Prelude rules

Prelude is an expansion for Terraforming Mars.

How Prelude changes play

Every player gets a fast start from two Prelude cards, played before the game proper begins.

Setup: shuffle the 7 new project cards into the project deck and the 5 new corporations into the corporation deck. The 35 Prelude cards form their own deck.
Setup: deal 4 Prelude cards to each player, who keeps 2 (free) when choosing their corporation and cards.
Setup: once corporations are played and cards paid for, each player in turn plays their 2 Preludes and discards the others.

Also: the wild tag, a Prelude corporation variant, and 12 generations instead of 14 in solo.

Tags Prelude adds a wild tag, which counts as a tag of your choice only when you perform an action, not in final scoring.
Solo Game With Prelude you have 12 generations instead of 14.

Prelude Cards Each player is dealt 4 Prelude cards and keeps 2 of them, chosen at the same time as their corporation and project cards.
When Preludes Are Played Preludes are played in an extra setup round, after all corporations have been played and starting cards paid for.
Wild Tag Once played, a wild tag counts as a tag of your choice whenever you perform an action, for example to help claim a Milestone.
Prelude Corporations Variant Variant: deal each player 1 corporation from Prelude and 1 from the other corporations.
Solo With Prelude and Buffer Gas In a solo game with Prelude you have 12 generations to finish terraforming instead of 14.