Build the cities, use the resources, make Mars habitable

Nov 24, 2022 15:04 GMT  ·  By

Even with Earth-based imports, I have too little food. I want to drop down a new set of apartments, to boost population and open up expansion, but also to create an entirely new city. Neither of those will happen in less than 3 turns unless my rover and satellite exploration uncovers a cache of food supplies. 

In the meantime, I ponder how to rearrange a city layout to make an entertainment center deliver the best results. And what kind of massive terraforming project do I want to undertake next. Making Mars even slightly more habitable for humans is a massive undertaking and there are plenty of ways to fail.

Terraformers is developed by Asteroid Lab, with publishing in the hands of Goblinz Publishing and IndieArk. The game is now in Early Access on Steam, set to arrive in the 1.0 version in a few months. This is a mix of city-building and resource management set on Mars in the near future.

The setup is easy to guess: the player is in charge of making the Red Planet habitable for humanity, using a variety of buildings and tools. The colonization efforts moves from leader to leader (each with special powers that can do a lot when properly deployed) and there are plenty of narrative events that set short and long-term goals.

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The big limit for the player is a population support counter, built on expectations, which requires careful management. This is a good way to ask players to constantly evaluate what they can achieve and use resources rationally.

At the center of the game are projects, arriving at a rate of one chosen per year. They are mostly buildings, which require players to spend resources to then place them down inside a city. The newly constructed asset offers access to specific output and bonuses, based on where it is located.

Bigger projects need a suitable buildable space on Mars to deliver their own list of benefits. As the Mars colony grows, the game introduces even bigger resource gobbling efforts. It is very satisfying to create solid resource streams and see how they can be harnessed to make the Red Planet a more welcoming place.

Everything in Terraformers is gated by the turn-order. A leader can be used once per year. Resources accrue slowly and are invested in big chunks. Players need to develop good medium-term plans and arm themselves with patience to achieve them.

A green and blue Mars is hard to create. Most projects are so exciting that it’s hard to pick one without regrets. It’s easy to over-commit and then enter a downward spiral. But the game does not feel unfair.

Terraformers has a bright, crisp presentation that is well-aligned with the optimism of its gameplay. The user interface is easy to understand and use, there’s no need to hunt down obscure actions or info. The soundtrack, although suitably chipper and orchestral, is a notch behind the graphics in terms of quality.

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Conclusion

Terraformers is a promising management title with a solid theme and mechanics that are easy to learn but hard to master. I like that I had to constantly make choices about my Martian priorities and how much I was willing to compromise for progress.

The development team is using Early Access to get more feedback and enhance the experience. I would love to see more of a focus on the leaders and on the way colonists can interact with their cities and the Martian environment. But even if no big revolutionary mechanic is added, Terraformers is a game I will be playing a lot as soon as it delivers its 1.0 release.

A preview code was provided by the publisher.

Terraformers Screenshots (16 Images)

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