I Used to Dread Terraforming Mars Setup
- by Jason
- 2 min reading time
Terraforming Mars setup used to take forever. Plastic baggies, cubes rolling off the table, the whole routine. Now it takes about five minutes. Here's how.
Terraforming Mars is one of those games I'll never get tired of. Base game, Ares Expedition, even the dice version. If it says Terraforming Mars on the box, I'm playing it.
But setting it up used to take forever. Plastic baggies full of cubes and cards, dumped out on the table, half of them rolling onto the floor. You know the drill.
Now it takes me about five minutes. I sorted everything into Piece Keepers once, and that was the end of it. They come out of the box, I pop the lids off, and we're playing. No fiddling with silicone bowls and their little tabs and holes. No re-sorting anything. Just open and go.
I've even got Colonies and Prelude packed into the main box with room to spare.
The Setup Problem Nobody Talks About
Most people undo their organization at the end of every game night because they don't have anything to keep the pieces sorted. So they spend forever organizing, play the game, dump everything back into the box, and do it again next time.
If you give your components a permanent home, setup stops being a chore and starts being just... taking the lids off. Completely different experience.
It Works for the Whole Family
I've done the same thing with Ares Expedition and the Terraforming Mars Dice Game. Same idea, same result.
Show Us Your Setup
We'd love to see how you're using Piece Keepers with your collection. A lot of you have been here since the very beginning, and honestly, the best way to help us grow is just showing people what your setup looks like. That goes further than anything we could say about ourselves.
Here's how:
- Snap a photo of your organized game box
- Tag us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or YouTube
- Add #piecekeepers so we can find it
That's it. Takes less time than sorting cubes out of a baggie.
P.S. I make short tutorials for board games over on YouTube if you're ever trying to learn a new one. Usually under 15 minutes. Check out the channel.
