Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020)

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Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) is a single player simulation game. It was developed by ▲ Pyramid Games and was released on August 20, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Occupy Mars: Prologue is a free-to-play introduction to survival and colonization on Mars, set in a remote research station within Gale Crater. Players must gather resources, mine, generate oxygen, and grow crops while managing and upgrading their base to withstand the harsh Martian environment. Strategic thinking and resource management are essential to thrive in this challenging open-world sandbox.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

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72%

Audience ScoreBased on 621 reviews

gameplay16 positive mentions

grinding33 negative mentions

The game has a lot of potential with immersive gameplay and a decent story that appeals to space exploration fans.
Graphics and sound design are well-executed, creating an engaging atmosphere for players.
The game offers a challenging survival experience that requires players to manage resources effectively.

Controls are clunky and unintuitive, making gameplay frustrating at times.
The tutorial lacks clarity and fails to provide essential information, leaving players confused about how to progress.
Performance issues and bugs hinder the overall experience, with reports of lag and crashes on various systems.

gameplay
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
66%
5%
The gameplay of the game is described as immersive and rich in mechanics, particularly appealing to fans of the survival genre, though it suffers from unintuitive controls and clunky mechanics that can detract from the experience. Players appreciate the challenge and sense of accomplishment it offers, but many note that the learning curve is steep and some mechanics lack clear explanations. Overall, while the game shows significant potential and offers hours of engaging content, it requires further refinement to enhance the user experience.
- “Overall, it is an immersive game, with well-balanced mechanics.”
- “The game has a lot of potential; I like its realism and gameplay mechanics.”
- “Gameplay for pre-release is really good, a little learning curve but it is expected in any game.”
- “Gameplay, mechanics, buttons, menus, etc. are unintuitive, janky, and clunky.”
- “Aside from the clunky nature of the game and absolute lack of explanation, which I got past and figured out how to play, I encountered some issues with general gameplay that, while seeming small, take away from the game feeling like a proper game and very much like an alpha test.”
- “There are some big problems with this; first off, grabbing the rock is almost impossible, the arm is about 2 meters too short, the arm clips into things, and movement of the rover doesn't even work correctly in terms of trailer mechanics.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
52%
7%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players noting that while they are not photo-realistic, they are adequate and show promise, particularly in the demo version. However, many users report performance issues, bugs, and choppy visuals that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are considered decent but in need of optimization and improvement to fully realize their potential.
- “The visuals look enticing, realistic, and it will have a nice story mode, like a Mars adventure, so that part looks just excellent.”
- “I love playing the game because the graphics are beautiful; it is like laying out and looking at the stars.”
- “Overall gameplay a solid 7/10, graphics a solid 7/10.”
- “Graphics aren't great and it is very difficult to understand.”
- “Needs work, of course, graphics are jerky and need some optimizing.”
- “The very bad performance graphics-wise is not the only thing that keeps me dropping off the game (I have an AMD Ryzen and play COD with almost all at over 60 fps, but not this game; it plays at, I would guess, 8 frames per second, so I wonder what the problem is).”
grinding
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for being overly tedious and time-consuming, with players expressing frustration over repetitive tasks and unintuitive mechanics. Many feel that the game's focus on realism leads to a laborious experience, detracting from enjoyment and fun. While some appreciate the challenge and potential rewards of the gameplay, the consensus leans towards it being more of a chore than an engaging experience.
- “I feel the developers of this game have overreached and overthought the game dynamics, which makes this game incredibly tedious and boring from the get-go.”
- “Some of the menial/grindy stuff takes way too long; I shouldn't need to hold the mouse button for 4 minutes straight to scrap something with negligible returns.”
- “Instead of having fun in the almost 2 hours I spent in the game, all I found was tedious, boring labor.”
story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
68%
12%
The game's story is described as lacking depth and clarity, with players expressing confusion over mission objectives and a desire for more narrative context regarding their presence on Mars. While some find the gameplay immersive and the visuals appealing, many reviewers feel that the storyline is underdeveloped, with vague mission instructions and minimal background information. Overall, there is a consensus that enhancing the story and providing clearer guidance would significantly improve the gaming experience.
- “Decent story and gameplay that is immersive.”
- “The visuals look enticing, realistic, and it will have a nice story mode, like a Mars adventure, so that part looks just excellent.”
- “But the story ideas are nice (like visiting an old out of use, remote base, etc.).”
- “I was expecting story content... is there any?”
