Mars Horizon News

Mars Horizon review - a modest leap for mankind

As my plucky yet oddly interchangeable astronaut plants the ESA's flag tall and proud on the moon's surface, I can't help but afford myself a smile. This is cool, and after a lot of hard work and a tense series of challenges to get my people to and from our celestial neighbour, I feel a real sense of achievement.

I'm also very aware of how hard it can be to capture the magic and wonder of space exploration. Mars Horizon, a turn-based management game about running a space programme and leading humanity to the stars, tries to strike a delicate balance between accessibility and visual splendour; and you can tell it's having to work to do justice to both.

When talking about developer Auroch Digital's own take on space exploration, it's impossible to ignore the elephant on the launch pad, Kerbal Space Program. The comparison is inevitable because there aren't many games that share their premise: space exploration, as defined by gritty hard science and engineering rather than the space fantasy of a Mass Effect.

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Mars Horizon FAQ

Hi everyone, thanks so much for playing Mars Horizon - it's awesome to see so many people enjoying our game and running their agencies.

Good news, we've updated our FAQ to answer some of your most asked question in the last 24 hours.

Head on over if there's something you're stuck on. We've also got some links and info on how we created the game you might like to read too!

>> READ THE MARS HORIZON FAQ <<

We're very busy behind the scenes sorting issues for people, chatting on social, dropping into streams, and trying to make sure everyone has the best Mars Horizon experience possible.

Once again, a huge thanks from the Mars Horizon team.

Good luck with your mission to the red planet Commanders!

Kerbal Space Program 2 is far off, but Mars Horizon will take you to the stars today

Kerbal Space Program is a wonderful game about space and landing on the moon that is as inspiring as it is painfully inaccessible to people who don't understand how orbital mechanics work (so, everyone). It's the hero we need, but not the hero we deserve, and Mars Horizon is here to offer an alternative.

Released today, Mars Horizon is a game where you are in charge of a space agency at the dawn of humanity's journey into the stars. You need to research new vehicle parts to create more complex spacecraft, but you also need to research the missions these craft will be used on. There is also a more interactive base-building element, and you can research new building options to expand your space agency's facilities.

You'll be competing against other global agencies to achieve key milestones, such as the first EVA, first moon landing, and so on, with the ultimate goal of being the first agency to land a crewed mission on the surface of Mars. To get there, you'll have to make sure you're hitting enough research bonuses and generating enough revenue to get their first, although choosing to focus on tech as opposed to flashy missions is a legitimate way to go.

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Mars Horizon is OUT NOW! 🚀

Mars Horizon is now available on PC and Consoles!

It’s time to run your space agency, launch into space, and try to be the first to land on Mars in our strategy simulation game 👨‍🚀

Mars Horizon is a strategy simulation game where you lead a major space agency as you guide humanity to Mars. Construct a base, design and build rockets, conduct missions throughout the Solar System, and write your own history of Space exploration.

Mars Horizon was created with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency and developed by Auroch Digital & published by The Irregular Corporation. Both Space Agencies have been integral to making Mars Horizon the game we wanted it to be, so we'd like to say a huge thank you to them.

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Want more Mars Horizon goodness?

[h2]The Irregular Corp’s Twitch channel will be taken over today by some awesome streamers 🛰️[/h2]

Irregular Corp's Livestream Schedule - 17th Nov

12.30pm - 2.30pm GMT Commander Ivy
3.00pm - 4.30pm GMT Auroch Digital | Jem & Allie
6.00pm - 8.30pm GMT JamesMcKnight87
8.30pm - 10.30pm GMT CharliePryor

>> Watch the livestreams here! <<

[h2]Real life astronaut Tim Peake plays Mars Horizon with the Xbox team! 🛰️[/h2]

Yesterday legendary astronaut Tim Peake played our game over on the Xbox Twitch channel - watch the stream below!

>> Watch the livestream here! <<

Tim was the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS). His work during mission Principia captured the hearts and minds of millions. He has a background as a test pilot and a British Army Air Corps officer and he is also a STEM ambassador and best-selling author.

[h2]Catch up with our podcasts where we talk all things Mars Horizon! 🛰️[/h2]

Visiting the European Space Agency
Hear about Auroch Digital's visit to ESA to show off Mars Horizon to ACTUAL rocket engineers and scientists
Why we must work together to land on Mars
Dr Alice Bunn, International Director at at UK Space Agency. explains how space agencies co-operate and collaborate, why this is so important, and how this collaboration will help us get to Mars.

>> Catch up with the podcast here! <<

[h2]Check out our livestreams with special guests from the UK Space Agency and ESA! 🚀[/h2]

Livestream with Libby Jackson, Human Exploration Programme Manager from the UK Space Agency
Libby explains what its really like in mission control and how she got into working in the space industry!
Livestream with Emmet Fletcher, Head of the ESA Branding and Partnerships Office at the European Space Agency
Emmet talks about the astronauts he’s met, including Neil Armstrong, how they design spacecrafts to cope with the harsh conditions of space, and how ESA collaborate with other countries in missions and research.

>> Catch up with the livestreams here! <<

Astronaut Tim Peake is going to play Mars Horizon! 👩‍🚀🤩

We’ve got an awesome event coming up for Mars Horizon - a real life astronaut is going to stream our game next week!

We are really happy to announce that European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake will be streaming Mars Horizon live with Xbox over on Twitch!

Join the chat to ask Tim your questions and to win some awesome Mars Horizon prizes too! 👩‍🚀

📆 Monday 16th November
⏰ 3.00pm - 4.30pm BST
WATCH THE LIVESTREAM ON TWITCH

[h2]Mars Horizon bundle giveaway[/h2]
During the stream, as well as playing the game, the XboxOn team and Tim will be trying astronaut ice-cream, astronaut fruit snacks, and doing a giveaway where you can win awesome Mars Horizon prizes including:

Mars Horizon Space Suit with Official mission patch 👩‍🚀
Another Official Mars Horizon mission patch 🚀
Astronaut Ice-cream 🍦
Astronaut freeze-dried fruit snacks 🍎
A code for Mars Horizon on Xbox One (when the game is out) 🎮

Join us in our Discord during the stream and geek out with us over how awesome it is that a real astronaut is playing our game! 🤩

Tim Peake became the first official British astronaut to walk in space while on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016. He spent six years training for the mission, beating 8,000 other applicants who responded to an ad from the ESA entitled, ‘Do you want to be an astronaut?’. Tim worked on every one of his 186 days in space with the majority of his experiments focussing on what space does to human physiology.

He also, with help from celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, enjoyed the first bacon sandwich to ever be consumed in space! 🥪