High replayability and variety
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“the randomisation of maps, events, and available build options means every game will play differently.”
Steam review · 96.5 h played ↗
Terraformers
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 89%Very Positive · 89%Asteroid Lab2023Survival · Roguelike · Simulation
$19.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A short, board-game-like Mars terraforming card roguelike with great replayability and tough optimization. Skip it if you want a relaxing colony builder or hate RNG and timers.
Great for
Fans of Terraforming Mars, euro board games and roguelike deckbuilders who enjoy optimizing short runs
Main risk
It's a RNG-driven card puzzle with a support timer, not a relaxed colony builder, and gets repetitive
What players love
Relaxing, cozy atmosphere and music
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“it is largely due to the unbridled optimism that the whole game feels to have.”
Steam review · 124.1 h played ↗
Good DLC, weekly challenges and unlocks
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“There is a meta progression that allows you to unlock new cards to play that open up more strategies”
Steam review · 157.4 h played ↗
Challenging difficulty scaling
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“One of the very few games I've been steadily increasing the difficulty level on for nearly a hundred hours”
Steam review · 90.4 h played ↗
Board-game-like strategic depth
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“Definitely more of a board game than a colony sim, it manages to have a really nice decision space where every decision feels impactful but not overwhelming.”
Steam review · 12.8 h played ↗
Short sessions and one-more-turn pull
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“I love how I can play a session within a the time of a 1-hour lunch break.”
Steam review · 1441.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Repetitive with little depth
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Do 1-3 and you've seen 90%+ of the game. It just doesn't have enough content/depth to justify its price.”
Steam review · 12.1 h played ↗
Heavy RNG from card draws
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“the pool of "projects" (essentially cards) you choose from every turn gets seriously diluted the more you play and unlock stuff, making it overly reliant on RNG.”
Steam review · 6.3 h played ↗
Support timer feels artificial and punishing
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“Mars doesn't fail because the people are starving, or lacking air, or lacking water, or lacking ANY resource... BUT BECAUSE OF ARBITRARY BLEEDING OF "SUPPORT."”
Steam review · 5.8 h played ↗
Not a colony builder; feels like a mobile/card game
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“It is NOT colony builder game (games like Surviving Mars/Aftermath, Per Aspera, Cities Skylines, Banished etc.) - in its basis it is card game”
Steam review · 9.9 h played ↗
Poor UI, save system and no ultrawide
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“being locked into a single save until I beat it - and across computers via the cloud no less - is a complete deal breaker.”
Steam review · 5.3 h played ↗
Games end before real terraforming happens
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews
“Every single game mode is rush rush rush hurry hurry hurry.”
Steam review · 41.6 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support4 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7
Processor1.3 GHz
Memory2 GB RAM
GraphicsDX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities
Storage4 GB available space
Recommended
Processori5 3rd generation (or newer) / FX4170 (or newer)
Memory4 GB RAM
GraphicsAMD Radeon 8000 series (or newer) / Nvidia GTX 660 (or newer)
Storage4 GB available space
OSWindows 7
Processor1.3 GHz
Memory2 GB RAM
GraphicsDX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities
Storage4 GB available space
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