Terraforming Mars · Board game rules
How do I win?
Quick answer
You win by having the most total Victory Points (VPs) at game end, combining your Terraform Rating, tile VPs, milestones, awards, and card VPs [p.12 — Final scoring].
Details
The game ends once all three global parameters — temperature (+8°C), oxygen (14%), and ocean (9 tiles) — have reached their goals, finishing after that generation's production phase [p.3 — Global Parameters]. At that point, final scoring determines the winner: the player with the highest total VP score wins [p.12 — Final scoring].
Scoring is done in steps: 1) Your ending Terraform Rating (TR) is your basic score, since each TR step equals 1 VP [p.14 — Parameters]. 2) Each funded award gives 5 VPs to the leader in that category and 2 VPs to the runner-up (except in 2-player games) [p.11 — Fund an award]. 3) Each claimed milestone is worth 5 VPs [p.10 — Claim a milestone]. 4) Tiles on the board score VPs: greenery tiles are worth 1 VP each, and city tiles score 1 VP for each adjacent greenery tile (regardless of owner) [p.12 — Final scoring]. 5) Finally, you count VPs printed on your played cards, including cards that accumulate resources like animals or microbes, and any VPs from event cards in your discard pile [p.12 — Final scoring].
Add all of these to your TR to get your final score. The highest total wins, and if there's a tie, the player with the most M€ wins instead [p.12 — Final scoring].
Watch out: Don't forget to count your face-down played event cards (red cards) — many players overlook these VP contributions since they're stored differently from active/automated cards [p.12 — Final scoring].