Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid
Game
Game2026
Occupy Mars: The Game
Developer ▲ Pyramid Games
Survive and colonize Mars alone or in online co-op. Build and upgrade your base, craft equipment, mine resources, produce water, oxygen and food, explore an open world, and repair complex machinery in a technical survival sandbox. From the Steam store page
277 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
46
Mixed
107 positive · 124 negative
95% range 40–53%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 107 | 124 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 1 | 40 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
1,032 of 1,533 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
46% recommend · 104 yes, 122 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 226 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (2,215 of 3,181 positive).
Players appreciate the hard sci-fi survival concept and grounded physics. [1][2][3] Many report that the campaign is broken and cannot be completed due to bugs. [4][5][6][7] Some find the controls clunky and the graphics below expectations. [8][9][10]
Liked
Representative posts
- [2]
An open-world-survival-craft game that is NOT fantasy! I greatly appreciate the hard-sci-fi aesthetic of this game. The point is surviving on Mars. There are no aliens, inter-dimensional or 'ascended' beings, there is no combat with wacky toon animals pretending to be aliens. Or Dinosaurs. This is MARS. In our solar system. There is no life on Mars. You are alone. No magic, and no magi-tech. If something needs …
- [11]
Recommended (with caveats) Occupy Mars is one of those frustratingly good games. The core gameplay loop is excellent: power management, oxygen, water, logistics, base building, and problem-solving all feel grounded and rewarding. When your base finally stabilises and runs without constant babysitting, the sense of achievement is genuinely satisfying. If you enjoy competence-based gameplay and systems that expect you …
- [4]
This should not have been released as a 1.0 yet. The gameplay is still very buggy, the 'campaign' mission locations change on reload or just don't work when you approach the locations. And even if they progress when you arrive, the items you need are either not there or have fallen through the floor. I've got a lot of time in this game, it's a good game. it has massive potential. it's just not ready yet. Edit …
- [5]
It's now April 4th, 2026, at 3am The game came out of early access January 30th, 2026 You still can't complete the campaign. Due to bugs with the game, that haven't been fixed. I like the game, I really do. But the fact that it's released as a full release, and you can't finish it, means I do not recommend this game. However, that being said, it's still a good time for what you can do, just be aware that it's not …
- [7]
As much as I like this game, as much as I've enjoyed it over time, I hate to say that I cannot recommend it. But the campaign has been broken since the official release, and after making a big post promising fixes and progress, the dev team has gone dark for over a month at the time of this writing. If they come back and do something meaningful, I may reassess, but at present, spend your money elsewhere.
Summarised from 34 of the 273 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Occupy Mars: The Game talk about hard sci-fi survival with realistic mechanics; those who didn't talk about campaign is buggy and often uncompletable. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 277 · most liked firstThis should not have been released as a 1.0 yet. The gameplay is still very buggy, the 'campaign' mission locations change on reload or just don't work when you approach the locations. And even if they progress when you arrive, the items you need are either not there or have fallen through the floor. I've got a lot of time in this game, it's a good game. it has massive potential. it's just not ready yet. Edit 18-8-26: Sadly, after another approx 50 hours into this game, it is still the same.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played the game in EA as well as in full release. I had hoped that 1.0 would also tackle the gameplay loop—it didn't. The game feels as if the developer never played their own game – the gameplay mechanics seem to be thrown together in a way that is completely incoherent. The controls are sometimes sluggish (e.g., you have to press the button several times to pick up items before anything actually happens). I won't even mention the vehicle controls... Exploration means that every 50 meters…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the Dev Team: I just wanted to say that my son and I really enjoy playing this together. He's a big STEM fan and loves space exploration and it provides a window into that world. Also like the fact that you kept it somewhat grounded in real physics, science, and space exploration challenges. Don't give up on it. Consider a space station option, a pilotable way to get off the planet, ice mining to get water, space suit upgrades, cold fusion, there are really limitless things you could…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Extremely clunky control scheme and consistent bugs make for an unplayable game. I made it through the tutorial and most of the way through the intro mission before I gave up. The controls are extremely difficult to use, with the character constantly grabbing and dropping cables, unable to pick them back up. Sometimes right click puts items back in the inventory, sometimes it does not. Sometimes "E" puts items back in the inventory, sometimes it does not. When dealing with mission-essential…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's now April 4th, 2026, at 3am The game came out of early access January 30th, 2026 You still can't complete the campaign. Due to bugs with the game, that haven't been fixed. I like the game, I really do. But the fact that it's released as a full release, and you can't finish it, means I do not recommend this game. However, that being said, it's still a good time for what you can do, just be aware that it's not completable, and they haven't patched it in around a month.