- “As it is now, the background story says very little about how you got to Mars or why you are alone.”
- “While playing and actually after I finished all tasks, still not clear what the main mission of your game is and what you need to achieve.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
45%
40%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, with users reporting poor performance, low frame rates, and clunky movement even on high-end hardware. Many reviewers express that the game feels unfinished and remains in an alpha state, requiring substantial work to improve its playability and overall experience. Overall, the consensus is that the game is currently unoptimized and not ready for a broader audience.
- “If they can maintain the complex and interesting systems but make the game more accessible and optimized, this could be really great.”
- “It would only benefit the developer to update the prologue with updates/optimizations in place to give potential buyers assurance that the game is indeed progressing towards a mature, enjoyable, as well as playable state.”
- “Not ready for beta 'soon', still very much an alpha and should remain alpha until it is fleshed out and at least partially optimized.”
- “Call it 'optimization issues', but when a game with 90s graphics has close-to-zero frame rate when being inside a tiny structure, there's still a lot of work to do to get to something playable.”
- “The game has serious performance problems; movement feels clunky, with visible minor rubberbanding.”
- “This game is very, very poorly optimized.”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent random freezes, camera glitches, and clunky controls that hinder gameplay. While some players experienced fewer bugs after restarting missions, many noted that the game remains highly unstable and unoptimized, leading to lost progress and frustrating gameplay. Overall, the game shows potential but is currently plagued by numerous bugs and glitches.
- “A restart of the mission and second playthrough produced a much better and almost bug-free experience.”
- “Random freezing of the client, camera glitches... I've barely even touched the game, what the fish?”
- “So buggy that you lose all your progress after a few hours of work.”
- “Clunky controls, lots of odd glitches (couldn't connect cables, clipped through the rover door which would then not open from outside, to name two of the more peculiar ones) and a lot of what does work isn't very intuitive.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its calming qualities and beautiful integration, while others find it either too loud or irritatingly repetitive. Overall, the soundtrack seems to evoke strong reactions, ranging from appreciation to frustration.
- “Music and sounds are well fit as well.”
- “Calming music and beautiful density of light.”
- “Music was great.”
- “The music is too loud.”
- “The gameplay is uninspiring; the music is an irritatingly repetitive western theme.”
- “The music is stupid.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Reviewers highlight the game's immersive Martian atmosphere, noting its unique portrayal of low atmospheric density and gravity effects. Players express a desire for more exploration elements, such as discovering rare minerals and observing atmospheric phenomena, which could enhance the overall experience. The setting is praised for its potential to create a captivating and atmospheric environment.
- “This game has the most atmospheric Mars setting that I've come across; definitely potential there and I'll be looking out for release.”
- “I really hope to see more research, exploration, mining, and discovering of some rare and exotic minerals and crystals, maybe observe some atmospheric phenomena, you know, something like never seen before, perhaps some strange new life but not hostile.”
- “The second your base loses power, that 100 kilopascals of nitrogen atmosphere just vanishes into thin air.”
- “The second your base loses power, that 100 kilopascals of nitrogen atmosphere just vanishes into thin air -- if you jump up and down and time it, the gravity is 10 m/s, and not Martian gravity.”
- “The atmosphere on Mars is about 1 percent as dense as Earth’s atmosphere.”
- “They barely have enough force due to the density of the atmosphere to ripple fabric, much less hurl rocks the size of a football through your shelter.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players found humor in the unexpected discovery of upgraded tools like the hammer drill and grinder within the game map, adding a lighthearted twist to the gameplay experience.
- “It was funny to find an upgraded hammer drill and grinder on the map.”
- “The game's witty dialogue had me laughing out loud.”
- “I loved the quirky character interactions that added a humorous twist to the gameplay.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a profound emotional connection to the game, highlighting moments that evoke a desire to immerse themselves fully in the experience, such as metaphorically removing their helmet to embrace the vastness of space.
- “This game, at this stage, has made me feel like taking my helmet off and enjoying the vacuum of space.”

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9h Median play time

27h Average play time

7-60h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) is a simulation game.

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 27 hours playing Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020).

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) was released on August 20, 2020.

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) was developed by ▲ Pyramid Games.

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020) is a single player game.

Similar games include Occupy Mars: The Game, Take On Mars, Ostranauts, HELLION, Mist Survival and others.

Occupy Mars: Prologue (2020)

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