Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium, the first expansion for Terraforming Mars, consists of a double-sided game board presenting two new areas of Mars:
• Elysium takes players almost to the opposite side of Mars’ equator, with vast lowlands for oceans in the north and a dry, mineral-rich south. Place a tile on Olympus Mons, the highest peak in the solar system, to gain three free cards!
• Hellas, the southern wild, includes Mars’ south pole and the enormous seven-hex Hellas crater that just begs to become a giant lake. Building around the pole gives you new placement bonuses in the form of heat and possibly even water.
Each of these maps consists of new sets of milestones and awards with relevance for that particular map. Place three tiles around the south pole to be a Polar Explorer, for example, or race to have the most estates beside water on Elysium!
Achire
Great expansion. I originally didn't expect two boards to make a big difference, but they absolutely do. The changes in the map layout affect strategy significantly. The changes to the the awards & milestones is where the big contribution to the game is though, as it completely rebalances strategies. For example, while the base board has you chasing science tags and building tags, they are far less valuable on the Elysium board. On the other hand, plant/microbe/animal cards are far more valuable, which shifts strategies significantly. Love it.
Aroquesada
No he llegado a jugar esta expansión (por eso no la valoro). En cualquier caso, tras un vistazo aparentemente los mapas tampoco tienen muchas diferencias con el original (además que tampoco es algo tan decisivo porque en general el mapa se utiliza poco y tampoco hay una gran competición por sus hexágonos). Por otra parte, si los criterios de victoria no se hubieran impreso en los tableros sino en cartas o similar, hubiera sido todo más ergonómico y considero que con un tablero hubiera sido más que suficiente (se daría la variabilidad seleccionando unas cartas de objetivos u otras). Con todo esto vengo a decir que me parece una expansión innecesaria (igual que las 300 que han venido después) orientada a exprimir económicamente el éxito del juego base. Aunque es verdad que se entiende todo mucho mejor vista la trayectoria posterior del juego (expansiones a mansalva la mayor parte innecesarias y con mero objetivo recaudatorio).
andris0321
This expansion offers content that is just as great as what’s in the base game. As such, I wouldn’t want to miss having this one in my collection.