Occupy Mars: The Game

Occupy Mars: The Game is a sci-fi survival simulation set in the far future on the red planet, where players take on the role of an electrical engineer arriving at Mars Base Alpha, the first permanent colony in Valles Marineris. Tragedy strikes shortly after arrival when a supply ship crashes due to a dust storm, destroying the base and leaving the player as the sole survivor, tasked with scavenging resources, building shelters, and enduring the harsh Martian environment in a sandbox open-world adventure.

Occupy Mars: The Game: Review

Introduction

Imagine awakening to the crimson dust of Mars swirling around you, your helmet cracked and oxygen dwindling, as the shattered remnants of humanity’s first permanent colony smolder in the distance—a stark reminder that survival on the Red Planet is no mere adventure, but a brutal test of ingenuity and resilience. Occupy Mars: The Game, developed by the Polish studio Pyramid Games and published by PlayWay S.A., plunges players into this unforgiving sci-fi sandbox, where the dream of multi-planetary existence collides with the harsh realities of isolation and resource scarcity. Released in Early Access on May 10, 2023, for Windows via Steam and GOG, this simulation-survival hybrid draws inspiration from real-world Mars colonization efforts, echoing the ambitions of NASA and private ventures like SpaceX. As a game historian, I’ve seen the genre evolve from pixelated space sims of the ’80s to today’s immersive open-world epics like Subnautica, and Occupy Mars fits squarely in that lineage, emphasizing technical realism over narrative spectacle. My thesis: While its ambitious blend of crafting, base-building, and environmental hazards crafts a compelling vision of Martian life, the game’s Early Access limitations—buggy mechanics, underdeveloped story, and repetitive exploration—prevent it from fully realizing its potential as a landmark in survival gaming, though it promises to influence future space sims with its focus on procedural authenticity.

Development History & Context

Pyramid Games, a modest Polish indie studio founded in the mid-2010s, entered the gaming scene with titles like Rover Mechanic Simulator (2019), a precursor set in the same “Occupy Mars Universe” that foreshadowed their pivot toward full-fledged survival simulations. Occupy Mars: The Game emerged from this foundation, initially conceptualized as a highly technical open-world experience inspired by cutting-edge Mars technologies—think hydroponic farming from NASA’s HI-SEAS simulations and rover designs akin to Perseverance. The project’s Kickstarter campaign, launched in early 2023, was a resounding success, raising over 400% of its goal with 2,662 backers unlocking 13 stretch goals, including automated excavation systems. This crowdfunding triumph not only funded post-release development but also shaped the roadmap, prioritizing features like expanded tech trees and vehicle customization.

The game’s development unfolded against the backdrop of a burgeoning indie survival boom in the early 2020s, where titles like The Planet Crafter (2021) and Astroneer (2019) popularized planetary colonization themes amid a global pandemic that amplified interest in escapism and isolation narratives. Technological constraints were minimal for Pyramid, leveraging Unity’s robust engine to handle procedural terrain generation and physics-based interactions, though Early Access realities meant compromises: performance stutters on mid-range hardware (minimum specs: Intel i5-6400, GTX 960) and unpolished VR support reflect a small team’s focus on core loops over optimization. Released during a saturated Steam Early Access market—dominated by Polish publishers like PlayWay, known for simulator-heavy catalogs—the game positioned itself as a “realistic” counterpoint to more fantastical peers, drawing from historical Mars mission failures (e.g., over 50% of early probes lost) to infuse authenticity. By launch, Pyramid had iterated through a free prologue in 2020, testing survival basics at Gale Crater, and community feedback via Discord and Steam forums guided refinements like revamped inventories and tutorials. Yet, as an Early Access title, it embodies the era’s double-edged sword: innovative ambition constrained by ongoing patches, with devs promising story expansions amid bug fixes.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

At its core, Occupy Mars weaves a sparse but evocative tale of human fragility against cosmic indifference, rooted in a timeline that spans decades of Martian ambition. The lore begins with humanity’s early probes—Mariner 4 in 1965—and escalates to the founding of the Earth Research Agreement (E.R.A.), a fictional alliance of tech giants that establishes Mars Base Alpha in Valles Marineris by the far future. This “first permanent colony” thrives with steady supply shuttles until catastrophe strikes: you arrive as an electrical engineer replacing an injured colleague, only for a dust storm to doom an incoming ITS (Interplanetary Transport Ship). The base erupts in flames, killing all but you, who awakens amid the wreckage with a shattered helmet and depleting oxygen.

