Snag up a popular spacefaring game and five of its expansion boards now on sale and get savings as high as 33% this week ahead of Black Friday.

The objective of Terraforming Mars is written in the game's name. One to five players can compete with one another to gain the most points towards raising the habitability of the Red Planet for future human visitors. Players gain points by raising Mars' temperature, the planet's oxygen level and by creating and expanding oceans.

The game features several card categories that allow the players some control about their play level of difficulty. Project cards stimulate the imagination by tasking players to do things like introduce plant life and build cities, and there are more than 200 different projects to complete.

The Terraforming Mars Board Game is now on sale at Amazon for $49.85, which is 29% off its usual retail price.

Terraforming Mars is an upgradable game, too. One of the unique characteristics of Terraforming Mars are its tiles, which players can place across the board illustration of the Red Planet. One available upgrade lets players add a higher visual element to their game.

Known as the Big Box, this upgrade comes with 90 special tiles to dress up the game, including a set of 3D terrain tiles. Big Box also serves as a storage solution for the main game and its expansions (which are also on sale this week).

Terraforming Mars: Big Box is now available for $121.30 at Amazon, which is a 19% savings off its retail price of $149.99.

Once you are ready for an expansion kit, there are many to choose from.

One option is Prelude, which allows players to move through the backstory of the corporations that terraform Mars. This kit offers about 90 to 120 minutes of average playtime, according to the manufacturer Stronghold Games. And just like the original game, it is intended for ages 12 and older.

Another expansion board option takes players to the other side of the Red Planet. The Terraforming Hellas & Elysium: The Other Side of Mars Expansion Board consists of a double-sided game board. Each side represents two new areas of Mars for gameplay: they include the opposite side of Mars' equator and the south polar region of the planet. This expansion kit is now 30% off its retail price, selling for $29.18 at Walmart.

Terraforming Mars Turmoil is one of the highest-rated expansions. This set is suitable for experts of the original game. It comes with a new card type called global events, which features things like dust storms and riots, plus new project cards too. You can now save 15% on this expansion, available for $29.54 at Amazon.

The Venus Next expansion kit takes the game to Earth's other celestial neighbor. Players can work to build flying cities, reduce Venus' greenhouse effect, or introduce life to the planet. Like the original game, this expansion is recommended for ages 12 and up and offers about 90- to 120-minute play. Terraforming Mars: Venus Next is now 17% off on Walmart, available now for $24.95.

One extension of the Terraforming Mars is Ares Expedition, a standalone game inspired by the original that features faster gameplay. Ares Expedition is also on sale for Black Friday, now $39.99 on Walmart (originally $49.99).

Be sure to check out Space.com'sBlack Friday space deals, or our guide to thebest Black Friday space board game deals.

Today's best Terraforming Mars deals

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Space-themed board game Terraforming Mars and its ...