Surviving Mars

Last updated
Surviving Mars
Surviving Mars cover art.png
Developer(s)
Publisher(s) Paradox Interactive
Director(s)
  • Gabriel Dobrev H
  • Tiberius Lazar A
Producer(s)
  • Bisser Dyankov H
  • Jay Egas A
  • Lisa Burges A
  • Maurice Kroes A
Designer(s)
  • Boyan "Chimera Ivanov H
  • Boian "Blizzard" Spasov H
  • Ivan Grozev H
  • Bart Vossen A
Programmer(s)
  • Ivan-Assen Ivanov H
  • Svetoslav Genchev H
  • Wouter van Dongen A
Artist(s)
  • Chrom H
  • Scott Davidson A
Composer(s)
  • George Strezov
  • Jonatan Palmgren
Platform(s) Windows
macOS
Linux
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
ReleaseMarch 15, 2018
Genre(s) City-building, survival [1] [2]
Mode(s) Single-player

Surviving Mars is a city building survival video game initially developed by the Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games, and later by Abstraction Games, and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15, 2018. The player serves as an overseer who must build a colony on Mars and ensure the survival of the colonists. A spiritual successor, Surviving the Aftermath , was released in 2021. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

Surviving Mars is a city-building survival game that takes place on Mars and is modeled after real Martian data. [4] The player chooses a sponsoring nation, each conferring slightly different benefits and a unique building and vehicle, and then lands on Mars with robotic drones and rovers. These rovers and drones prepare the colony for humans on the red planet by setting up power and water infrastructure, domes, resource depots, oxygen generators, and landing pads. The player's goal is to create a thriving colony on Mars with occasional rockets from Earth, which have limited cargo or passenger space, forcing the player to balance paying to import resources from Earth and producing resources on the planet. For example, the first human colonists will bring limited food with them on their rocket, so farms are crucial to a thriving colony on Mars.

The player can bring electronics, machine parts, food, concrete, metal, prefab (pre-fabricated) buildings, rovers and drones from Earth, or research technologies to manufacture them on Mars. [5] After successfully creating and managing for basic resources on Mars, players can have the option to progress by building domes suitable for human life and advanced resources production. Players must balance expanding the colony by managing oxygen, food, water, electricity and replacement parts while progressing through unlocking technologies by researches. Through the 5 fields of research (Physics, Engineering, Social, Biotechnology, Robotics), players can unlock technologies that will eventually lead them to different wonders. [6] The game also has storylines called mysteries, which add various events to the colony, [7] including plagues, war, rival corporations, AI revolt, alien contact, and others. Rare metals can be exported back to Earth for funds. Landing sites also have various natural disasters like dust storms, meteor storms, cold waves, and dust devils to increase difficulty. [8] [9]

Development

Haemimont Games, the developer of the Tropico series, initially led the game's development. [10] The team studied the real-world challenges that scientists consider when thinking about colonizing Mars. These challenges were then translated into gameplay elements for the game. The game's aesthetics were inspired by The Jetsons and Futurama . [9] Describing the game as a "hardcore survival city-builder", publisher Paradox Interactive announced the game in May 2017. [11] The game was released for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15, 2018 with mod support. [12]

About a year after release, in June 2019, Haemimont signed on with Frontier Developments for development of a new property for Frontier's publishing label. [13] In March 2021, Paradox revealed that development of Surviving Mars has moved from Haemimont Games to Abstraction Games. [14]

Downloadable content

Surviving Mars has several DLCs, available either separately or as part of the digital season pass available in the game's "First Colony Edition". Space Race, the game's first expansion, was released on November 15, 2018, and introduces rival colonies competing to achieve milestones on Mars. [15] The second, Green Planet, was released on May 16, 2019, and introduces the concept of terraforming Mars into a planet that can sustain human life. [16] Several content packs were also released, including a building pack and the "Marsvision Song Contest" radio station (with the release of Space Race) [17] and "Project Laika", which introduced ranching on Mars as well as pets in the colony (with the release of Green Planet). [18]

In March 2021, Dutch studio Abstraction Games took over the development from Haemimont, and released a free update adding space tourism features; a full paid DLC expansion was announced for later in the year. [19] On August 31, 2021, the paid expansion was announced as Below and Beyond, which includes underground facilities and the ability to build mining bases on asteroids. It was released on September 7. [20] On August 28, 2022 was released a new paid expansion: "Martian Express", which includes a new means of transport: the train. [21]


The city-builder game Cities: Skylines , also published by Paradox, received a free update themed around Surviving Mars. [22]

Reception

The game received generally favorable reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, [23] scoring 80% on PC Gamer , and 78/100 on IGN . [4] [5]

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paradox Interactive</span> Swedish video game publisher

Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment before being spun out into an independent company in 2004. Through a combination of expanding internal studios, founding new studios and purchasing independent developers, the company has grown to comprise nine first-party development studios, including their flagship Paradox Development Studio, and acts as publisher for games from other developers.