The campaign’s plot unfolds in frantic vignettes: scrambling to a secondary ITS (too late, due to emergency evac), then ejecting in an Arktur capsule that fails to orbit, plummeting back to the surface. Dialogue is minimal—governor briefings and Suit AI prompts deliver terse instructions—while characters remain archetypal: the absent governor symbolizes bureaucratic overreach, and scattered logs in abandoned outposts hint at prior explorers’ fates, from dust storm burials to unexplained abandonments. The prologue, set at Gale Crater, serves as a narrative prelude, tasking you with resource gathering amid an impending storm, building tension through environmental storytelling rather than overt exposition.

Thematically, the game explores isolation as both literal and existential: Mars’ vast, barren expanse mirrors the player’s solitude, with no companions or radio chatter to soften the blow. Themes of resilience and adaptation dominate, drawing from real Mars history—water confirmation in 2019 accelerating manned missions—to underscore humanity’s multi-planetary aspirations. Abandoned bases litter the landscape, evoking failed expeditions like the Soviet Mars probes, and prompt questions of legacy: Why so many ghosts of outposts? Community discussions speculate on “lore tablets” revealing bacterial discoveries or “alien eggs” (likely meteorites), but current implementation feels underdeveloped, prioritizing survival over deep narrative. Compared to Subnautica‘s virus-teasing mystery, Occupy Mars opts for procedural ambiguity—your “happy life on the Red Planet” (per devs) is self-forged, with sandbox mode extending this into aimless colonization. Plans for further quests, like Earth-contact missions or outpost recoveries, suggest evolving themes of redemption, but as is, the story serves more as a tutorial hook than a profound saga, critiquing over-reliance on technology in humanity’s fragile expansion.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Occupy Mars thrives on intricate, interconnected systems that simulate Martian colonization’s tedium and triumph, forming core loops of scavenging, building, and maintenance in a real-time sandbox. From a behind-view perspective (switchable to FPP/TPP), direct control feels tactile: keyboard/mouse or gamepad inputs handle everything from rover piloting to soldering circuit boards, with VR optional for immersion.

The primary loop begins with survival basics—managing oxygen, water, hunger, and suit power via drag-and-drop inventory (revamped post-Kickstarter for intuitiveness). You 3D-print refillable bottles and scavenge resources like regolith for crafting at workbenches, unlocking a sprawling tech tree that progresses from basic habitats to advanced greenhouses and fuel generators. Base-building demands strategic placement: scout for water-rich, level terrain using detectors, then connect modules via pipes/cables—neglect cable management, and blackouts cascade into system failures. Repairs add depth; dust storms or meteorites damage gear, requiring tools like welding torches or multimeters to fix “realistic” electronics, echoing Rover Mechanic Simulator‘s puzzle-like dissections.

