Who goes first?
From the publisher’s rulebook

Who goes first in On Mars?

Eagle-Gryphon English Preview rulebook, ©2019, April 2020 production file

The player with the most viewings of The Martian chooses a turn-order space first. After everyone chooses, the lowest occupied numbered space takes the first Colonization turn.

Read the publisher’s rulebook

Rule details

Turn-order spaces are chosen clockwise from that initial chooser. The first chooser is not necessarily first to take a Colonization action.

The First Colonists variant assigns spaces using randomly dealt tiles instead of letting players choose their spaces.

Solo setup assigns Lacerda’s space with a random First Colonists tile, then lets you choose your own space or randomize it.

If there’s a tie

The cited starting-player instruction does not specify a tie-break. We don’t infer one.

Source & edition

  • On Mars — Eagle-Gryphon Games rulesEagle-Gryphon Games · Starting turn-order spaces; Colonization Phase; Solo Game; First Colonists variant and credits; PDF pages 7, 8, 22, 24 · Checked 2026-09-23

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