As technology advances, mankind continues to look towards the stars: the final frontier of unexplored and unclaimed territory. Whether it’s our drive to discover everything our reality has to offer, or our increasing need for sustainable resources, mankind will always reach for the stars until we’ve claimed them all. Terraformers, by developer Asteroid Lab and publishers Goblinz Publishers and IndieArk, is a new Colony Simulator that’s just released on Steam and gives its players a taste of what it’s like to build an extraterrestrial colony on our rocky red brother, Mars. Get ready for some intense mining, exploration, and resource management as you guide various leaders through the process of making Mars a habitable haven for all mankind.
Story
Developer Asteroid Lab has appointed you as Master of Humanity. Your sole responsibility is to guide the various leaders of the Human Race through exploration of the Red Planet. From building your first city, to exploring different regions of the world, you will slowly build up the resources required to completely Terraform the world into a brilliant paradise for your people. Will you succeed in the various missions and scenarios Asteroid Lab has constructed for you, or will your extraterrestrial civilization collapse under the weight of its own overwhelming expectation?
Gameplay & Mechanics
Terraformers has all the familiar mechanics of a point-and-click Colony Simulator, which will make any veteran of the genre feel right at home. It also has some Card-Based Roguelite mechanics thrown in to give you a unique experience every time you play. You’ll spend all your time bouncing between the World View and the city map. World View allows you to drag, zoom, and spin the planet around to give yourself a better view, and plan out your expansion to different branching points of interest. The City View allows you to build and plan districts that will give your growing population bonuses that you’ll need to keep them happy.
Terraformers currently has several scenarios with their own win conditions, such as gaining a specific approval rating or populating the planet with a variety of animals. Regardless of the scenario, you’ll be racing against the growing Colony Expectations, which increase at a steady interval and apply a permanent negative debuff to your Colony Happiness. If the happiness of your colony ever hits 0, it’s game over. Fret not! After every scenario, win or lose, your overall rating increases and, as you hit higher milestones, you unlock new cards to your deck, which have various effects and bonuses.
Difficulty comes from having to manage your colony’s happiness, while still having enough resources to explore, mine, construct, and complete projects that will lead you to victory. It can be challenging keeping your people happy, but as you gain more experience and unlock better cards, you’ll learn new ways to accomplish both goals simultaneously.
Aesthetics & Sound
For an Early Access game, Terraformers looks very clean. Asteroid Lab mainly uses 2D artwork for its backgrounds and character models, but switches to a 3D view of Mars in the Planet View, which allows you to get a better looking angle at the planet as you plan your expansions. Something that is very clever, is that as you build up your cities, the 2D artwork changes in the background. You literally get to watch your choices affect the aesthetics of your colonies. On top of that, as you Terraform the Red Planet, it will also change in visuals and appearance. I remember the first time I planted a forest, that entire temperature zone filled with greenery. It was truly something to behold. And it only got better, as I imported Oceans, which froze over, but then melted and turned into vast seas as I raised the planet’s temperature.
Summary
Living up to its name, Terraformers knows just what to do to make you feel like you’re making a difference on the planet. It’s a smooth experience, with very few hiccups and bugs. One thing I hope Asteroid Lab releases in the future is better touch responses. I played Terraformers on a Touch-Screen 2-in-1, and so desperately wanted to experience the game using just touch gestures and a stylus. Unfortunately, the game is only optimized for mouse & trackpad and I had a lot of difficulty trying to do even the most basic things with touch. For example, I can’t even spin or rotate the planet by touching and dragging; something that would definitely make me feel like a God if I could do.
Aside from that, Terraformers stole far more hours from me than I expected going in and I am excited for when the final release is launched. If you haven’t picked up Terraformers yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice. As of the time I’m writing this article, the game is on Steam Early Access at a 10% discount. Take a look: it’ll be worth it.
As the (self-proclaimed) King of Casuals, I'm always seeking out new titles to play and experience across all platforms. Eventually, I have ambitions to take the many different styles of this medium to create titles that will wow the masses in fresh, innovative ways.
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