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was playing Early Access in 2023. The game has great potential and I was happy to discover that it has now been fully released as version 1.0. I immediately got back into the game and put another 100+ hours into it. Sadly, the 1.0 release was rushed. Even as at version 1.0.12, it still has many show stopping / game breaking bugs. Mission tasks sometimes will not complete (after having performed them), blocking the path to subsequent missions, which are never offered since the dependant…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An open-world-survival-craft game that is NOT fantasy! I greatly appreciate the hard-sci-fi aesthetic of this game. The point is surviving on Mars. There are no aliens, inter-dimensional or 'ascended' beings, there is no combat with wacky toon animals pretending to be aliens. Or Dinosaurs. This is MARS. In our solar system. There is no life on Mars. You are alone. No magic, and no magi-tech. If something needs power, you run an extension cord and PLUG IT IN. Better hope your solar panels…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I suggest to not buy the game in this state, I personally bougth it 3 years ago in early access. The game has good ptenital, but personally even if it has been released as a full game, it is far from that. Main solo campaign is bugged (you can search it on google and find many people with this problem) and cannot be completed, for me this is a major issue. Also still lot of bugs. 4 months after release, as today May 2026, still no patches to fix the main campaign issue.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I uninstalled after playing almost three hours. It's buggy and the graphics are below my expectations. I really wanted this to be much better than it is. I'll keep checking the community discussions every now and then to see if it deserves to be reinstalled.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has mixed reviews and if you are on the fence as to whether or not to buy this game, I hope this will help. Is there bugs in it's current state? Yes. Are these bugs game breaking? No. I haven't encountered any crashes to desktop or major errors such as currupt saves that made the game unplayable. The kind of bugs I've encountered are things like resources not being consumed while crafting, certain triggers for campaign progression not firing (and I'm not sure if this is deliberate…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has potential, but the balancing of basically ALL game systems if off by a mile, causing constant frustration in all 4 corners. And the devs just take ages to address that. I've stopped playing it for the second time now over a span of years and will not come back until I have seen all the constantly pointed out balancing issues fixed. Grindy resource acquisition, too random and too grindy tech acquisition, annoying destructive meteorite showers with unsustainable, unfun…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I like this game, as much as I've enjoyed it over time, I hate to say that I cannot recommend it. But the campaign has been broken since the official release, and after making a big post promising fixes and progress, the dev team has gone dark for over a month at the time of this writing. If they come back and do something meaningful, I may reassess, but at present, spend your money elsewhere.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a clunky game, but I love it. Somethings I think they can improve. 1.) no oxygen output in hanger for Heavy Rover 2.) the wires and tubes all over, its clunky and visually bad 3.) its like every vehicle does not have proper physics and driving over a few bumps is rough 4.) i can walk off a cliff and I turn into a rag doll and die. -- same cliff with a truck and I'm indestructible and make to to the bottom no problem, but a motorbike i cant even make it to the cliff without going…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is such a hard review to write as I don't like giving negative reviews but after 70 hours on the game I feel I need to. I have followed this game from early access and it started to look like it was going to be a fantastic game and in some ways it is, GOOD POINTS: Story line is OK now they fixed it. Fun for multiplayer (this kept me playing way longer than I would have on my own). Unfortunately that's where it stops. BAD POINTS: There are a lot of clipping glitches which is really…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yikes. The textures are awful, looks like a bunch of jpeg walls inside the base. It feels rather clunky too, I can't stand the way they did the interface as an all "tablet on your arm" thing. Inventory item? Open tablet. Take off your helmet? Inventory and move it from helmet slot to inventory. Interaction is rather limited too. Lots of RP style "*looks at you*" and stuff. During the tutorial phase I couldn't really get the feel of it, then when trying to escape a destroyed base, I bumped…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't do reviews very often. I do this one only as I have seen many negative stuff recently and I think it is very unfair. Many negative comments state about poor graphics, unclear objectives and bugs. I have not seen any of that. Fact, there may be issues with pipes and electric cables but it is manageable and can be sorted with patience. This is not game for speed run but for careful planning. I played 327.2hr on early access. Started over many times and played for hours after each update.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's been a bug in the game for a few years now where after day 100 your load time becomes astronomical. Rather than fix that they decided co-op was more important. I can't in good conscience recommend it knowing the dev team can't properly prioritize. Once that bug gets fixed then I'd change my recommendation. As it stands that's a no from me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cannot wait for the Actual 1.0 Release, because this ain't it. It still feels like a 0.3 Build, it's buggy, it's aggravating, and the progression is so slow it makes me want to perish. Rumors are the devs are spiteful on their community, I cannot attest to that, but the final rocket building feels like it is just that. It's insane. Multiplayer is buggy, mostly around the player joining or disconnecting, so there's that. If the devs learn asynchronous programming, maybe that can be improved on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended (with caveats) Occupy Mars is one of those frustratingly good games. The core gameplay loop is excellent: power management, oxygen, water, logistics, base building, and problem-solving all feel grounded and rewarding. When your base finally stabilises and runs without constant babysitting, the sense of achievement is genuinely satisfying. If you enjoy competence-based gameplay and systems that expect you to think, this game absolutely delivers. However… it is very buggy.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Occupy Mars with #ElonMusk" #Trump (Late to the game, I know)
