Indie · November 17, 2020

Mars Horizon (2020)

trophy71 achievementsextension1 DLClocal_offer-15% current discountgroup100k–1M ownersrecommend2.7k recommendations
Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life Following on from Mars Horizon where you were able to re-write history, now you’re going to be making history. Mars Horizon 2 is game about exploration, learning, and discovery. Take on the role of leader of a space agency which has a focus on astrobiology. Your Mission: to Search for Life. Search for evidence across the solar system to prove there’s life on other planets Explore the surface of different planets and moons Build your bases Launch rockets Design and guide your payloads Plan missions Will you be the first to find evidence of life in our solar System? About the Game In Mars Horizon, you take control of a major space agency, leading it from the dawn of the space age through to landing astronauts on Mars. Guide your agency through the space race and write your alternate history of space travel - any of the agencies can be the first to land on The Moon if you make the right choices. Manage the numerous challenges faced then and now: Create your own space agency and base with launch pads, research labs, astronaut training facilities, and much more Construct custom vehicles from hundreds of combinations Launch satellites and crewed spacecraft to explore the Solar System Run mission control as you solve the various challenges of turn-based missions to earn scientific advancement and public support Recreate famous missions conducted by NASA, ESA and CNSA - including the Perseverance Rover, Ingenuity Helicopter, Zhurong Rover and Rosetta space probe missions. Explore an extensive tech tree and compete or collaborate with other agencies to plot your roadmap to Mars Choose from five unique space agencies, each with their own traits, base, vehicles, and spacecraft Build with unlimited freedom in a fully-customisable Sandbox Mode You’re in charge of every element of the journey into space: success rides on your decisions. Will you push to stay ahead of the other agencies, or focus on testing and research? There are multiple ways to ensure the first person on Mars is under your command. Every choice matters: will you invest in the most advanced technology or take risks in the rush to the red planet? Using actual events and missions as inspiration, can you handle the challenges faced by real space agencies? Management is a vital aspect of Mars Horizon. You'll need to design and build the right spacecraft, hire and train the crew, and make strategic decisions as mission control to survive the journey to Mars. Enter into diplomatic partnerships with other agencies to share the rewards of space exploration, or risk going it alone to gain greater prestige. Construct the ideal rocket from historically-inspired vehicle parts. Hire contractors to construct vehicles and use their unique benefits to gain a key edge over your competitors. Launching a payload into space is only the first step. In assuming the role of Flight Director of mission control, you'll need to manage your spacecraft's resources and solve strategic challenges in turn-based missions in order to succeed. But beware: space is a very unforgiving environment. These are the critical moment-to-moment decisions of mission control; do you spend power to fix a malfunctioning antenna or save it in case of an oxygen leak? Perhaps risking that extra three months of mission planning could have avoided this issue? Mars Horizon has been made with the input and support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency. We’ve collaborated with numerous experts in space exploration from the ESA in creating Mars Horizon. From engineers developing the technology used in Mars programmes, to those designing the next generation of missions, bringing an unprecedented level of authenticity, realism and legitimacy to the gameplay and its scenarios. Dig deeper into the game via our podcast, including discussions with staff from the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency. Check out the podcast in the Steam forums or the main site.

Indie releases from 2020

25 Indie titles launched in 2020 — top 6 by review volume.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Management · 337
  • Space · 334
  • Strategy · 326
  • Education · 318
  • Mars · 314
  • Space Sim · 299
  • Science · 298
  • Historical · 287
  • Choices Matter · 287
  • Building · 283
  • Alternate History · 276
  • Turn-Based · 272
  • Exploration · 269
  • Simulation · 262
  • Stylized · 252

Peer Indie titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Position in Indie

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume3.0k Steam reviewsTop 71% in Indie
Positive rating84% positiveGenre average: 87% — this title sits in top 70%
Metacritic71/100Genre average 77 — top 82% of Indie titles
Engagement hours19 h averageTop 31% for session depth among Indie

Reception Metrics

Steam community

84%Mostly Positive · 3.0k reviews

2.5k positive · 476 negative

Metacritic

71/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Curator recommendations

2.7k

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (8)

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Japanese
  • Russian
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Portuguese - Brazil

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Cloud

Input & Comfort

  • Partial Controller Support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateNov 17, 2020
DeveloperAuroch Digital
Base price$16.99 -15%
DLC / Add-ons1 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS
Estimated owners100k–1M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected]

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

19h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

11h

Typical completion time

Achievements

71

Steam unlocks available

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Mars Horizon