Sol 0: Mars Colonization

About

"Sol 0: Mars Colonization" is a real-time strategy game where players manage a crew to establish a self-sustaining colony on Mars. Overcome challenges such as managing resources, maintaining habitats, and ensuring crew survival, while furthering scientific research and exploring the Martian landscape. The game features a dynamic weather system, day/night cycles, and procedurally generated terrain for a unique experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

67%

Audience ScoreBased on 295 reviews

gameplay13 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and engaging Mars colonization experience, allowing players to manage resources and build a colony.
Despite its bugs, the game has a charming aesthetic and a solid foundation for gameplay, making it enjoyable for casual players.
The developer is responsive to community feedback, indicating potential for future updates and improvements.

The game suffers from numerous bugs, particularly with AI pathfinding and unit automation, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to manage resources and navigate the game effectively.
The game lacks depth and replayability, with limited content and mechanics that can become repetitive over time.

gameplay
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
62%
16%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a linear structure and a simplistic approach, which some players find tedious and lacking in depth. While there are interesting mechanics and a decent amount of content for the price, many reviewers note issues with bugs, poorly implemented mechanics, and a lack of variability that detracts from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, some players still find enjoyment in the game, particularly in its colony-building aspects and the potential for engaging challenges.
- “There is a good amount of gameplay for the price.”
- “Great game with interesting ideas and engaging gameplay.”
- “Sol 0 is a great colony building simulation with enjoyable yet challenging gameplay and plenty of locations to keep you busy with.”
- “The gameplay is quite simple; make sure you have food and water supply, build your base, and keep your oxygen and power supply at the required levels.”
- “I really want to like this game, but unfortunately, the mechanics applied to the game make it far more tedious than engaging.”
- “What killed this game for me and made it a thumbs down was the fact that the basics/needs/support mechanics force the player to revisit over and over again the worst-designed and least-fun parts of the game.”
graphics
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
52%
12%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the simple and clean aesthetic while others criticize the low production values and lack of detail. Many find the visuals decent but not spectacular, with some noting issues like inaccurate representations in resource mining and a lack of animations. Overall, the graphics are functional and do not hinder gameplay, but they may feel outdated or underwhelming to some players.
- “The graphics are simple and clean, but I didn't see any issues during gameplay.”
- “The graphics are good, and my integrated graphics card handles everything just fine.”
- “The overall appearance of the game is solid; it’s all high quality and the graphics don’t cause any issues with actually playing the game.”
- “Mining resources seems buggy or the graphic representation is inaccurate.”
- “The game lacks the animation, sound, and graphics to make it feel more alive.”
- “Below average graphics quality.”
story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
76%
12%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for lacking depth, as it primarily functions as a scenario simulator without a cohesive narrative. Players express a desire for a more interconnected campaign with meaningful objectives and a storyline that evolves through missions, rather than the current structure that feels disjointed and devoid of a compelling plot. While the mechanics of managing a Mars colonization mission are engaging, the absence of a rich narrative experience leaves many feeling that there are better options available for those seeking a story-driven game.
- “Really puts a perspective on what humans will have to face on a Martian conquest mission.”
- “You are in charge of the first mission to Mars; it’s your job to choose a suitable location on the Martian surface and establish a self-sufficient colony.”
- “The mechanics work nicely and the slow progression from unmanned exploration missions to a thriving colony is realistic, albeit as far as your imagination might believe a real-life Mars colonization would be.”
- “It's purely a scenario simulator, so don't expect any kind of story.”
- “There is no story to be told.”
- “To have goals and story throughout the games.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, primarily due to a clunky interface and the need for constant micromanagement. Many express frustration with slow navigation, resource management issues, and pathing glitches that hinder progress, making the experience feel more like a chore than an engaging challenge. Despite the potential for control and strategy, the overall sentiment leans towards the grinding mechanics being overly burdensome and frustrating.
- “Too much micromanagement required for simple tasks; the interface is tedious to work with (i.e. scrolling map is extremely slow and frustrating, resources view resets back to the default after each launch, you can't queue buildings).”
- “I really want to like this game, but unfortunately, the mechanics applied to the game make it far more tedious than engaging.”
