Terraformers: First Steps on Mars

Terraformers: First Steps on Mars is a free prologue that gives me a small taste of a much bigger Mars strategy game. I am put in charge of humanity's first attempt at settling Mars, and my job is to explore the planet, find useful resources and start building the foundations of a colony. I like the basic setup because it gives me a clear goal without making things too complicated at the beginning. I am not just placing buildings on an empty map either. I have to think about where I expand, what resources I need and how I can keep my growing population happy. The exploration is probably what I enjoy most. I can send leaders out to discover new areas, and exploring can reveal resource deposits and interesting locations that affect how I develop my settlement. That makes each turn feel useful because I am constantly deciding what information or resource could help me next. The city building also has some nice strategic choices, especially when I am trying to get the most out of the limited resources available. I like that the game makes me think about positioning rather than simply letting me build everything wherever I want. I also like the way the game starts introducing terraforming instead of making Mars feel like nothing more than a colony management map. The prologue lets me work towards changing the planet and spreading life, including the ability to create an ocean and forest. That gives the progression a nice sense of purpose. I am not only trying to make a functioning settlement. I am slowly working towards making Mars more suitable for human life, which fits the science fiction setting really well. The biggest issue for me is the length. This is specifically a free standalone prologue, not the full Terraformers experience, and the scenario is designed around a limited number of turns. I can get a good idea of how the exploration, cities, resources and terraforming work, but I am obviously not getting the amount of content or progression that I would expect from a complete strategy game. I actually think the limited structure works well as an introduction, but it also means I finish just as I am getting comfortable with the systems. I also think some of the strategy feels more restricted than I would like. The game gives me interesting decisions, but the short prologue means there is only so much room for those decisions to develop into a larger plan. There is some randomness involved in what I discover and what options become available, so I sometimes have to adapt rather than follow a perfect strategy from the beginning. I like that to an extent because it keeps the turns from feeling completely predictable, although I would have liked more time to see how deep the systems could become. The presentation is another strong point for me. Mars looks good, the interface is clean and the whole game has a calm science fiction atmosphere that suits the slower pace of the strategy. I never feel like I am being rushed through the basic mechanics, and the music helps make the process of developing the colony feel more relaxing than stressful. The developers also improved things like the tutorial, tooltips, exploration animation and planet visuals during the prologue's development, which shows in how approachable the finished version feels. Overall, Terraformers: First Steps on Mars is a very good free introduction to the full game. I like the exploration, resource management, colony building and early terraforming, and I think the Mars setting gives the strategy a clear identity. The biggest limitation is simply that it is a prologue, so I do not get enough time to see the systems reach their full potential. Even with that limitation, I found enough here to make the strategy enjoyable and give me a good idea of what the full game is built around. For a free standalone introduction, I think it is well made and worth spending some time with. Rating: 7.8/10