I really like First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet. But, like its predecessor, it is hard to like when you first play it. Now, in a market packed with games, why would you want a game that you will have to play 1 or 2 times before you really start to enjoy it?
Well, that is a really valid question. But I hope you will find an answer here. And there will be a TLDR down at the bottom if you want to skip ahead, or just skip this all together. But for those of you who want to stick with it....
Lets Talk About <PERSON> Really? He's the Ugly from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". You guys need to get out more.
Now, just to cover where I am coming from, First Martians isn't my favorite game. I didn't even give it a 9. But it has found a place in my collection, and is there to stay. And since I have under 30 games in that collection, I feel like that is saying something. It really is very good. But lets start with the problems, and maybe even why they aren't as bad as they sound.
First off, the rulebook is difficult. Lots of reviews have discussed this, but it is true. You really need to watch it played, and take it slow the first game to make sure you have the systems down. But, to their credit, the "Watch It Played" video is really good, and the current update of the app does a great job helping you manage all the systems. I haven't had to check a FAQ or ask online for anything, but the rulebook is in a layout for someone trying to find an answer to a quick question, not for someone learning the game.
Also, to learn the system, you really need the game to be on easy so that you last long enough to figure out how to play. But easy in this game, is boring. But I will talk about difficulty a little later in the good parts of this game.
And, there are a lot of rules. It isn't the most complicated game I have ever played, but the first time you play, it is a lot to take it. But it isn't like there are a bunch of little exceptions. The rules are fairly straight forward and intuitive, but there is a lot going on.
This game has a lot of bits. Not like Gloomhaven amount of bits, but still a lot of bits. 366
There are a massive amount of little cubes. They do have little sockets to sit into so they don't move around like Terraforming Mars, but there are just soooooo many cubes. And I am going to be honest, this one doesn't need them all. Personally, I don't use any of the green cubes. There should be a little green dot under each spot, so at the start of the game you do not need to put out a ton of cubes before you even play. It would speed up setup a ton.
But I can see why they did it. In the game this one is loosely based on, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, every thing you get to work is a huge reward, and it so satisfying to place that shovel or stick hut card on the board. But with this game, it all starts working, so getting it working again feels rewarding, but having a cube to place down to represent it just isn't. So I don't use a lot of the cubes. I see the thought process, but for me, it wasn't a great decision.
Why am I willing to look past all that?
Lets talk about what works in this game. First off, we'll talk about how it is different from Robinson Crusoe. In that game you start off with nothing and you are struggling for every little thing. But with First Martians, you start off with everything. You get to see how cool that rover vehicle is, and how helpful the research lab is. You get all of the cool toys to play with. The trick is keeping all of them.
This really leads to a lot of difficult decisions that make the game fun. You can keep fixing everything, and making sure you keep all this cool stuff, but you will run out of time on your mission. You have to cut corners, and take risks if you want to win. It is a difficult balance between the upkeep of all of your great equipment, and the requirements of the mission. What will you do? When should you play it safe, and when should you risk it?
Also, I really like the events that you have to either sacrifice time and resources now, or they develop into problems later. And the best part, you have no idea what is going to happen if you don't do it. Will it be not so bad? Will you lose because of it? 403