The cheat sheet

Everything below is expanded elsewhere in the guide. This is the version you glance at while Matthew is taking too long on his turn.

The ten rules

1. Income before points. First third of the game: every purchase should make you richer. Points come later and cost less when you’re rich.
2. Buy fewer cards. 3 MC each, every research phase. Keep 1-2 (opening hand: 3-5). Toss the pretty ones you can’t play soon.
3. Early TR is income. Each point of TR pays 1 MC every generation and scores at the end. Cheap terraforming early is never boring.
4. A production card must pay itself back before game end: production × generations left vs. cost + 3. No payback, no purchase.
5. Never sit on 7 plants. His plant-eating events are aimed at you. Convert at 8, fast, or stay visibly below the threshold.
6. Claim milestones the moment you qualify (8 MC → 5 VP). Track his progress out loud; never be surprised.
7. Fund only awards you’ve already won, and fund late. In 2p second place scores NOTHING — a lost award is the fee burned plus 5 points to him.
8. Know who wants the game to end. Ahead → push the tracks. Behind → starve them and out-build him.
9. Stop buying production ~3 generations from the end. Then: money → greeneries (23) and temperature (14), heat → temperature, plants → greeneries.
10. End with an empty board. Leftover MC, heat, and plants at game end are points you forgot to score.

The numbers that matter

Thing	Number
Kept card	3 MC
Steel / titanium	2 / 3 MC (building / space cards only)
Heat → +1 temp (+1 TR)	8 heat
Plants → greenery (1 VP + 1 TR + oxygen)	8 plants
Standard projects	power 11 · asteroid 14 · aquifer 18 · greenery 23 · city 25
Milestone	8 MC → 5 VP (max 3 claimed)
Awards	fund 8/14/20 · 5 VP first · 2p: 2nd place gets NOTHING
Game ends	9 oceans + temp +8°C + oxygen 14%
A point is worth	~5 MC — pay much more and you’re overpaying
Free steps	oxygen 8% → free temp · temp 0°C → free ocean · −24/−20°C → +1 heat prod
Expect	~11-14 generations in a 2-player game — plan around 12
Game-end detail	ends at the END of that generation — trigger late, deny him the dump turn

The designers’ price list (what things cost inside the cards — your benchmark for any deal): 1 MC production = 5 · 1 VP = 5 · heat prod = 6 · energy prod = 7 · steel prod = 8 · plant/titanium prod = 10 · 1 TR = 10 · 1 ocean = 14. One-offs: 1 plant = 1 steel = 1 titanium = 1 card = 2 heat = 2 MC. Every standard project overpays by exactly 4 MC — so any 4 MC of side value (a placement bonus, two ocean adjacencies, a greenery next to your own city) makes one fully efficient.

Generation-by-generation posture

• Gens 1-3 — build. Production, card economy, cheap TR, first tiles on bonus hexes. Grade yourself on income growth, not points.
• Middle gens — compound and steer. Keep building while payback math holds; take TR that drifts to you; race the milestone your plan feeds; count the tracks every generation.
• Last ~3 gens — convert. No more production. Money, heat, and plants become points. Side board first, then greeneries by best hex, recount both scores before your final action.

Quick placement reminders

• Greeneries next to your cities (each adjacent greenery = +1 VP to the city). Never beside his.
• Oceans on bonus hexes; building next to oceans pays you 2 MC per adjacent ocean.
• In 2p, taking the hex he clearly wants is a real move — when his loss beats yours.

When you’re not sure what to do

Buy income if it still pays back; otherwise raise TR the cheapest way on the table. That default is rarely the best move and almost never a bad one.