Reshaping Mars

About

Reshaping Mars is a single player strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Tholus Games and was released on August 24, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Reshaping Mars" is a simulation game that puts you in charge of colonizing the red planet. Using real Mars terrain data, you'll choose a landing site, extract resources, and build a sustainable human habitat. With a focus on meticulous planning and resource management, the game challenges you to create a livable environment for humanity on Mars.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+11

Skip User Reviews

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 101 reviews

music3 positive mentions

gameplay5 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of city-building and resource management, providing a satisfying experience for fans of the genre.
At its price point, the game delivers a considerable amount of content and gameplay hours, making it a good value for players.
The terraforming mechanics and the ability to manage a large-scale colony on Mars are engaging and provide a sense of progression.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, particularly in the late game, which can hinder the overall experience.
Many players have noted a lack of polish and quality-of-life features, leading to tedious micromanagement and repetitive gameplay.
The developer has abandoned the game, raising concerns about future updates and fixes for existing problems.

gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
63%
23%
The gameplay is characterized by a gradual increase in complexity with engaging mechanics, particularly in construction and terraforming, but it can become grindy and overwhelming as players progress. Many users noted the need for better tutorials and polish on certain mechanics, as well as improvements in user interface and AI. Overall, while the core gameplay loop of expansion and resource management is compelling, it suffers from clunky execution and requires significant bug fixes and enhancements to improve the player experience.
- “I can see the developer put a lot of effort into creating the vast and complex construction systems that almost cover every aspect I could think of for surviving on Mars, which ensures the gameplay remains engaging and never dull.”
- “The terraforming mechanics are fairly involved, with each element of the planet affecting others—such as increasing atmospheric pressure helping to retain planetary heat.”
- “For an early access game, you get a great deal of options in the core gameplay.”
- “The game requires a lot of bug fixing, an interface overhaul, better AI, better auto-pathing, plus a number of gameplay fixes to ensure that the experience is better, like reducing the number of giant notifications and sounds. The AI voice reading all the notifications made me mute the game, as playing on 3x speed felt like a concert of madness.”
- “It takes a while to get into the mechanics of it all; I'm still trying to figure it out.”
- “Until you get the ability to make engineering vehicles, the gameplay loop is essentially waiting for research to be done, adding a few buildings to your base, and maybe designating more mining.”
optimization
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant lag and performance issues, especially when managing larger populations. Many users noted that the game struggles to register inputs and suffers from stuttering camera movement, despite not taxing their PC resources heavily. Overall, there is a consensus that the game requires substantial optimization and UI improvements to enhance the gameplay experience.
- “With further UI refinements and mechanisms optimized, and necessary debugging, I hope it could become a must-play for fans of the construction and space exploration genres.”
- “This game seems to be an indie project from first-time and/or inexperienced indie developers, which has the potential to be great after a few patches that focus on improving the GUI, better tutorials and in-game messages, optimizing game performance, adding new content, and rebalancing between micro and macro management.”
- “It is a good game, and as much as I like playing it, I also dislike its performance.”
- “The game has massive performance issues once you have over 1000 people living there.”
- “It gets laggy to a point where mouse inputs aren't registered and the camera movement is stuttering.”
- “Un-optimized mess.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a significant drawback, noting that while the early game offers a gradual increase in complexity, it quickly becomes tedious and overwhelming as the scale expands. The lack of quality of life improvements, unclear guidance, and frequent interruptions contribute to a frustrating experience, leading many to lose interest despite the game's potential. Overall, the grindiness detracts from the enjoyment, making it feel unpolished and abandoned.
- “I don't have the will to finish the game as it's insanely grindy, which wouldn't be an issue if my FPS didn't drop to below 10 when I unpause due to the pathfinding of thousands of AI inhabitants.”
- “While the developers have provided each target as detailed as possible to achieve the ultimate objective, the lack of phased guidance or triggered events (at least within a quite long time I haven’t encountered any), can make it easy to lose direction or fall into a grinding routine.”
- “Very tedious and unpolished game that the devs clearly abandoned and just declared v1.0.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its depth and moral themes, while others criticize the lack of a cohesive narrative and the abrupt presentation of story elements that disrupt gameplay. Although the backstory is considered interesting, many feel that the removal of random events and a more structured storyline detracts from the overall experience. Overall, while the game offers a journey through its setting, it struggles with pacing and engagement in its storytelling.
- “The game has a bit of a story which I could charitably describe as heavy-handed with author morality, which I'm willing to forgive mostly because the game has charmed me and the morality generally aligns with me.”
- “It has an interesting storyline and the game has considerable depth for an early release game.”
- “There are a few bugs and logistics issues, but the story is complete, the research tree is robust, and the game really takes you on a journey from the dusty sands of Mars to an ocean-front paradise.”
- “I do like the new version as it is more accurate to a real-life experience on Mars, but I do miss a storyline.”
- “The final change is the complete removal of random and story events.”
- “Another example is the story progression: the game will shove a new panel with story progression at you with no regard to what you are doing (fighting corrupted corporations / rogue mechanized colonies / trying to save the colony from runaway collapse...).”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some users noting that while the visuals are acceptable, they fall short in quality relative to the frame rate, particularly on higher-end hardware like the GTX 3070. Despite this, a few players appreciate the graphical representation of changes on Mars, rating the graphics around 7/10.
- “I think the graphics and the sense of satisfaction at actually watching the changes take place on Mars outweigh that though.”
- “The frame rate is decent, but the graphics are horrible compared to it (GTX 3070). The CPU usage is only around 20%.”
- “Animations and graphics are not good.”
- “Graphics are just okay.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The music in the game is criticized for being either excessively dramatic or lacking entirely, with some players noting a need for more variety in the soundtrack and sound effects. Despite these shortcomings, the overall gameplay experience remains solid.
- “The music in this game is absolutely captivating and enhances the overall experience.”
- “The soundtrack perfectly complements the gameplay, creating an immersive atmosphere.”
- “I love how the music evolves with the game, making each moment feel unique and engaging.”
- “Music is either way over the top or completely absent.”
- “Needs more/different music and/or sound effects.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game offers additional side campaigns that enhance replayability, but players note that the main campaign is lengthy, with some reporting significant playtime without completing it.
- “In terms of replayability, there are other side campaigns that you can do once you finish the main one. I'm at 7 hours of playtime and I'm not even halfway through the main campaign.”
- “The game offers a variety of choices that significantly change the outcome, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.”
- “With multiple endings and diverse character paths, I find myself coming back to explore different scenarios and experiences.”
- “In terms of replayability, there are other side campaigns that you can do once you finish the main one, but I've played for 7 hours and I'm not even halfway through the main campaign.”
- “The game lacks significant incentives to replay, as the story doesn't change much with different choices.”
- “After completing the main storyline, I found little motivation to dive back in, as the side content felt repetitive and uninspired.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere in the game is intricately designed, with detailed terraforming mechanics that allow players to manipulate various planetary elements, such as atmospheric pressure, to influence overall environmental conditions. This interconnectedness enhances the immersive experience and adds depth to gameplay.
- “The terraforming mechanics are fairly involved, with each element of the planet affecting others; for example, increasing atmospheric pressure helps to retain planetary heat.”