Tharsis

Tharsis is FTL for real cosmonauts who know problems are solved by random dice throw and by marginal ability to strategize in unclear situations. And it's funny!

Tharsis isn't a game for everyone. Strategy may be an important factor in determining how long you'll survive, but luck plays a much bigger role in things toward the end. The game is punishingly difficult early on, but it throws you a bone every now and then with character unlocks that can make things feel different.

For those looking for something unique and original, Tharsis definitely offers that up in spades. It’s not a game that can be played for hours on end, but you’ll certainly return to it time and again should you fall for its clever blend of roguelike and strategy board games.

With a few tweaks and maybe a more casual-friendly difficulty level, Tharsis could be a fun strategy alternative for those who don’t enjoy building large kingdoms or waging wars that take hours to complete. In its current state however, Tharsis is little more than a sadistically cruel game of digital roulette.

Its simple rules coupled with the brief length of its rounds make Tharsis very easy to pick up and get addicted to...for a few hours. Unfortunately, so much of its gameplay is reliant on luck, which can make for an incredibly frustrating and unforgiving experience.

An interesting but frustrating space oddity. [Issue#172, p.94]

Tharsis is well made, but not well designed—an attractive, interesting board game idea, but only the first draft.

The music drums on as modules explode, fires start, asteroids punch holes in the ship, and the crew develop space madness. Fantastic soundtrack, and overall a great turn based strategy game. This is a great game for risk management and strategy. It's not for everyone because it is a game that requires careful planning. Most people (based on steam reviews) take about 2 to 5 games before they can get their first win in the game, but once you do, it feels rewarding. Personally, I don't much care for most strategy games, but this one is an exception. One thing I've found is that, depending on the random events, you will usually find a different resource (health, food, hull, stress/sanity) is the critical issue, so each playthrough requires a different strategy, unlike some strategy games where once you figure out the pattern, there is only a single thing to optimize. There are also a variety of crew with different skills (unlocked after completing different tasks) which adds to the replayability. Overall, a great strategy game.

Earth has received a distress signal coming from Mars. The signal appears to be originating from Tharsis; A volcanic plateau near the equator. A team of scientists and engineers build a spacecraft suitable for the journey and head out to see if this is extraterrestrial life or something else undiscovered. The journey to Mars plays out as a dice throwing tabletop game. Each astronaut on your team has a pool of dice that when rolled you can allocate where to put your dice. As the game progresses, events and problems with the ship have to be fixed before they trigger. You have to use your team and move around the ship to fix the hull from breaking, managing character stress and health, and also providing food to your team to replenish dice pools. Designed for multiple plays, permadeath is real. There is no “just reload” each run is right through to you either succeed in your mission or everyone dies. Twists and turns keep it interesting. The story is there in bits with a Inception level of resetting. The meat of this game comes from the randomness of dice throwing and trying to make the most of crappy luck.

Best described as a survival and management game, in Tharsis the player controls the four lasting members of a space crew. Their ultimate objective is to reach Mars and investigate the Tharsis event, surviving through various harms and even having to recur to cannibalism. The plot starts out simple but it unfolds as you get closer to Mars. The story may not be very driving or long but it surely is interesting and very well delivered. The voice over and the pastel-like art style fuses well with this asphyxiating environment of total despair. If you like tabletops this game will suit you well. Tharsis has you throwing dices to perform most of the actions in the game. Managing your results, characters and risks are the main focus in terms of gameplay. This game will have you on th edge of your chair with every decision you make. Tharsis also has a little bit of rogue-like in him, the events that happen, available researches and even your characters stats and positions are randomized each new game wich will provide for a lot of replay value. The game was clearly not meant to be finished on your first attempt but instead to learn and reach further in each playthrought, just like in a rogue-like. The design in Tharsis is visually very engaging, from the general view of the ship to the small details on each of the chambers. The slick, clean looks of the game contrasts with the rough painted story elements. This elements may be visually different from the rest of the style of the game but it fits well, just like the calm music that ties everything together. • Final Thoughts It might not be the kind of game for every type of player but for those who enjoy survival, managing somewhat rogue-like type of games with a little taste of tabletops, Tharsis will be a most enjoyable experience. I myself found the game very repetitive as the randomized elements weren’t enough to keep it fresh. But the game does feature very unique mechanics and ideas and it distinguishes itself because of that.

I was wooed by this game's premise, but, after giving it a long enough whirl to beat it, I'm pretty sure this particular game has no business existing in either digital or board game form. The game's like 10% skill, 90% randomness. What **** is that while the skill is ABSOLUTELY necessary, randomness will kick in the balls every time. There are so many things in this game that shouldn't be randomized. Why are the starting states and locations of all characters random? There's no need for that. You can be pretty much hosed from luck of the draw in starting position. This wouldn't be any better as a board game because, setting this all up and then putting it back in the box would be a pain in the ass. Getting 4 people together to roll dice and discuss whether or not you're screwed and should just restart the game isn't my idea of a fun time, either. So, so many things to work on. To top it all off, the ending is a big eff you to the player. If this drops below $5, maybe give it a shot.

I really like the premise of this game, but this would be MUCH better as a tabletop game. Its almost weird that they made it a PC game. Unfortunately I have a very bad feeling that the reason the game is so difficult is not because they meant it to be, but because they're trying to cover up the fact there there is very little to it. If you like strategy games, pick it up if it drops to about $2 or less. Otherwise, this wasn't worth the $10 I paid (which was on sale from $15).