Mars or Die!

About

Control two characters simultaneously! Survive, gather, collect upgrades, fight all sizes of one-eyed Martians, build defensible outposts and conquer Mars, in this glorious mix between roguelite and tower defense.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

60%

Audience ScoreBased on 30 reviews

graphics3 positive mentions

music2 negative mentions

The game features a good balance between base building and tower defense mechanics, providing an engaging gameplay loop.
Graphics and character design are appealing, contributing to a lighthearted and humorous atmosphere.
The game offers a decent amount of entertainment for a few hours, especially for fans of the tower defense genre.

Gameplay feels shallow and repetitive, leading to a quick loss of interest after initial enjoyment.
Technical issues such as clunky controls, poor AI pathing, and camera limitations detract from the overall experience.
The game lacks sufficient content and variety, making it feel incomplete and overpriced for its current state.

story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
57%
21%
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and lacking depth, with most missions feeling frustrating and unengaging. Players note that the narrative is primarily conveyed through basic mission descriptions, leading to a perception of a nonexistent or overly simplistic plot. While some find the gameplay enjoyable, many believe that the story could benefit from more development and variety to enhance the overall experience.
- “Overall, Mars or Die is a well-made hybrid, with not excessively simple nor complex mechanics, varied gameplay that promotes efficiency and strategy, minimal but funny story, and original enemies.”
- “Fun story & kinda odd tower defense.”
- “Very minimal, and composed of just mission descriptions at the beginning of each one, other than a brief introduction at the game start.”
- “Most of the missions are just frustrating, and the liberation campaign is just survival.”
- “Story is too slow and too boring.”
- “Nonexistent story (you're a... thing... on Mars, fighting with other... things... for... reasons).”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
45%
27%
The gameplay in "Mars or Die" is a hybrid of tower defense and survival mechanics, offering a balance between simplicity and engagement. While it features enjoyable humor and interesting characters, some players feel it lacks depth and progression, suggesting that more complexity and variety could enhance the experience. Overall, it is seen as a fun and accessible option for fans of the genre, despite its surface-level gameplay.
- “From its comedic narration to its cute character, the look and style of the gameplay are awesome.”
- “The gameplay is well balanced and offers a good deal of satisfaction; the playable characters are interesting, and I would like more.”
- “Overall, Mars or Die is a well-made hybrid, with not excessively simple nor complex mechanics, varied gameplay that promotes efficiency and strategy, minimal but funny story, and original enemies.”
- “As the example of other successful survival games shows, in the genre of survival games, too simple gameplay seems to be more of a bad thing than a good thing.”
- “It is a tower defense game that has a decent framework for a good game, but it never goes deeper than surface level gameplay.”
- “The gameplay proposed in the mod is a mix between tower defense and survival.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
38%
25%
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with users noting that they are good for an indie title and well-suited to the game's style. However, some players experienced technical issues, such as crashes when running the game on higher settings. Overall, while the visuals are commendable, they are not considered top-tier.
- “Game graphics are good.”
- “Good graphics for an indie game.”
- “Graphics may not be top-tier but they do the job well and are well suited for this type of game.”
- “Basically bought the game, crashed when I clicked campaign. I lowered the graphics since it was set to the highest by default, eventually had to lower it to the lowest and it still crashes.”
- “If they had done as good of a job with the gameplay as they did with the graphics, maybe added in some progression, actual research that wasn't a chore (fetch quests in 2018, no thanks) and had a wide variety of towers, this could have been really cool.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The music in the game is generally well-received, featuring a very good soundtrack that enhances battle scenes, complemented by humorous voice acting and decent sound effects.
- “Very good soundtrack, especially in battle. Hilarious voice acting (in a good sense) and generally decent sound effects.”
- “The music is just acceptable, nothing more.”
- “The sound and music aspects are quite underwhelming.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Mars or Die" is described as minimal yet effective, adding a lighthearted touch to the game's engaging mechanics and varied gameplay. Players appreciate the humor-coated experience, which enhances the fun and involvement without overshadowing the strategic elements of the game. Overall, it appeals to fans of both top-down shooters and tower defense genres.
- “Overall, Mars or Die! is a well-made hybrid, with not excessively simple nor complex mechanics, varied gameplay that promotes efficiency and strategy, a minimal but funny story, and original enemies.”
- “Mars or Die! is a humor-coated tower defense/survival hybrid with rather simple gameplay, but capable of delivering great fun and involvement with its gameplay, and is suggested to all fans of top-down shooters and tower defense games.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's atmosphere is characterized as amusing and lighthearted, successfully achieving its intended goal of providing a fun and enjoyable experience for players.
- “The game creates an amusing atmosphere, successfully achieving its goal of being lighthearted.”
- “The immersive atmosphere draws you in, making every moment feel alive and engaging.”
- “The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack perfectly complements the stunning visuals, enhancing the overall atmosphere.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, users report mixed experiences with optimization, noting that while some players enjoy stable performance and smooth gameplay, others encounter frequent crashes and frame rate drops. The game's optimization appears to vary significantly across different hardware configurations, leading to inconsistent experiences.