Tharsis

With its ability to captivate, dual modes and easy to pick up gameplay, Tharsis is a great diversion from your Fallout 4, Destiny and Call of Duty romps. It's also a perfect game to get non-gamers interested in the PlayStation 4. While it's never going to completely steal you away from the AAA games on the console, it's a fun little title that's able to do some big things with old-school game mechanics.

I'm sure the punishing difficulty and numerous unfair dice rolls will turn many gamers against Tharsis, and that's perfectly understandable. However, the reward of actually beating the game truly elevates my spirit. I can only hope that the developers will continue the story with another punishing round that occurs on the red planet itself.

While its random elements will surely turn some gamers off, there is a lot to like about Tharsis. From its toying with morality to the pure ecstasy it provides when defying the odds and having a successful flight, there really isn’t anything else like it. If you’re willing to overcome a substantial learning curve, then you’ll your haphazard trip to Mars.

Tharsis, you hate me, but I like you. Your small and meticulous craftsmanship. Your board game sensibilities. Your dancefloor rhythms thumping out the soundtrack to my cyclical death. I couldn't stop myself from voyaging (and dying on the way) to Tharsis again and again.

How you feel about Tharsis probably depends on how you feel about board games, soul-crushing challenges, and shorter gaming experiences. If you love tabletop games, repeatedly dying while learning, or heavily micro-managing resources, Tharsis is a worthwhile way to spend an evening.

If the thought of losing at a game over and over until you finally understand all of its nuances does not sound like a good time, then you can safely pass on Tharsis. If, however, you love tabletop games, or enjoy the challenge of micro-managing several scarce resources at a time in an almost vain effort against nearly insurmountable odds, then by all means buy Tharsis.

Each turn demands perfection, and if you are not refilling on food and repairing your hull, your ship just isn’t going to make it. Haven’t met such an unforgiving game in some time, things start out difficult and they only get worse (I lost by turn 3 sometimes). Watch some gameplay videos before jumping into this one.

Tharsis offers a lots of frustration and excitement, but when it comes to explaining things Tharsis seems to be lacking. The gameplay is a tad repetitive and therefore gets boring swiftly. That is a pity, cause the playing the dice and the good buildup makes Tharsis an interesting game.

A soft pass. It’s good at face value but has a lot of design issues that can and should really be patched. For £12.99 I say no way, but for £5 I’d probably say give it a whirl. It’s definitely a fun experience for the first hour, but eventually it devolves into an ever sinking pit of despair.

Tharsis is an incredibly meaningful game that has picked a woefully inadequate format to express an innately intelligent idea.

Tharsis is a game of management, analysis, and some dumb luck. There were times I found it highly enjoyable, but there were more times I found it frustratingly unfair.

Tharsis is an enjoyable game to start, but the frustrations and random nature of the game quickly eliminate the fun.

Clumsy menus and the endless randomness quickly ensure the adventure is lost in space. [March 2016, p.88]

Tharsis can never stop reminding you that you don't have control over its interstellar disaster, just the illusion of it. Every time I watched my ship fall apart, and every time I watched new events propagate across the ship that were completely impossible to stop, I felt like, win-or-lose, Tharsis was having all the fun.