- “The interface is very clunky, the rovers require too much micromanagement to be useful, and keeping a good balance of basic resources is too tedious.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs affecting gameplay, particularly in the Linux version. Players experience significant issues such as glitches in resource mining, pathfinding errors for characters and vehicles, and loss of progress after restarts, leading to a frustrating experience. While some users appreciate the user interface, the overall consensus is that the game is currently too buggy to be considered playable.
- “I find the user interface first class, easy to use, and smooth with no glitches or crashes to report.”
- “The game is way too buggy (at least in the Linux version).”
- “I really like the idea; however, at this time, the game is buggy as hell.”
- “I wanted to like this game, but it's too buggy to really be playable at this point.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed, with some players finding it enjoyable but ultimately limited after a few sessions, while others note significant bugs that detract from the experience. Many reviewers express that once the initial content is exhausted, the game offers little incentive to return, leading to a consensus of low replay value despite some fun mechanics.
- “Overall a lot of fun, and I can see tons of replay value already.”
- “Very cool idea implemented very well, but oddly once you've gone through it once it's not terribly replayable.”
- “The replay value of the game is quite low; after maybe two or three games, I can see myself not playing it again.”
- “Overall, I think it's a decent game for the price, but replayability could be the problem once you've done all that you can in your square of allotted space.”
- “Very cool idea implemented very well, but oddly once you've gone through it once, it's not terribly replayable.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
The music in the game is described as fitting well with the overall experience, featuring a mix of ambient tracks and cheesy EDM that evokes a nostalgic 90s vibe. While the soundtrack and sound effects are generally well-received, some players find them to be average and not particularly spectacular, contributing to a relaxed atmosphere rather than standing out.
- “This is a game I sit down with while listening to some jazz music to relax after work for an hour or two.”
- “The soundtrack and sound effects are good and fit well with the game.”
- “Dying colonists sound like breaking machinery, cryotanks sound like a battalion of infantry marching around inside, and the soundtrack has a section that will, on first hearing it, make you panic and wonder what's happening until you realize it's just part of the ambient track.”
- “Nothing about the game is spectacular; the graphics, the cheesy EDM space music, and the quality of the science fiction are all very so-so, but the developer is clearly an amazing chef to have made such a good dish out of these meager ingredients.”
- “The music and graphics make it feel like an old 90's building game.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The atmosphere in the game is intricately tied to the survival of life forms, with players experiencing the consequences of atmospheric loss and the importance of water for sustaining life. The game's depiction of planets developing atmospheres and oceans creates a rich, immersive environment that highlights the fragility of these elements, particularly in the face of cosmic threats. Overall, the atmosphere is portrayed as a dynamic and essential component of the game's world-building.
- “Both planets developed atmospheres and oceans. We know for a fact that on at least one of them, life evolved from this organic soupy goodness—life which eventually advanced to the point where it learned to play computer games and read reviews. Isn't evolution grand!”
- “Without this magnetic force field, those dangerous particles from the sun will start to blow away a planet's atmosphere. If you're a life form that's gotten into the habit of breathing, then this is going to be a pretty big deal for you.”
- “Our little brother started to die; its atmosphere slowly blew away, lost to space. Its water evaporated away with it, and what little was left froze into the ground.”
- “Like a ruptured hallway in the near vacuum of Mars' atmosphere.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users report that the game's optimization is inconsistent, with performance issues affecting gameplay. While some players experience smooth performance, others encounter significant lag and technical glitches. Overall, the optimization appears to require further refinement to ensure a more stable experience for all users.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional response to the game, particularly feeling heartbreak when their astronauts die despite having the necessary resources for survival, highlighting a disconnect between player intent and game mechanics due to bugs and pathing issues.
- “It was heartbreaking to see my astronauts die when they had all the resources to save themselves, but the game pathing didn't let that happen.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted for its lighthearted and quirky moments, such as a comical resemblance of a ship's image to a white dildo, which adds a playful touch to the experience. While the game is still in early access and has some glitches, these do not detract significantly from the overall enjoyment.
- “It's in early access with a few glitches, but nothing that will make you jump from a high building. However, I have one funny point: when you go to launch ship number two, is it just me or does the picture look like a white dildo? :D LOL”