Martians: A Story of Civilization | Rahdo's Final Thoughts

[@outerlimitgames]

We're looking forward to checking out more of Martians, as Joe has been talking about it to us for some time now. You both did a fantastic job reviewing it together! Also, thanks for the shout out on Tau Ceti :) We love Joe and we're excited to be working with him again on our next game. ~Mike

[@AnimalMkIV]

Good review guys. I'm really enjoying Martians. Much like Joe, I bought it primarily for solo play and it is a very immersive experience. It's very tight, and you need to be very on the ball with your choice of actions. The rules are tricky to work though due to the lack of examples and confusing use of terms for the various actions and phases. Once you have a handle on that though, the icons on the board are very intuitive and the game flows really well.

[@twentysides]

The publisher mentioned in a recent Kickstarter update that they are releasing additional mission on PDF and later as a purchasable physical version. I hope they keep adding additional content that way.

[@rahdo]

that's great news!

[@mihirshahisme]

Rahdo, your problems with co-op and solo can be overcome by 1 simple house rule, have an additional vp threshold for each player in co-op to reach to be able to win the game as co-op, thematically think of it as completing the co-op missions while gaining some good reputation/influence points too.

[@rahdo]

i agree. it's a shame they didn't do that :)

[@Judgedredd1973]

Do you think using Commission Cards could work in a Semi co-op game?

[@davidbancroft7156]

I guess we'll never know :(

[@jonknight4616]

Tau Ceti looks pretty, as far as components, models, dice, hex pieces, etc... and I hope to be able to check it out eventually. When I have money again. And fingers crossed, as the next print run of Terraforming Mars is supposedly finally going to be pushed out soon, and I am eagerly awaiting my preorder of that (I've played it a few times and really enjoy that one).

[@TaedWynnell]

At 4:02, Rahdo says, "you can trade resources and barter", but where is that even suggested by the rules?

[@rahdo]

unfortunately they forgot to put it in the rules, but here's an excerpt from an email conversation I had with the desginer while the game was on kickstarter (originally i was going to runthrough it back then, but ran out of time to get me the full prototype): Q: Can you tell me which play mode you feel is the best, and which way you'd rather me do a runthrough of? A: The best would be semi-co-op, because you have a basic scenario for it. Co-op scenarios have different goals and are more challenging. Also it is easy to explain the difference between co-op and competition mode using semi-co-op as the basis. In a semi-co-op there are interesting negotiations amongplayers. For example, a player needs to borrow a supply cube from another player to procure a medicine. The latter is willing to lend it on the condition he will get one of the reputation points granted for delivering that medicine to the quarters. Thanks to the cooperation they both improve their reputation in the colony.

[@caronte9299]

Very good discussion the guest should consider starting his own review channel

[@rahdo]

he was certainly more prepared than me! :)

[@jackalope70]

Agree 100%! It's. Nice being a little more on track.

[@stevefratus1546]

I missed out on how time works. If you only have three and you use one to call your guys back, how can you do the things that take three time?

[@rahdo]

if the last action you do on a turn is recall all your guys, next turn you've got 3 to deploy

[@stevefratus1546]

Haha. Of course. Thanks man.:)

[@TaedWynnell]

Note that (despite what Joe said) you don't HAVE TO use one of your time to do the Recreation action to pull the meeples back. If you are "efficient" and make more use of each meeple, you'll only be doing Recreation every other turn or so on average.

[@jonknight4616]

I just got my tracking number, so I'll finally have my copy in about a week!

[@stowcreek1999]

Great review and discussion guys! I've missed parts of it with distractions in the background here... Did Joe play it semi coop at all? I kno he really enjoys it solo....but... I don't think I'll ever play it that way... In the end, Rahdo, is the game not for you (and Jen)? Thanks again!

[@rahdo]

as of when we filmed, joe had only played it solo. totally not a game for us because as far as i'm concerned the game is only at it's best in semi-co-op, and since negotiation is useless in 2p, it will never be at its best. i think with a bit more work, the co-op could be brought up to snuff, though I'd want to see those other 6 missions and the specialists and all the rest of it...

[@katpilkus9143]

(THis is Joe) I have subsequently played it semi-coop a few times, but typically, I'm playing it solo with all four Corporations. The Weather and Events are harsh enough without the Corporations limiting options for resolving Missions

[@EclecticCamel]

Man, I don't think you should by any means take this into consideration, as I recognize this is my own idiosyncrasy, but I hate the final thoughts with another person. I can't even really qualify why, but it just bogs it down for me, I guess.

[@stevefratus1546]

I am waiting on my copy as I watch this. I ordered the painted pieces too. I'm glad to hear that this game is decent. Solo play is all I really care about to be honest.

[@Valcurdra]

Thanks for mentioning the disparity between KS edition and retail. I was looking into it today and retail edition is just severely lacking, not worth buying a half empty box. I really wish companies would transition away from this sort of model. Its great to give KS backers bonuses and value adds, but at least make the retail customer able to buy it.

[@rahdo]

publisher recently posted: "Only one thing requires our comment - it is Radho's concerns regarding small number of scenarios in the retail version. Every one will be able to purchase an extra set of scenarios or simply print them from the PDF file that we are going to post online. "

[@Valcurdra]

Great news, thanks for the comment! This at least puts the game back on my radar. Do you know if this will include all the scenarios? I seem to remember at least one being listed as KS exclusive.

[@rahdo]

sorry, the quote is all i know...

[@Valcurdra]

But I expect you to know everything! :)

[@veerchasm1]

This game bombed

[@bijanajamlou5152]

its a shame Rhado cant let the guest finish.

[@rahdo]

indeed, quite the shame...

[@RebeccaRuhlman]

I ended up selling before even getting a play in because the graphic design/instructions were just so so awful