All ratings28 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive94.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Terraforming Mars

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Science tags not counted properly
  • Power infrastructure card not functioning
  • Inability to place tiles in some cases
  • Saved games not loading properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Undo button for actions
  • Ability to see final game metrics
  • Notifications for turn updates
  • Ability to track win/loss records
  • More expansion content

Terraforming Assistant

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Terraforming Mars

One-time6
  • Original Promo Pack$2.99
  • Terraforming Mars - Prelude$3.99
  • Hellas & Elysium$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Venus Next$3.99
  • Colonies$3.99
  • Big Box Promo Pack$4.99
None

Terraforming Assistant

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Terraforming Mars free?
Terraforming Mars costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Terraforming Assistant free?
Terraforming Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Terraforming Mars or Terraforming Assistant?
Terraforming Assistant is rated higher. Terraforming Mars averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while Terraforming Assistant averages 4.9 from 28 ratings.
Do Terraforming Mars or Terraforming Assistant have ads?
Neither Terraforming Mars nor Terraforming Assistant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Terraforming Mars or Terraforming Assistant?
Terraforming Mars ships an update every 3 weeks, and Terraforming Assistant every 6 months. Most recently, Terraforming Mars was updated on October 29, 2026 and Terraforming Assistant on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons