Mars Horizon

Mars Horizon has a demo for the Steam Festival right now.

I really like it and recommend giving it a try. It’s much -MUCH- better than Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager in every single way.

Thanks for the heads up!

Gave the demo a shot, seems a lot of fun, though it was starting to get a bit repetitive toward the end of what was unlocked. Hopefully it opens up a bit more - to be fair I’ve only just started doing the manned missions. Couple of interface niggles, but nothing major. Definitely on my radar now.

It’s on my wishlist and I’ll be checking out the demo later.

[edit] I’ve played enough - essentially the first unmanned test flight - to know I’ll probably be getting this at release, so I didn’t want to spoil it by diving deeper.

I can’t say yet that it’s “better” than BASPM. It’s certainly a lot more streamlined. When SPM was released, Slitherine was making noises about a Mars-based sequel. I’m guessing it didn’t sell well enough to justify the cost of development.

Can’t say doing the manned mission has allayed my concerns. The only real gameplay change is the addition of an option for resource generation during the missions. Astronaut management was extremely basic. It doesn’t seem to meaningfully model astronaut training, re-entry risk, or psychological/morale issues (which to be fair may only crop up on longer term missions than are available in the demo). Maybe EVAs will change things up, but I suspect it’s just going to be another resource minigame.

I really don’t think I can buy this just on the basis of what I’ve played - the longevity is going to be entirely dependent on how more complex, longer mission types are handled. I can see interesting layers of gameplay coming from having permanent space stations/colonies with resupply and repair considerations to deal with, but at the moment there’s no evidence that’s going to materialise. I don’t think there’s much if any replayability in what I’ve experienced so far, though it was definitely fun the first time through.

I played through to the first test flight and the game left a good first impression on me. Watching my little rocket launch in the rain only to see it explode 8 seconds after takeoff was fun.

This is out now!

Tough call, shoot rockets at Mars or shoot them at other nations. Both Mars Horizon and ICBM launching on the same day. At least they are only ~$18 each.

Did anyone pick this up? The Steam reviews are generally positive, but the negative ones definitely seem to confirm my doubts about the full game.

Was thinking the exact same thing.

If I was a developer I’m not sure how I would quantify all that in a way that is suitable for an edutainment game. For instance, how much “private time in the bunk lol lol” do we give each astronaut each day?

I am watching a let’s play of Mars Horizon. It looks great, but not much hype or after-hype for the game … Kerbal was a bit too complex for me (and time consuming). This looks solid and simple. Is there any depth to the game?

It’s fun but not that deep. It has nothing in common with Kerbal though aside from theme. It’s actually a board game conversion and plays like it.

Leaving Earth?

No, a board game of the same name.:

Similar mechanics with rolling dice to compete mission stages.

Though leaving earth is a good game too!

Just started playing this, and I’m enjoying it a lot so far, especially as an educational game for my two 6 year old sons. Agree that the depth may not be there, but there’s enough to enjoy and it’s excelling so far educationally. Not only are they learning about rockets and planets, but probabilities! Trying to get 6 year olds to understand what a 25% chance for a mission to succeed means is fun, and if they’re going to grow up to be hardcore gamers, this is what they’ll need to know. Sight words are great and all, but you gotta get probabilities and they’re still on counting and addition in kindergarten.

I’d like to thank “spacegamejunkie” too, I believe he posts here (I’ve lurked a lot). We bought the game after watching his video, the boys loved it. Hopefully Steam has some way of tracking that the curator video led to a sale, and you can get some internet points or whatever. =)

We’re still early in, so I’m not sure how well it will hold up or last longer term, but definitely don’t regret the purchase!

Started this up again, and we’re still enjoying it. Just launched the Grand Tour Voyager mission, and they just announced the sequel:

Not a lot of information yet, looks like you can build bases on the Moon and Mars. I wonder if the search for life will be static (always alien fish in the sea under the ice layer of Europa), so you could just beeline there. Or if you’ll need to actually follow clues and such, maybe there will be a few different possibilities.

That’s cool. And spacegamejunkie posts here a lot @BrianRubin

I didn’t realize there was a thread for this! I got into it about six months ago, and had a great time. I think it’s a way better game than any of the more simulation-y versions I tried previously (like the Buzz Aldrin games). It just occurred to me: This is how Sid Meier would interpret the subject. It’s the Railroad Tycoon of space program sims. Maybe one of the Siddiest games released in recent memory, actually, including most of Firaxis’ output.

What a lovely reason to be tagged. Hello there!