Every week, the Epic Games store launches a free game, which you can add to the library without strings attached. This week’s offer is Surviving Mars, the city-building game that makes space distance about … survival on Mars. It will be available until March 18.
Surviving Mars, if you haven’t played it, it’s more or less exactly what you imagine when you think Cities: Skylines Goes To Space. Your goal is to create a sustainable human outpost on Mars. Do this by supplying resources (metal, concrete, etc.) to build life-supporting structures (food, water, oxygen, energy) to support domes of different sizes that can house human life. If you liked it city, you will like it Surviving Mars, also. (Both games are published by Paradox Interactive.)
In contrast to the city, however, Surviving Mars put an additional emphasis on people, rather than structures. You can organize the manifesto for each rocket you send from Earth to Mars. Each person you can choose from is randomly generated, down to his or her traits and vocations. Want a bunch of alcoholic botanists who like to play video games? Or how about some hypochondriac party animals that train 25 hours a day? In your version of Mars, anything is possible.
In its center, Surviving Mars understands that good urban planning is not just about roads and buildings and budget cuts. It’s about people. Strange that you have to go into space to learn that lesson.
Killer songs are there too.
In other news “games you can get for free”, Metro 2033 is currently available at a 100% discount on other PC display case, named after an energy source from the 19th century. It will remain at that price until March 15.
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