neutral · AI labelView post →I can't recommend this game. I played slightly over 20 hours and I'm stuck in the campaign (progress isn't unlocking). The devs released a patch in June that was supposed to fix the campaign issues. I had put the game down in May to wait for the patch. I just restarted my game and their fix doesn't appear to work for me. Progress is still stuck and won't unlock. I've tried all recommendations found on the Internet but no luck. I don't really feel like starting over, especially since it might…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Early Access review: MIXED review. I'm willing to re-review this game if the issues below are addressed and fixed. Is the game worth playing right now: Kinda... and be prepared to be frustrated. I found it was only playable for about 20 hours tops. Is the game worth buying? NO. One reason I say NO is because this game has been in Early access for what 4-5 years now? This game still suffers from basic game mechanic issues at this point, preventing players from progressing. would…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have tried to like this game, but as of release it is janky, buggy, and has some real design flaws that go beyond the unity engine. The Good: Graphics are mostly good, though most of the models feel like they are from a few generations ago. The Character models don't look good but you rarely see them in solo. Performance-wise the game tends to be pretty good even at highest settings. The Bad: The "campaign" doesn't really exist. It's not a story, Progression is slow, not just on a tech…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have no idea what is behind decision for focusing on co-op, but that basically ruined this project (feeling i got from recent play/co-op). Solo part is not even half ready - bugs, junky UI, unbalanced. And in co-op we can use half of solo game "technology" --- That about current state, i hope it will progress better if near future ...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can`t recommend this game in it's current state. As a new players we faced a bugs which is existing for years and were reported by a lot of players. We created game and started playing as a group of three people. 1. Game has a lot of FPS drops when traveling 500-1000m away. Looks like it is loading a whole chunk at once after you reach some trigger-border. 2. We are facing A LOT of de-sync. Someone is holding an ore rock, for any other players he is visible as holding nothing. You hand…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought the game few months ago in Ea...bugs galore, text barely readable, textures in the game seem like theyre a few pixels each, which screams cheapo and lazy. General graphics are bland asf, the planet itself is potatoe. Yesterday they launched so called v1 and all issuse remain WITH A FEW EXTRAS ADDED. The crappy textures alone in this game do not justify the asking price. Its a bare bones basic slop with outdated looking graphics, clunky controls aswell as no controller support. ID REFUND…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nothing is explained well, you got large walls of text in tutorials, but even then I have to google every second step when I need something and seemingly can't find it, or when progress is locked for reasons the game doesn't explain. Also a bit unpolished for a full release game. A shame, it looked really exciting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I started playing this game during its very first demo. Then I supported the kickstarter at a pretty high amount. I have been wanting this game to succeed from the very first time I even glancing at it. I supported rover mechanic and dinosaur, because I wanted to ensure they had all the funds to do this game right. All this to say, I am very biased in their favor. I have not done a review until today, because I thought I could just ignore it. However, this game is still completely broken.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →runs very bad and doesnt even have that good graphics. The game would be great but still after 1.0 release buggy, unoptomized and the tutorial has bugs that completly breaks the game. Would not recommend.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oof. I cannot recommend this game at all. Everything just feels rough, giving off either rushed or AI slop vibes (which aren't helped by the rampant Space X and Tesla influences seen everywhere). For the sake of streaming I turned off the game music (have to make sure I avoid YouTube's contentID) and as a result the intro and much of the game were completely silent, your landing pod makes no sound at all. Then there's a psychological horror element of a crowd of people talking but the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Are you looking for a new colony sim to check out? Take a look at a few we have on sale: 🌍 Synergy (underrated game!) 🚀 Occupy Mars: The Game 🌌 Exogate Initiative 🏝️ One More Island ❄️ Up to 75% OFF this holiday season! store.playsum.live/search?onSal... #IndieGames #ColonySim #HolidaySale
neutral · AI labelView post →That's why, when I see Elon or hear his name, my 2nd thought is that's he is the exact opposite of Robin Hood. (My 1st thought? Don't ask) A reverse Robin Hood. Who, by way of DOGE, will steal from the poor who rely on programs like Social Security to give to the rich. His end game, Occupy Mars.
