Designer: Vital Lacerda (CO2, Dragon Keepers, Escape Plan, The Gallerist, Kanban: Driver’s Edition, Lisboa, On Mars, Railways of Portugal, Vinhos)

Artist: Ian O’Toole (Escape Plan, The Gallerist, Lisboa, Nemo’s War, On Mars, Pipeline, Railways of Portugal, Stockpile, Vinhos Deluxe)

Publisher: Eagle-Gryphon Games (Age of Steam, Baseball Highlights: 2045, Brass: Lancashire, Can’t Stop, Carson City, Defenders of the Realm, Diamant, Empires: Age of Discovery, Fleet, Escape Plan, For Sale, Francis Drake, The Gallerist, High Society, Lisboa, Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, On Mars, Railways of the World, Rococo, Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, Santiago de Cuba, Struggle of Empires, Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization, Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Tumblin-Dice, Vinhos Deluxe Edition, Wyatt Earp)

Genre/Mechanisms: area control, economic, hand management, negotiation, pick up & deliver, point-to-point movement, tile placement, variable phase order

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, On Mars is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total over 8x the initial funding goal.

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: low

What It’s About: Colonize Mars courtesy of Vital Lacerda, the greatest board game designer working today, with art from the equally talented & sublime Ian O’Toole.

How It Works:  On Mars plays over several rounds, each with two phases—the Colonization Phase and the Shuttle Phase.  During the Colonization Phase, players take actions depending on which side of the board they occupy.  If the player is in orbit, actions include taking blueprints, buying and developing technologies, and taking supplies from the Warehouse.  If the player is on the surface of the planet, actions include construction building with their bots, upgrading buildings using blueprints, taking scientists and new contracts, welcoming ships, and exploring the planet’s surface with the rover.  In the Shuttle Phase, players may travel between the colony and the Space Station in orbit.  Players are simultaneously completing missions; once three missions have been completed, the end-game is triggered.  The player with the most Opportunity Points, who has contributed the most to the development of the first colony on Mars, wins the game.

Comparisons: There’s certainly a comparison to be made with Terraforming Mars, considering both games are about the colonization about Mars and both have concurrent Kickstarter campaigns running. But a better comparison are any of the other Lacerda/O’Toole collaborations which share a more similar style of gameplay, as well as O’Toole’s design aesthetic.  Those games are all available here as add-ons.

What Should I Pledge?:
$106 Mars Colonist: the KS edition with all applicable stretch goals.
$118 Mars Signatory: Mars Colonist pledge, plus a signed, hand-numbered sticker by Vital Lacerda.
$217 Mars Vintner: Mars Colonist pledge, plus Vinhos Deluxe (KS Edition).
$195 First Colonist (U.S. only): Mars Colonist with advanced, free September shipping.
$221 Mars Curator: Mars Colonist pledge plus The Gallerist (KS Edition) with new Scoring Expansion.
$230 Mars Historian: Mars Colonist pledge, plus Lisboa (KS Edition).
$253 Space Pirate: Mars Colonist pledge, plus Escape Plan (KS Edition).
$628 Mars Mogul: Mars Colonist pledge, plus The Gallerist (KS Edition) with new Scoring Expansion, Vinhos Deluxe (KS Edition), Lisboa (KS Edition) and Escape Plan (KS Edition).

Add-Ons:
$89 each additional copy of On Mars (KS Edition)
$15 neoprene playmat
$140 Escape Plan (KS Edition)
$117 Lisboa (KS Edition)
$35 Libsoa Upgrade Pack
$104 Vinhos Deluxe (KS Edition)
$8 Vinhos Deluxe: Connoisseur Expansion Pack
$8 Vinhos Deluxe: Experts Expansion Pack
$13.5 Vinhos Deluxe: Islands Expansion Pack
$13.5 Vinhos Deluxe: Tasting Room Expansion Pack
$108 The Gallerist (KS Edition) with new Scoring Expansion
$10 The Gallerist Scoring Expansion
$18 The Gallerist KS SG Pack #1 and #2 Bundle

KS Exclusives:
The Blueprint Display Board, which holds 12 poker-sized Blueprint cards, and the Private Goals Mini-Expansion, are both KS-Exclusive.  There are also 6 additional Blueprint Contract Cards and 6 additional Advanced Building Contract Cards included with the Kickstarter Edition.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $89 for the Mars Colonist pledge plus $17 for shipping, for a grand total of $106. That is, assuming you’re not pledging for any of Lacerda’s other games.

On Mars completes its Kickstarter on Friday, May 3rd and tentatively ships in November 2019.