<i>Mount & Blade</i> 2008 medieval action role-playing game

Mount & Blade is a 2008 medieval strategy action role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Turkish company TaleWorlds Entertainment, and published by Swedish company Paradox Interactive. In the game, the player controls a customized character to battle, trade, and manage a fief in the medieval land of Calradia. The game was developed by Armağan Yavuz and his wife İpek Yavuz, the founders of TaleWorlds Entertainment. The game was fully released on September 16, 2008, though alpha versions of the game were available prior to the full release.

<i>Crusader Kings</i> (video game) 2004 video game

Crusader Kings is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive in April 2004. An expansion called Deus Vult was released in October 2007. A sequel using the newer Clausewitz Engine, Crusader Kings II, was released in February 2012, and another sequel, Crusader Kings III, was released on September 1, 2020.

<i>Borderlands</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Borderlands is a 2009 action role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K. It is the first game in the Borderlands series. The game was released worldwide in October 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, with a Mac OS X version being released on December 3, 2010 by Feral Interactive. The game's story focuses on a group of four "Vault Hunters", who travel to the distant planet of Pandora to search for the "Vault", which is rumored to contain advanced alien technology and other priceless riches. The hunters piece together clues to find the Vault while battling the savage wildlife of Pandora, local bandits that populate the planet, and ultimately banding together to prevent the Atlas Corporation and its privately funded paramilitary forces from reaching the Vault first.

<i>Mount & Blade: Warband</i> 2010 standalone video game expansion pack

Mount & Blade: Warband is the standalone expansion pack to the strategy action role-playing video game Mount & Blade. Announced in January 2009, the game was developed by the Turkish company TaleWorlds Entertainment and was published by Paradox Interactive on March 30, 2010. The game is available as a direct download from the TaleWorlds website, through the Steam digital distribution software, as a DRM-free version from GOG.com, or as a DVD with required online activation. The macOS and Linux versions were released on July 10, 2014, through Steam.

<i>Cities in Motion</i> 2011 business simulation video game

Cities in Motion is a business simulation game developed by Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive.

<i>Crusader Kings II</i> 2012 video game

Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's Crusader Kings. On October 18, 2019, the video game became free to play. A sequel, Crusader Kings III, was released on September 1, 2020. Crusader Kings II stood out from earlier Paradox games in that it attracted a more widespread audience, contributing to the growth of the company.

<i>Prison Architect</i> 2015 video game

Prison Architect is a private prison construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Introversion Software. It was made available as a crowdfunded paid alpha pre-order on September 25, 2012 with updates that were scheduled every three to four weeks until 2023. With over 2,000,000 copies sold, Prison Architect made over US$10.7 million in pre-order sales for the alpha version. Prison Architect was an entrant in the 2012 Independent Games Festival. The game was available on Steam's Early Access program, and was officially released on October 6, 2015.

<i>Europa Universalis IV</i> 2013 video game

Europa Universalis IV is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the Europa Universalis series, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Europa Universalis III (2007). The game was released on 13 August 2013. It is a strategy game where players can control a nation from the Late Middle Ages following the Battle of Varna (1444), the final crusade, to the Napoleonic era with the timeline finishing on 2 January 1821 to coincide with the death of Napoleon on 5 May 1821. The player navigates their nation with conducting trade, administration, diplomacy, colonization, and warfare.

<i>A Hat in Time</i> 2017 video game

A Hat in Time is a 2017 platform game developed by Danish game studio Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 3 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which nearly doubled its fundraising goals within its first two days. The game was self-published for macOS and Windows in October 2017, and by Humble Bundle for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles two months later. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released in October 2019.

<i>Tales from the Borderlands</i> Episodic video game

Tales from the Borderlands is an episodic interactive comedy graphic adventure sci-fi video game based on the Borderlands series. It was developed by Telltale Games under license from Gearbox Software, the developer of the Borderlands series, and 2K, its publisher. The game was released in November 2014 for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and in 2021 for Nintendo Switch.

<i>Hearts of Iron IV</i> 2016 video game

Hearts of Iron IV is a grand strategy computer wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released worldwide on 6 June 2016. It is the sequel to 2009's Hearts of Iron III and the fourth main installment in the Hearts of Iron series. Like previous games in the series, Hearts of Iron IV is a grand strategy wargame that focuses on World War II. The player can control any country in the world, starting either in 1936 or 1939. Players have the option of following a nation's historical path, or leading a non-historical path.

<i>Cities: Skylines</i> 2015 city-building video game

Cities: Skylines is a 2015 city-building game developed by Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive. The game is a single-player open-ended city-building simulation. Players engage in urban planning by controlling zoning, road placement, taxation, public services, and public transportation of an area. They also work to manage various elements of the city, including its budget, health, employment, traffic, and pollution levels. It is also possible to maintain a city in a sandbox mode, which provides more creative freedom for the player.

RimWorld is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Canadian-based developer Ludeon Studios. Originally called Eclipse Colony, it was initially released as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in November 2013, and was released on October 17, 2018. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as RimWorld Console Edition on July 29, 2022, with development and publishing being handled by Double Eleven. Rather than a test of skill or a challenge, the game is intended to serve as an AI-powered "story generator", where the game is used as the medium for players to experience narrative adventures. The game has received outstanding reviews from critics.