neutral · AI labelView post →No and NO, game crashes constantly. Controls are a nightmare. Does the game have potential YES. However, this needs serious tech support before i can even begin to recomment. Saving crashes, reload start again. NOPE wont do it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So disappointed in what could have been an awesome game. The main quest line is broken, and in sandbox mode you build a big rocket that you can't board and use. So anti climatic.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full of bugs everywhere. Played with a friend for 73 hours. It felt very good potential but constantly facing bugs and restarting all the time and the frustration became overwhelming. The game was NOT ready to be released.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My playtime is currently 356 hours, and I've completed both the campaign and sandboxing mode multiple times. While I'll admit my Cons for the game heavily outweigh the Pros, I'll still give this game a thumbs-up for the fun it offers as purely a survival simulator. Pros: 1. Great concept for a survival game, and a workable implementation, too. I like the exploration 2. Jet Pack was an awesome idea; while a bit quirky, it works once you figure it out. It is the fastest mode of transport in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is not ready for release. It has too many problems.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to love this game. This game is very addicting once you know what your doing and if its your first time playing the game, however for a returning player from each update to see whats been added and fixed. Was hyped for verion 1.0 but unfortunally for me there was not enough content that was added to the game. I feel much more could be added like voice acting and the missions quests have changed alittle but they are still very buggy. an example is 1 bug with the mission i came across…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly had so much fun figuring this game out (there is a definitely learning curve and the tutorial is a bit subpar) and getting to the point that I was fully self-sufficient and could do everything I wanted. However, I played on single-player and was very disappointed when I thought I was working toward something only to hit a huge wall and 'Come back later for more content' only to find out the developers were spending all of their time on co-op, seemingly leaving single player in the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No, just no. Waited V1.0 before submitting a review as I wanted to give them a chance since it was Early Access. They obviously didn't deserve it. Sorry guys. * Since V1.0 I can no longer repair circuit boards as the hot air tool and soldering iron now refuse to work. I have not tried the work around, I am done trying to like this bug-riddled-pre-alpha-clunky-stuttering mess. * The whole thing is extremely clunky. Simple things such as plugging a cable is a pure PITA. You have to move your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some great #Blender users to follow: 👉 @LiberiArcano - "Level 33 freelance Game Artist, geek, game dev." 👉 @eldritch48 - "He/Him Designer & cinematic illustrator. " 👉 @leoc - "Dabbler, looking for rideshare to #OccupyMars" If you'd like to suggest someone to be featured here, please let me know! #blender #blender3d #b3d #BlenderOnMastodon
neutral · AI labelView post →eden crafters is so great, why does this game suck so much. Its like playing EGS and then expecting the same game play on space engineers 2. It just too much details that makes it more like a job, than playing a fun game. it's like they said lets make a space planet version of green hell with ideas from scum. 2 hours in I'm like this is completely stupid.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Personal Rating: Mostly Positive (75%) So, I decided to give the Red Planet another chance after getting a reaction from one of the developers + seeing a rise of positive reviews, and I'm pleasantly surprised to say the least. The lack of scroll hotbar control, that I criticised, was actually implemented into the game. This made it so I can play the game normally, and I'm glad that the devs listen to their fan-base. (For now) The UI is still a bit clunky, but it's more than manageable…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really good game! A few minor things to fix, like controls are a bit stiff and clunkt, but with some work this game will be awesome!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its been second time i'm replaying the game. In 2 years time in-between nothing has changed in gameplay, only addressing some bugs. The game has potential but the dev got really lazy on develop a story or sth to keep you really engaged after you get all perks. Some items in tech tree still "work in progress" after 2 years time. Cmon bro.. the game is empty
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doesn't work properly under Proton. EATS memory; my system has 32 GB and it eats every bit of it without even working. Remember, games must work on Proton!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a good game for Mars nerds and it does scratch an itch that few other games can reach, despite its faults. The developers are obviously passionate about it and it keeps getting better and better. There is a bit of grind (literally) initially, but once you reach a certain level, you can mostly give free reign to your imagination and build great bases. Recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game saves keep corrupting so is unplayable long term
