Vital Lacerda and Ian O’Toole duo is back! Games by the former, illustrated by the latter have been popular among fans of heavier board games since the very beginning of this fruitful collaboration. Each subsequent board game by Eagle-Gryphon Games is awaited by thousands of fans. Since April 18th, they can all support the Kickstarter campaign for On Mars – a brand new title from the amazing duo – coming this fall.
Mission Target: Mars
The game takes place in the near future. In 2037 first settlers have appeared on the red planet, and many companies began working on self-sustainable Mars colonies. Players take on the roles of people working for these corporations. Their task is to not only take care of the colonies, but also make their companies prosper.
The way the rounds play out is determined by 2 areas where players can be located: the orbital space station or the planet’s surface. Separating these 2 allows for some unique turn order mechanics. Players can either develop new projects and claim resources delivered from Earth or alternatively: place buildings on Mars, hire scientists and get new missions while exploring the planet.
You also have to remember about basic resources that make living on Mars possible. Water, air, power and food will need some extra attention during all of the game.
The other thing to take care of will be the special “tasks” – quests that determine when the game finishes. Completing three tasks marks the end, and leads to counting scores and finding out who won.
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The Red Planet
Games by Vital Lacerda are often pricy, but that’s mostly because their components are really top notch when it comes to quality. On Mars seems to be the same case. The game consists of a huge board representing the surface of red planet, a bunch of player boards and tons of tiles and tokens. Everything: thick, great looking and designed by a master of board game minimalism: Ian O’Toole.
During the course of the campaign over a dozen of stretch goals has been unlocked, and thanks to these, the game will get plenty of custom markers, mini boards and a solo mode. An expansion was also announced, and will be created with the help of Paradox Interactive. “Surviving Mars” will introduce co-op mode and will be released through Kickstarter in 2020.
Kickstarter
The project has collected over $600.000 and new stretch goals keep being unlocked with the speed of light. The campaign for On Mars will last until May 4th. The game is priced at $89 and comes in a few language versions. There was also a $99 version with Vital’s autograph available, but it sold out quickly.
Lacerda fans will be happy to know, that they can buy other titles from the designer during the campaign: Escape Plan, Lisboa, Vinhos Deluxe and The Gallerist. All of them in their Kickstarter Editions. It’s also possible to get the expansions for all of these to complete the collection.
