Posted on: May 25, 2024

inmyeye

Games: 13 Reviews: 1

F = Fail

I'm giving Terraformers 2 stars for some of the same reasons that other reviewers have stated. I had high hopes for this game but ultimately it fails. There is almost no strategy involved in playing this game. The problem for me comes down to one thing, "expectations." The game uses the population's "expectations" as a club. The explanation (in-game) is that good events, things like building a hospital, or an art gallery etc., things that are for the benefit and good of the population simply result in a rise in expectations. In otherwords, doing something good for your population results in a negative effect. Many times that negative effect can be quit large. So it would seem that the population of Mars, (at least in this game), exist simply to demand more and more from you. It is a shame that the "expectations" were the only thing that the developers could come up with to make the game challenging. Because of that the game quickly degrades into a "race." You as the player are left attempting to "race" the ever increasing "expectations" of your ungrateful populace using randomly generated technologies and buildings, hoping to achieve whatever goal as been set before the "expectations" end your game. The only real enjoyment I got from this game was after I beat a level I could continue to play that level (albeit with no rewards) in a somewhat enjoyable manner. Unlocking and using some nice technologies and buildings in a relaxing manner to build Mars into a nice planet. As I said, I had high hopes for this game but it ceases to be an enjoyable game rather quickly.

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Posted on: February 27, 2025

SettlEarth

Verified owner

Games: 10 Reviews: 5

Really cool experience for heavy RNG

I find it quite unique that even the buildings and abilities that you can use are random during your playthrough (compared to other builders where you usually know exactly how long it will be until you can access a building). Somehow this game makes it work, so it is actually fun to deal with the randomness. I'd call the technical side of the game limited but polished. Its graphics are basic but clean (no graphical glitching). There is no voiceover at all. On the science side, I like how the game uses concepts from "hard sci-fi" properly, like O'Neill cylinders, water and atmosphere as a radiation shield, mirror arrays to warm areas of the planet, etc. It's pretty in line with stuff I hear the National Space Society's president talking about, of course with some deviations for some semblance of game balance. (If it didn't do that and went 100% NSS ideas, I'd assume the optimal playthrough would be to have the bulk of the population in orbital habitats rather than the on-planet cities.)

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Posted on: March 13, 2023

pierrespartan

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 3

Excellent!

I just discovered this Sci-Fi game once released in GoG after its early access stage. Terraformers UI and controls are very well polished, and every panels are crystal clear. Easy to read, easy to play, but hard to master. Indeed, there is a good progression of the difficulty curve. The replayability is great as well, by many différents scénarios and objectives + a sandbox mode. I strongly recommend it. Last but not least, the devs listen to all feedback and solves potential minor remaining bugs. You can find them on Discord as well.

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Posted on: April 8, 2023

kpectbi

Verified owner

Games: 210 Reviews: 3

This Game is Insane!

Gameplay: ------------- - I only had 2 playthoughs of 2 different scenarios - and I already love it. The srtrategy you are taking is different entirely if you play different scenarios. - There is a lot of replayability, many different difficulties for each scenario, and it is addictive and I didn't get bored. The engagement is just enough not to be bored - there are always something new and different to handle. - One thing to improve - sometimes you have extra population which you don't have anywhere to deploy (without a huge penalty). Need to think how it can be used in another manner. Some ideas: can be transfered to another city; can generate a resource, e.g. science (deploy to a building); can be deployed to a mine and double the output. Progression: --------------- There is sort of global experience between the playthoughs, by which you progress and unlock more buildings and technologies (and scenarios and difficulties). Difficulty: ------------ The first scenario on the easiest level is pretty easy. The Red Path scenario on its easiest (which is second difficulty) is more challenging but still pretty easy - I did not have even one crisis to handle (like when you are in a stress, what to do :) ). This will probably come in higher difficulties. Graphics: ----------- The graphics are gorgeous and detailed. UX: ----- The interface is very intuitive and not overhelming. Maybe it is me, that accustomed to strategy and simulation games. One example, the trade view - which is self explanatory Music: -------- Great atmospheric and orchestral music, which is relaxing and fit to the game. Sound Design: ----------------- Clear and crystal. Bugs: ------- None encountered yet after more than 6 hours playtime straight. Worth the Price? -------------------- Definitely. I might update the review, as I will play some more :) Enjoy.

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Posted on: May 29, 2025

sgrey

Verified owner

Games: 68 Reviews: 3

A fantastic game

Really nice colony sim. On the surface it seems simple, but can have quite a lot of depth with all the mechanics that are in the game. It has a lot of challenges of various difficulties and can keep you going for quite a while. There are two things that could be considered problems with it: the expectations mechanic is weird and unclear and can cause your game to fail out of the blue. From this mechanic another problem: sometimes you can fail the game simply due to a random chance, because you didn't get the building you needed during a turn. On the higher difficulty this becomes very critical, but not as big of a problem on lower difficulties. Overall it's a fantastic game for the price and I find it actually quite relaxing to play. I know that at the moment of me writing this the dev is still working on something for this game to make it better, so that's a big plus as well. And the fact that it's cross-platform is also fantastic.

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