Earth vs Mars

About

Earth vs Mars is a single player and multiplayer tactical turn-based strategy game with warfare and science fiction themes. It was developed by Relic Entertainment and was released on October 29, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Faced with a terrifying Martian invasion, you must lead Earth’s forces in a battle for our planet’s future. Create powerful human-creature super soldiers to fight an alien menace in this turn-based strategy game.

Skip User Reviews

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 62 reviews

story6 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

Fun and engaging turn-based strategy game with a good campaign and balanced difficulty.
Unique DNA splicing mechanic adds interesting strategic variety and customization to units.
Polished presentation with vibrant art style, charming humor, and well-designed maps.

Gameplay suffers from unit imbalance and AI simplicity, reducing tactical depth and causing repetitive strategies.
Technical issues including occasional crashes, bugs, and inconsistent performance, especially on some platforms.
Story and character development are basic and less engaging compared to the gameplay experience.

story
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
73%
9%
The story is generally regarded as serviceable but uninspired and campy, fitting a retro sci-fi theme with occasional humor but lacking depth or engagement. While the narrative supports the game's strategic missions, it does not match the quality of the gameplay or visuals, often feeling predictable or minimal. Most players focus more on the tactical challenge than the story, which serves mainly as a backdrop to the varied and well-designed missions.
- “Story-wise, although still over-the-top, it's a bit less ridiculous than Advance Wars; in fact, the DNA splicing gives a vibe of all life on Earth contributing to the defense of the planet against the Martian invasion.”
- “Missions have good difficulty at "normal" setting and the premise/story line is solid.”
- “This game screams retro vibes with a great and funny story line that will not only make you laugh but keep you immersed.”
- “As for story, it's low quality writing but I don't think many people buy this type of game for the story anyway.”
- “Despite being fully voiced and structured across numerous missions, the narrative struggles to stay engaging and can feel a bit dull over time.”
- “Story is barely there, but keeps the campy retro sci-fi campaign going.”
gameplay
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
Gameplay offers a charming and accessible turn-based strategy experience reminiscent of Advanced Wars, highlighted by its unique DNA splicing mechanic that creates diverse hybrid units and adds strategic depth. While the campaign effectively introduces mechanics and the style is playful, some players note issues with balance, pacing, and a clunky UI that can detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game provides a fun, quirky take on classic tactical gameplay with enjoyable mutation-based mechanics.
- “Earth vs Mars is a charming and surprisingly stylish take on the turn-based strategy genre, blending classic tactical gameplay with a playful, almost cartoon-like presentation that immediately sets it apart.”
- “There’s a real sense of personality here—especially in the bizarre but creative hybrid units you create using the game’s core mechanic, which fuses humans and animals into unique battlefield fighters.”
- “This splice-o-matic feature inspires and leads a mechanically compelling take on the tiny-wars experience, as well as a tonally fun and slapstick-style narrative journey that mimics the lighthearted energy Advanced Wars puts out.”
- “However, while the presentation is strong, cracks start to show once you dig into the gameplay systems.”
- “But underneath that charm lies a layer of mechanical issues—particularly with balance and pacing—that hold it back from true greatness.”
- “Poor UI design and clunky mechanics that seem to be made by someone who never played strategy games before.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The game's graphics are a prominent and appealing feature, though the cartoonish, Clash of Clans-like art style may not suit everyone's taste. Some users initially disliked the visuals but grew to appreciate them as they engaged more with gameplay elements like DNA splicing. However, there are reports of unexpected system heating despite relatively modest graphical demands.
- “From the moment you jump in, the game’s visuals are a standout feature.”
- “The visuals are nice, gameplay is fairly balanced day one (just got a patch today 11/5), the DNA splicing gives you variety in customized units.”
- “I didn't care for the art style at first, but it has grown on me, especially when you start splicing your troops more and more.”
- “Also, I have the latest i9 with 128 GB RAM, 4080 Super, all of which usually stays quite cool, which is why I was surprised to hear the fans rev up to max during a turn-based game with cartoon graphics running at 1080p.”
- “Very subjective, but the Clash of Clans-like art style is not for me.”
- “Only issues I have are on the graphics side.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor in campaign mode delivers a retro-style, entertaining storyline that keeps players engaged and amused, though some find its character development and jokes somewhat basic. Overall, the humor is appreciated and adds to the game's charm.
- “This game screams retro vibes with a great and funny story line that will not only make you laugh but keep you immersed.”
- “The campaign mode's attempt at humor and character development is certainly there, but feels basic.”
- “I like the humor.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences sudden significant performance drops during certain missions, highlighting optimization issues. Users suggest adding a resolution scaler slider, ranging from 25% to 200%, to improve performance management and better support upscaling features.
- “There were sudden disastrous performance issues on my deck after a certain mission.”
- “Would be cool to have a resolution scaler/slider that goes up to 200% for downsampling (or down to 25% to save performance), especially with the use of TSR for upscaling (with no internal resolution shown there).”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The campaign mode includes efforts at humor and character development, but these elements come across as basic and somewhat underdeveloped.
- “The campaign mode's attempt at humor and character development is certainly there, but feels basic.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrated strong stability, running smoothly without any glitches or crashes throughout the playthrough.
- “The game ran well and I had no glitches or crashes during my playthrough.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users generally view the monetization as positive, appreciating the approach despite wishing for better advertising traction. Overall, it is seen as a successful aspect of the game.