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Switch
Tharsis (Switch) Review
by Steven Green - April 10, 2020, 7:00 am PDT
Total comments: 1
Total comments: 1
The void defeats all of us in the end, no matter how hard you try.
The eternal void of space can be a fickle mistress. Its vastness and beauty are quickly overshadowed by the fear of the unknown and a swift death waiting for you with the simplest of mistakes. Tharsis simulates all of this, as you take on a strategic, board-game-esque experience where the rolls of the dice will determine your success and failure in keeping your ship afloat. Brutally hard difficulty awaits you in each short run, where randomness and luck take what would otherwise be an enjoyable experience out of your hands.
Following a far-off signal, the crew of this ship is on their way to the Tharsis region of Mars. On the voyage, a meteor shower strikes the craft, killing two astronauts outright. From here you must take control of the remaining four members of the crew to attempt to keep the wheels turning on this suicide mission. Each stage throws the ship into further disarray, making successive rounds harder and harder to manage. Strategy, planning, and risk are all things that must be weighed in order to make it to your destination, but unfortunately, you only make decisions, with no significant way to improve the outcomes outside of the most minuscule of preparations.
![Gameplay Gameplay](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126602278/115968406.jpg)
Aug 31, 2015 Tharsis is one of the most intriguing games at PAX. We've already spoken with Mike Roush, co-founder of developer Choice Provisions, about. Jan 06, 2016 Tharsis - Ep. 1 - Trouble in Space! - Let's Play - Tharsis Gameplay Blitz. Unsubscribe from Blitz? Cancel Unsubscribe. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 2.46M.
Your crew consists of different classes that each have their own abilities to help you on this trip. From the ability to re-roll your dice an additional time to increasing the hull strength and more, where and how you utilize these members is crucial. Stats like sanity and health will need to be monitored and maintained in order to stay at full strength, as losing crew members will only make your run end that much sooner. Along with these individual stats, you must also keep track of how your ship is holding up to the meteors striking the hull, as having your hull rating hit zero also ends the run for everyone.
The different rooms aboard the ship each offer different functions on the journey and allow for longevity when utilized properly. A medical bay can restore a crew member back to full health with a roll of five or higher, three alike dice rolls in the food wing allow for some sustenance to be restocked, and so on. Gaining as many dice for your team as possible is a priority given that they will be your number one resource; where one room offers additional dice, food is also a means of restoring some of those lost rolls. Dice are critical to this entire formula since they allow you to utilize character abilities, perform research, repair rooms, and do just about everything else.
Events that take place at the outset of each stage cause damage to these various rooms, with their own critical status effects. Losing health for each member of the team, or even taking out multiple points of hull strength can occur if left unchecked, so you must have crew members enter these rooms to roll dice in an effort to fix the damage done. A large number will be set at the top of the screen, with each dice roll allowed to be subtracted from that number. Sometimes it will take multiple crew members to fix an issue, especially if you’re light on the number of dice available per person or if you roll poorly, so keeping all your resources full as often as possible will directly influence how long you can sustain a run.
Aesthetically, there isn’t much to look at. You’re in space, so blackness fills most of the outside edges of the screen. The ship is filled with rooms of importance that only give you a glimpse of their interesting features and equipment. Animations for the crew member’s faces are well done, as they take damage or start to lose their cool, but nothing changes outside of the one, static screen you play on. Cutscenes between each stage give a brief glimpse of where you’re going, but it is forgotten quickly as each installment requires forward progress.
Beyond making those decisions to take on the brunt force of the damage in order to refill some resources, or going all-in trying to fix the ship, you are left at the mercy of the dice, where effects like “void” and “injury” can hurt the astronauts further or render your dice useless. This is where the difficulty becomes unbearable, even on the easiest of settings. Complete randomness controls everything that actually happens, as making all the right decisions can still end in death for an unlucky player. This makes what could easily be considered an interesting experience frustrating and difficult to get through. The length of the runs lasting roughly less than ten minutes with each attempt also means you will quickly get used to dying and restarting, which devolved into an effortless chore.
Tharsis would be a game I would enjoy playing on a tabletop with some buddies, while drinking some beers, and enjoying our repeated failures. However, as a single-player video game, with only a few extra missions to take you out of the basic gameplay loop that is consistently frustrating, the overall experience has all the right parts but just leaves too much up to chance to be enjoyable.
