Terraforming Mars: Snow Algae Promo Card

About this expansion

Terraforming Mars: Snow Algae Promo Card is a 2017 promo card for 1–5 players, used with Terraforming Mars, where a game takes about 120 minutes. This automated card adds a snow-based project to the big project deck.

To play Snow Algae, the game must have at least 2 oceans. Once that requirement is met, the card increases plant production and heat production by one step each.

The card’s theme reflects the harsh conditions of the Martian surface. Released water freezes almost instantly in the dry, cold environment, forming glaciers. During warmer summer days, water vapor can sublimate from the ice before falling again as snow.

That frozen environment creates an opportunity for snow algae. Protected inside ice and snow from cold, dryness, and radiation, the algae create their own micro-environment through heat from cellular reactions and increased light absorption as the ice becomes darker.

• Card type: Automated Card
• Requirement: 2 oceans minimum
• Effects: Increase plant production and heat production one step
• Use: Shuffle one copy into the big project deck

Snow algae spread slowly, while contributing to the biosphere, oxygen production, and heat trapping. This compact promo addition gives Terraforming Mars: Snow Algae Promo Card a distinctive environmental theme centered on frozen water and gradual biological development.

The card was released as the Spielbox 2/17 Promo and was also offered as a reward for the Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast Kickstarter campaign in 2017 and the Man vs Meeple Kickstarter campaign in 2018. It can now be purchased through the BGG Store.