<i>Stellaris</i> (video game) 2016 video game

Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In Stellaris, players take control of an interstellar civilization on the galactic stage and are tasked with exploring, colonizing, and managing their region of the galaxy, encountering other civilizations that they can then engage in diplomacy, trade, or warfare with. A large part of the game involves dealing with both scripted and emergent events, through which new empires alter the balance of power, powerful crises threaten the galaxy, or event chains tell the story of forgotten empires. It was released worldwide for Windows, macOS, and Linux on May 9, 2016 and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as Stellaris: Console Edition on February 26, 2019.

<i>Imperator: Rome</i> 2019 video game

Imperator: Rome is a 2019 grand strategy wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It is a spiritual successor to Europa Universalis: Rome (2008). It received generally positive reviews from critics, however development and support for the game was suspended by May 2021.

<i>Doom Eternal</i> 2020 video game

Doom Eternal is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The sequel to Doom (2016), and the seventh game in the Doom series, it was released for PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One on March 20, 2020, with a port for Nintendo Switch released on December 8, 2020, and versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S released on June 29, 2021.

<i>Crusader Kings III</i> 2020 video game

Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings (2004) and Crusader Kings II (2012). The game was released on PC on 1 September 2020 and on the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on 29 March 2022.

<i>Surviving the Aftermath</i> 2021 video game

Surviving the Aftermath is a city-building game developed by Iceflake Studios, which is now a division of the game's publisher, Paradox Interactive. Players build a city in a post-apocalyptic setting, which includes elements of survival games. It follows Surviving Mars and is followed by Surviving the Abyss, all of which were published by Paradox.

<i>Stranded: Alien Dawn</i> 2023 video game

Stranded: Alien Dawn is a survival simulation video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Frontier Foundry. The game was released for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S in April 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Fraser (15 March 2018). "Surviving Mars review". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Hafer, TJ (15 March 2018). "Surviving Mars Review". IGN . Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Parijat, Shubhankar (25 November 2021). "Surviving the Aftermath Review – The Last of Us". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Surviving Mars Review". IGN. March 15, 2018. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2018– via Youtube.
  5. 1 2 Shchelochkov, Daniel (15 March 2018). ""Surviving Mars review A city-builder with a killer streak"". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Surviving Mars - Dev Diary 7: For Science! By Boyan Ivanov from Haemimont Games - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. 2018-03-14. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  7. ↑ Lathi, Evan (February 3, 2018). "Here's what a late-game colony looks like in Surviving Mars". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  8. ↑ Campbell, Colin (March 15, 2018). "Surviving Mars is tough, smart and very dusty". Polygon . Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Hafer, T.J. (October 31, 2017). "Surviving Mars wants to inspire the next generation of astronauts". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ Osborn, Alex (May 12, 2017). "Paradox Interactive Announces New Space Sim Surviving Mars". IGN . Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  11. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (May 14, 2017). "Paradox Publishing A "Hardcore" Strategy Game About Mars". Kotaku . Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ Kim, Matt (January 2, 2018). "Surviving Mars Launches on March 15, Features Day One Mod Support". USgamer . Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  13. ↑ Barton, Seth (June 12, 2019). "Frontier signs up Surviving Mars developer Haemimont Games as its first publishing partner". MCVUK . Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ March 2021, Vikki Blake 13 (13 March 2021). "Surviving Mars is back with a new update, DLC, and a different developer". gamesradar. Archived from the original on 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-03-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (November 5, 2018). "Surviving Mars: Space Race expansion blasts off next week". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  16. ↑ Boudreau, Ian (April 9, 2018). "Surviving Mars' next expansion introduces terraforming". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  17. ↑ "On Your Marks! Surviving Mars: Space Race Commences Today". Paradox Interactive. November 15, 2018. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Surviving Mars: Green Planet and Project Laika Now Available". Paradox Interactive. May 16, 2019. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  19. ↑ McGlynn, Anthony (March 13, 2021). "Surviving Mars is back with free tourism update". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  20. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (August 31, 2021). "Surviving Mars: Below & Beyond takes the Martian city builder underground". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  21. ↑ https://www.pcgamesn.com/surviving-mars/train-dlc
  22. ↑ Hood, Vic (March 8, 2018). "Cities Skylines hits five million sales, celebrates with free Surviving Mars DLC". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  23. 1 2 "Surviving Mars for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Surviving Mars for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Surviving Mars for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  26. ↑ Tolentino, Josh (15 March 2018). "Review: Surviving Mars". Destructoid . Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  27. ↑ Donlan, Christian (19 March 2018). "Surviving Mars review - offworld, things are just itching to go awry". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  28. ↑ Starkey, Daniel (15 March 2018). "Surviving Mars Review: Building The Final Frontier". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  29. ↑ "Surviving Mars Review (PS4) |". Push Square . 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.