After the success of the unmanned rover missions, the United Nations created the Department of Mars Operations and Exploration (DMOE). The first colonists arrived on Mars in 2037 and in the decades following the establishment of the Mars base camp, private exploration companies began working to create a self-sustaining colony. As the lead astronaut of one of these companies, you want to be a pioneer in the development of the largest and most advanced colony on Mars by achieving both the goals of the D.O.M.E. mission and the private agenda of your company. At first you will be dependent on supplies from Earth and will have to travel frequently between the Martian space station and the planet's surface. As the colony grows, you will shift your focus to building mines, power generators, water extractors, greenhouses, oxygen plants and shelters. Your goal is to develop a self-sufficient colony that is independent of any Earth-based organisation. To do this, you will need to understand the importance of water, air, energy and food - the necessities of survival.
Do you dare to take part in humanity's greatest challenge? On Mars is played in several rounds, each with two phases: the colonisation phase and the shuttle phase. During the colonisation phase, each player takes a turn to perform actions. The actions available depend on which side of the board they are on. If you are in orbit, you can take plans, buy and develop technology, and get supplies from the warehouse. If you are on the surface of the planet, you can build buildings with your bots, upgrade these buildings using blueprints, take on scientists and new contracts, host new ships and explore the surface of the planet with your rover. In the shuttle phase, players can travel between the colony and the orbiting space station. All buildings on Mars are dependent on each other and some are necessary for the growth of the colony. Building shelters for colonists requires oxygen; producing oxygen requires plants; growing plants requires water; extracting water from ice requires energy; producing energy requires extracting minerals; extracting minerals requires colonists. Improving the colony's ability to supply each of these resources is vital. As the colony grows, more shelter is needed for the colonists to survive the inhospitable conditions on Mars.
During the game, players also attempt to complete missions. Once a total of three missions have been completed, the game ends. To win the game, players must help develop the first colony on Mars. To do this, players earn opportunity points (OP) during the game. The player with the most OPs at the end of the game is declared the winner.
On Mars funded on the Kickstarter platform
On Mars was funded on the Crowdfunding Kickstarter (See the campaign) platform on the May 3, 2019, the campaign lasted 15 days. 10,141 people helped funded the game, whose the amount requested was $100,000.00. Thanks to these 10,141 people the game could be funded up to $970,566.00, ~970.57%.
Rule, Educational Sheet ... one File AvailableOne File Available
Contents of the box : 1 main board, 4 player trays, 1 reference book, 4 player aids, 5 starting building tiles, 30 building tiles, 20 shelter building tiles, 1 building tile rack, 1 scientist and land contract tray, 8 research tiles, 19 discovery tiles, 16 tech tiles, 4 shelter tech tiles, 3 mission tracking cubes, 1 remaining missions marker, 3 mission markers 8 LSS reward tiles, 1 shuttle, 1 colony level marker, 12 First Settler cards, 6 First Settler tiles, 6 Science markers, 20 Resource tiles of each type, 30 Crystals, 4 LSS track markers, 48 Settlers, 4 Rovers, 20 Ships, 20 Progress cubes, 16 Bots, 4 Player markers, 4 OP markers, 32 Advanced Building markers, 24 Footprint cards, 6 Science cards, 12 Land Contract cards, 16 Private Objective cards, 9 Mission cards, 12 Solo cards.