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, we hit 1.0 and its just not that great, never got the polish it deserved, graphics are so so, the sound is terrible and the flow of the game is just off. Its grind fest with very little reward. I have invested hours in this and I did like where it was going, but to me, it just never got there.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With just under 2 hours in this game, I'm going to say that the game still has a long way to go to feel "ready" for the new player. A few things popped up within these first 2 hours that I found super annoying, detracting from a reasonable new player experience. I'll try to recall what I experienced before the 2 hours were up. I started with The prologue, seeing as it said it was acting as a tutorial. However, it didn't effectively teach me all of the fundamentals for the game. In order, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They said that in update 1.2 you can configure tons of settings like length of a day, etc. I bought it and ... bought it. They didn't do that in fact. It only works in sandbox mode, but you still have to power through the campaign and then keep enough interest for another playthrough to be able to do that. The campaign itself sucks. You've crash-landed on Mars and yadda-yadda, yay, Subnautica in space, sounds fun and I loved the early demo. What you figure out past the 2-hour refund mark…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tried liking this, but there's just so many bugs and baffling design decisions I just can't get into it. Half the time things don't work, like buttons, or opening inventories, and require you to save and reload the save to get working again. The game is LITTERED with bugs like this, and it eats away at your desire to play the game. The weather system, especially meteors are just plain annoying, and can only be disabled in a sandbox game. Want to do the campaign? too bad, you're stuck with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That's extremely interesting considering "Occupy Mars" is currently a game on PC (via steam) and the art work on the shirts even looks similar to the logo for the game (to my knowledge there isn't an "Occupy Moon" version of said game)
neutral · AI labelView post →Welcome to the 1.0 release! Where they haven't finished the campaign, and that caused a problem they only recently fixed which locked you out of 2 of the techs. It's "full release" but still very much feels like it's early access, so if you're going to buy do so with that in mind.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tldr: The question I have to ask myself with any game is does it keep me up at night wanting to come back to it? Yes! The game feels like it was released a little too early and should have spent more time in the oven in beta. However, the devs are being very reactive and responsive and racing to fix any issues, much more so than many other EA games (I'm looking at you Osiris!) it also fills a genre gap that few other games can fill, like a more sciency, realistic version of The Planet Crafter…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The negative reviews of this game do not come close to describing how bad it is. This is not a game ready for release. It's a playable alpha that is almost ready to enter Early Access. There is no good reason for this to be considered a full release. Had this game, in its current form, come out in 1995 it would be the greatest thing ever. However, computers are better now, games are more sophisticated now, and this one fails in every single aspect. The developers should be ashamed at how…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This could be a great game, but IT'S BUGGY AS HECK. Playing the sandbox, four starts and I have yet to be able to build the first base. I always come up short of components, mostly small and medium circuit boards. You have to salvage then. There is a recipe in the printer for them but they can't be printed. I've salvaged EVERYTHING, and no circuit boards to be found. What I can't understand is that I hear posts of folks who have got past this, and thread about circuit boards never mention the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is so bad, holes in terrain, nothing seams to work like messages or any info that is helpful while playing the campaign. Not sure when the discovered tablets have actually given me anything, I'm done......
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really, really like this game...when I can play it. Up until the 1.0 launch it was fairly stable. After? Forget it My system has plenty of RAM, processor power, drivers are updated, plenty of HDD space. Verified files...reloaded whole game and multiple restarts of the save file. IF they ever fix this crashing issue, I'll try again, but moving on until then. Very disappointing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to be Mark Watney! Left behind to fend for myself and wait for rescue. This game is the closest I have gotten. I couldn't care less about the campaign. I like the Co-Op. But I've already moved on. Sure, I'll continue to revisit OM from time to time, but I don't have much hope for the game anymore. There are so many other games out there that do everything Occupy Mars does, but better. I hope they can fix this, but I'm not holding my breath. I have been playing, almost exclusively,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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