Summary
Pros
- Enjoyable board game experience
- Simplicity allows for more of a focus on strategy
Cons
- Bare-bones storytelling
- Lack of variety forces you to continue losing repeatedly
- Short runs hasten the frustration
- The difficulty is out-of-this-world unfair
Talkback
oohhboyHong Hang Ho, Staff AlumnusApril 18, 2020
There doesn't seem to be any clamping as to how random it is. When I played it on PC it would be more than happy to throw impossible levels of damage. You can have perfect play, the best dice rolls, the best cards but if the RNG wants you dead there is nothing you can do.
It's the nature of these dice games if it doesn't contain enough player influenced elements or to hedge bets. You're either threading a needle or it's cake.
It's the nature of these dice games if it doesn't contain enough player influenced elements or to hedge bets. You're either threading a needle or it's cake.
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Game Profile
Worldwide Releases
Tharsis | |
Release | Apr 11, 2020 |
Publisher | QubicGames |
Related Content
Nintendo Switch
Space. Dice. And Cannibalism. Tharsis is a turn-based, space survival strategy game where outcomes and actions are based on dice rolls and difficult moral decisions.
A mysterious signal coming from the Tharsis region of Mars sets your crew of astronauts off on a risky mission. Who sent it? And why? Impossible questions, but your fate is sealed on finding out. Now, millions of miles away from home, a micrometeoroid storm damaged your spaceship and killed two vital members of your crew. The mission is no longer just discovery, but to survive the journey with those still left alive.
Tharsis is built around a unique mix of a board game and video game mechanics. The outcomes of your choices are determined by rolls of the dice, but ultimately it is up to you and your decisions that will affect the mission’s success. Guide your crew through onboard disasters, food shortages, and the unforgiving nature of space. Maintain what remains of their health and sanity as they are strained by a crumbling ship, lack of food and the strange and disturbing signals coming from the Red Planet.
Succeeding in Tharsis requires you to make the best of what you have, even if everything indicates failure. Certain factors may be outside of your control, but that doesn't mean they can't be overcome. Be ready to plan and adapt continually. The game offers three levels of difficulty - easy for a fair learning curve, normal for those wanting a tough but fair challenge and hard for the true challenge seekers.
Defy the odds, make the difficult decisions, and embark on a harrowing mission of survival and fate.
Features:
- Turn-based space survival strategy game. With dice. And cannibalism
- A unique mix of a board game and video game mechanics. Make tough tactical and moral choices with the outcome then determined by the roll of your dice. Adapt and rethink continually
- Manage 4 astronauts each with their own mission-critical special abilities. Unlock additional crew members through special challenges and achievements
- Decide who stays healthy, fed and sane as you assign them to tackle multiple disasters unfolding on the ship. Decide who goes head-first into the fires, who gets food and possibly who becomes food
- The fretful and isolated atmosphere of deep space and the fight to not let it become your final grave enhanced by an atmospheric electro soundtrack
- Specifically balanced Easy, Normal and Hard modes for a fair learning curve while also ensuring a merciless challenge for true test seekers
- Additional trial and training missions to hone your survival skills
Tharsis is built around a unique mix of a board game and video game mechanics. The outcomes of your choices are determined by rolls of the dice, but ultimately it is up to you and your decisions that will affect the mission’s success. Guide your crew through onboard disasters, food shortages, and the unforgiving nature of space. Maintain what remains of their health and sanity as they are strained by a crumbling ship, lack of food and the strange and disturbing signals coming from the Red Planet.
Succeeding in Tharsis requires you to make the best of what you have, even if everything indicates failure. Certain factors may be outside of your control, but that doesn't mean they can't be overcome. Be ready to plan and adapt continually. The game offers three levels of difficulty - easy for a fair learning curve, normal for those wanting a tough but fair challenge and hard for the true challenge seekers.
Defy the odds, make the difficult decisions, and embark on a harrowing mission of survival and fate.
Features:
- Turn-based space survival strategy game. With dice. And cannibalism
- A unique mix of a board game and video game mechanics. Make tough tactical and moral choices with the outcome then determined by the roll of your dice. Adapt and rethink continually
- Manage 4 astronauts each with their own mission-critical special abilities. Unlock additional crew members through special challenges and achievements
- Decide who stays healthy, fed and sane as you assign them to tackle multiple disasters unfolding on the ship. Decide who goes head-first into the fires, who gets food and possibly who becomes food
- The fretful and isolated atmosphere of deep space and the fight to not let it become your final grave enhanced by an atmospheric electro soundtrack
- Specifically balanced Easy, Normal and Hard modes for a fair learning curve while also ensuring a merciless challenge for true test seekers
- Additional trial and training missions to hone your survival skills
TV mode
Tabletop mode
Handheld mode
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© 2020 QubicGames S.A. / Choice Provisions
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