Less than a month until 39 Days to Mars

Written by Jack Allin — April 8, 2018 at 11:42

It may have taken 80 days to travel around the world, but it's only 39 Days to Mars in indie developer Philip Buchanan's upcoming "co-operative steampunk survival-adventure game." 

Set in an alternate reality Victorian era, 39 Days to Mars stars "Sir Albert Wickes and The Right Honourable Clarence Baxter, two 19th century explorers who are piloting the HMS Fearful – a masterpiece of unreliable engineering – on its maiden voyage to Mars." Interstellar travel is anything but an exact science in such experimental technology, and what's worse is that it quickly becomes clear that neither man is actually capable of piloting the craft. And so it'll be up to one OR two players to "keep the two explorers alive through the trip by attending to their needs, while at the same time keeping the ship from falling apart and solving the problems that arise." 

Presented in simple hand-drawn, sepia-toned graphics, 39 Days to Mars allows for both co-operative and single-player options in a game that promises a mix of puzzle-solving, resource management and some "action" elements. Whether going solo or with a friend, keeping you company will be the ship's computer-controlled cat, though you might wish it wasn't when it proceeds to tear up your navigation chart, presenting yet another obstacle for you to confront. The game has been designed as a "coffee-break" experience, broken up into short individual expeditions of approximately 20 minutes each before (hopefully) reaching the Red Planet. 

There's even fewer than 39 days to wait for 39 Days to Mars, as the game is due to arrive on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux on April 25th.