Terraformers

About

Terraformers is a single player turn-based strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Asteroid Lab and was released on March 9, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

"Terraformers" is a single-player Science Fiction Turn Based Strategy game with fantastic mechanics, stellar visuals, and a phenomenal soundtrack. You terraform a procedurally generated planet, discovering resources, building cities, and engineering the environment through unique life forms and geological manipulations. With randomly proposed project cards and different growth strategies, each playthrough offers a very replayable and unique atmosphere, although it can be quite grinding.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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90%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,384 reviews

gameplay95 positive mentions

grinding17 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay with a mix of strategy and resource management, reminiscent of board games like Terraforming Mars.
High replayability due to randomized resources, leaders, and various victory conditions.
Relaxing yet challenging, with a satisfying progression system that rewards players for completing scenarios.

Heavy reliance on RNG can lead to frustrating experiences, especially if key resources or cards are not drawn.
The happiness/support mechanic can feel punishing, often leading to abrupt game endings before full terraforming is achieved.
Limited depth in late-game scenarios, making them feel repetitive and less rewarding.

gameplay
297 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The gameplay of Terraformers is characterized by its blend of board game mechanics, turn-based strategy, and roguelike elements, offering a mix of complexity and accessibility that keeps players engaged. While many appreciate the intuitive mechanics and addictive gameplay loop, some critiques highlight issues with randomness and a lack of depth in certain areas, leading to repetitive experiences. Overall, the game provides a satisfying and visually appealing experience with strong replayability, though it may require players to adapt to its unique mechanics and occasional frustrations.
- “Hundreds of hours of interesting gameplay; I already played 56 hours in a few days and got many achievements.”
- “The gameplay loop is simple to understand but is quite deep and has a lot of optimization potential.”
- “The mechanics are well-designed, offering a perfect balance between complexity and accessibility.”
- “I was very skeptical after playing the demo, where the gameplay seemed very narrow to me.”
- “The gameplay can get repetitive very quickly with RNG being the more punishing factor than actual gameplay.”
- “However, this game has very little to offer and the gameplay is very, very shallow and repetitive.”
replayability
131 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
52%
2%
The game boasts high replayability, driven by its diverse victory conditions, randomized elements, and unlockable content that encourages players to explore various strategies and scenarios. Many reviewers highlight the engaging mechanics and the roguelike aspects that keep each playthrough feeling fresh and challenging. While some players note a potential decline in replay value after extended play, the overall consensus is that the game offers significant replayability, making it a compelling choice for strategy enthusiasts.
- “There are lots of different kinds of victory conditions to shoot for, the game has significant replayability in this aspect, as well as in unlocking increasing difficulty ranks, new leaders/actions/buildings, etc. in response to your success at prior missions.”
- “The roguelike elements give lots of replayability, with different goals to go after and new unlocks with every playthrough.”
- “The strategic depth allows for endless replayability, and each match feels rewarding, whether you're a novice or a veteran strategist.”
- “Although it is replayable, there does not seem to be anything to grab you for more than one or two times through.”
- “It's a mostly shallow city management game that loses all replayability after about 3 hours.”
- “I will still occasionally play a round, but the lack of difficulty adjustment and customization in early access drastically reduces the replayability for now.”
graphics
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
45%
3%
The graphics of the game have received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many players appreciating the hand-drawn art style and immersive visuals that enhance the gameplay experience. While some critiques mention a simplistic or "mobile game-like" quality, the overall consensus highlights the graphics as effective and aesthetically pleasing, contributing to the game's atmosphere and enjoyment. However, there are calls for improvement in certain areas, such as the representation of terraforming elements and more diverse animations.
- “The graphics are great and have a hand-drawn or painted style to them which is very nice.”
- “The visuals are clean and fresh, the music is unobtrusive and fitting, and the gameplay is really good: there are a number of elements that you need to juggle, and it is certainly more complex than other types of 4Xs, such as the Civilization franchise.”
- “Beautiful graphics that run on my 10-year-old gaming laptop, beautiful music, well thought out and in my opinion well balanced game mechanics, ... yes!”
- “Ignoring the minimal artwork, the childish graphics and animations, the repetitive music and the total lack of realism, this appears to be a management game with a procedural aspect with increased difficulty based on progress and increment of possible permutations.”
- “The actual terraforming is graphically ugly, definitely uninspiring.”
- “Graphics and audio look very cheap and unpolished.”
story
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
88%
5%
The game's story is largely considered minimal, with players noting a lack of narrative depth and engaging storylines throughout the missions. While there are various missions and victory conditions that provide some replayability, many reviewers express a desire for a more developed story mode or richer narrative elements to enhance the gameplay experience. Overall, the game is seen as focused more on mechanics and gameplay than on delivering a compelling story.
- “I like how the story is well connected to the gameplay.”
- “But adding story beats like this would enrich not only the terraforming experience but the roguelike experience as well.”
- “The text around the leader is good and well written; the game could probably use some more flavor text around buildings and missions that is similar to help better set the stage.”
- “It is technically a roguelike, and very light on story even for that genre.”
- “Notably, there is no 'story' - just lore as you play the game.”
- “There are no storylines to explore, not really any different approaches to success to explore.”
music
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
40%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric quality, enhancing immersion and complementing the visuals beautifully. While many players find the soundtrack engaging and relaxing, some note that it can become repetitive over extended play sessions. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's ambiance, making it a standout feature for both casual and strategic gameplay.