Exploration propels progression: traverse the open world on foot, quad (nimble for tight spots), or customizable rover (with robotic arms for mining), discovering procedurally generated outposts for blueprints and salvage. Vehicles demand garage upgrades—swapping hydraulics or batteries—while events like sandstorms force hasty shelters. Character progression ties to tech unlocks rather than RPG stats; no combat exists (barring environmental hazards like overheating CO2 scrubbers), emphasizing simulation over action. Innovative systems shine in automation teases (stretch goal) and hydroponics, where crop growth simulates real NASA experiments, but flaws abound: RNG-dependent upgrade tablets frustrate, UI clunks during inventory swaps, and early-game difficulty spikes (e.g., sleeping in capsules) can feel punishing without tutorials. Compared to Astroneer‘s whimsical crafting, Occupy Mars leans harder into realism—fiddling valves manually disrupts flow—but rebalances (e.g., no starting vehicles in sandbox) foster satisfying escalation. Multiplayer is absent, confining it to solo play, though mod support via Steam Workshop hints at future extensibility. Overall, mechanics reward patience, but Early Access bugs (clipping, stuttering radars) undermine the loop’s polish.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The game’s world is a procedurally vast Mars facsimile—crimson dunes, towering craters, and Valles Marineris valleys—spanning diverse biomes from dusty plains to uranium-laced caves, evoking real topography via Unity’s terrain tools. Atmosphere builds immersion through a dynamic day/night cycle: scorching days demand shade, freezing nights require heated suits, while storms whip up visibility-zero chaos, forcing players to hunker in bases. Abandoned outposts—rusted habs, wrecked rovers—dot the landscape, their procedurally similar designs (a common critique) nonetheless foster a haunting sense of prior failure, with lore scraps like radiation-emitting hangars adding peril.

Visually, 3D graphics prioritize functionality over spectacle: detailed textures on tools and vehicles (e.g., rover hydraulics) shine under new interior lighting, boosting performance while warming sterile modules, but exteriors suffer from repetitive rock models and aliasing on high settings (recommended: GTX 1070). Effects like dust devils and meteor showers impress, enhancing tension, though clipping (floating props) and unoptimized draw distances reveal indie constraints. Sound design amplifies isolation: the suit’s HUD beeps urgent oxygen warnings, wind howls through comms static, and mechanical hums of generators provide rhythmic feedback—subtle, ambient layers without bombastic scores, mirroring Mars’ eerie silence. These elements coalesce into a cohesive, oppressive experience: the world’s hostility reinforces survival’s stakes, though bland POI variety dilutes exploration’s wonder, positioning Occupy Mars as a grounded sim rather than a visual feast like No Man’s Sky.

Reception & Legacy

Upon Early Access launch, Occupy Mars garnered “Mostly Positive” Steam reviews (73% from 2,164 users), praised for its depth—over 200-hour playthroughs common—but dinged for bugs, poor optimization, and lackluster endgame (“survive until boredom,” per forums). Metacritic user scores hover around 8/10, with Polish players lauding the “chupa horas” (time-sink) vibe, though international critiques highlight empty bases and RNG woes. Commercially, it sold steadily at $15.99 (discounted from $24.99), bolstered by Kickstarter loyalty and PlayWay’s simulator niche, but trails blockbusters like Subnautica due to single-player focus.

Reputation has evolved positively with updates: post-launch patches addressed inventory woes and added tutorials, while dev transparency (e.g., Steam discussions promising story quests) builds goodwill. As a historian, I see its legacy in bridging sim and survival—predecessors like Mars: Mars (2016 mobile) were simplistic, but Occupy Mars influences indies like JCB Pioneer: Mars by emphasizing repairs and realism, potentially shaping procedural colony sims amid real Mars missions (e.g., Artemis). Spin-offs like mobile Occupy Mars: Colony Builder extend its universe, hinting at broader impact, though full release will determine if it cements as a genre innovator or fades into Early Access obscurity.

Conclusion

Occupy Mars: The Game captures the gritty allure of Martian survival through meticulous systems and a foreboding world, evolving the sandbox genre with its technical bent on colonization’s perils. From the heart-pounding base crash to the quiet satisfaction of a self-sustaining greenhouse, it delivers moments of profound immersion, tempered by Early Access hurdles like repetitive exploration and unfulfilled narrative promises. As a testament to indie ambition in a post-No Man’s Sky era, it earns a solid 7.5/10—commendable for its realism and progression, but awaiting polish to claim a storied place in video game history alongside survival pioneers. For fans of The Planet Crafter seeking deeper simulation, it’s a worthwhile pilgrimage to the Red Planet; others may wait for 1.0’s fuller vision. In the end, Occupy Mars reminds us: humanity’s stars are reached not by dreams alone, but by soldering through the dust.