- “The music and artwork are really something else, providing a level of immersion that was a pleasant surprise.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing, and for a casual game, it sure made me spend hours in it.”
- “The music sets a good mood, and the planet gets bluer and greener as you terraform.”
- “Very not intuitive gameplay and the music becomes annoying.”
- “One thing that bothers me is the lack of different ambient music; the same track going on and on for hours makes it too dull.”
- “Probably the weakest element at this point is the music soundtrack, which is understandable, but which is not on the development goal list - an omission which really needs to be addressed.”
atmosphere
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
66%
8%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its immersive and engaging qualities, enhanced by well-crafted graphics, a dynamic soundtrack, and a rich lore that complements the gameplay. Players appreciate the cozy and satisfying experience of terraforming Mars, with the manipulation of environmental elements like atmosphere, temperature, and life forms contributing to a vibrant and evolving world. The attention to detail in the terraforming mechanics and the variety of life forms further enrich the game's atmosphere, making it a standout experience for fans of the genre.
- “The designers managed to create a dense atmosphere, with everything being easily recognized, and all core elements easily visible, which highly adds to the comfortable gameplay.”
- “For a sci-fi nerd like myself, the theme and atmosphere of the game is on point and the musical score gradually changing as you perform different actions (such as increasing a terraforming parameter or spreading lifeforms) gradually builds you up from a hopeful starting scenario to a victorious tune once you're nearing your goal.”
- “They also nailed the atmosphere and vibe of the game with the visuals and the banging soundtrack.”
- “Honestly, the game is good but has too much emphasis on opinion - I spent about 2 hours on a world and had vast forests and species of both animals and bacteria, about 9 cities which were full, maxed atmosphere, temperature, and oxygen levels, but the fact ocean events take so long to come by ended my game (I had ocean level 2, not 3, to finish the world).”
- “One is the lack of titanium which is currently overused as a way to control almost all serious progress; and the other feels like the relative lack of things to heat up the planet with (even as you are covering it with mines, cities, thick forests, deliberately thickening its atmosphere, etc.). The non-interaction of the four terraforming attributes - temperature, oxygen, atmosphere, and ocean/rainfall - is a missed trick.”
- “You essentially need to balance keeping them happy for long enough before switching to quickly rushing your objectives to win, but that's harder than it sounds, because you may never find a specific resource you need to mine to make a building to improve the atmosphere.”
grinding
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that while the game offers a variety of approaches and maintains a balance that prevents grinding from feeling overwhelming, it can become tedious, especially in the late game when managing resources and expanding becomes complex. Players appreciate the randomness and strategic depth, but many find certain tasks repetitive and frustrating, leading to a sense of grind, particularly in higher difficulties. Overall, the experience is mixed, with some enjoying the challenge and others feeling bogged down by the game's demands.
- “The game can also get tedious towards the end of a run, when you have to manage a lot of resources and actions.”
- “It's quite fun early on when you are only managing a few cities, but it quickly becomes very tedious as you expand over the planet.”
- “Repeating the same tasks to spread across the entire planet was too tedious and I gave up.”
optimization
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
Overall, the game is praised for its engaging resource management and optimization mechanics, offering players numerous strategic decisions without overwhelming them. While it runs smoothly with excellent performance and minimal glitches, some users are looking forward to further optimizations, particularly for the Steam Deck. The gameplay is accessible yet deep, making it appealing for those who enjoy refining their strategies.
- “Fun resource management, lots of decisions, planning, and optimizations.”
- “The base game is really enjoyable, providing a lot of optimization problem solving.”
- “Great for those who like to optimize every action, but where multiple optimization strategies are viable.”
- “Waiting for proper Steam Deck optimization (although it is playable on deck already, but just not perfect).”
- “It held my attention while I played and I saw ways to improve my play as I went, but the game abruptly ended with my badly unoptimized play and there was still at least a third of the visible tech to go.”
- “No one can say this game is optimized and provides a relishable experience.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
9%
64%
Overall, the game's stability has received mixed reviews. While some players report a smooth experience with minimal glitches, others have encountered significant issues such as crashes, bugs with cloud saves, and UI problems. Recent updates have improved stability, but lingering bugs still affect gameplay for some users.
- “Runs great on the Steam Deck too!”
- “The game runs smoothly with little to no glitches.”
- “It's gone through a few shaky development and balance sections and it's not yet bug free, but the current version of Terraformers is a rock solid turn-based strategy roguelike.”
- “The game is fun, but when you start progressing through the achievements/levels, it glitches and tosses you back to the start page, forcing you to start everything over.”
- “It's been out too long for glitches like this.”
- “A fun game, but the cloud save function is extremely buggy: I played this game on two different devices, and every time I switch devices, it resets my level to 1, no matter how many games I played on each of the two devices!”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted for its cleverness and variety, often manifesting in situations that playfully mock the player's choices, such as starting with a seemingly poor city. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone, which adds an enjoyable layer to the challenging gameplay.
- “It feels like this game is pointing and laughing at you as it gives you no power cards for 10 turns.”
- “This one might be harder to implement and more controversial, but it is kind of funny to me how your starting city (which I would like to be my capital) ends up as one of the worst ones.”
- “I'll just say: challenging but fair, high variety (and more things to come soon), has some humor.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate that the game does not pressure them to watch ads for rewards, creating a more enjoyable experience without intrusive monetization tactics.
- “I'm always expecting the game to ask me to watch ads to get more cards, but it never comes.”
- “The monetization system feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating that progress is heavily gated behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game heartwarming, particularly in the joy derived from introducing various animals to Mars, which evokes a sense of happiness and positivity.
- “There's something heartwarming about introducing penguins, whales, and colorful species to Mars and seeing the resulting happiness that will put a smile on your face.”