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june 2020 edit: 24 new levels and a new mechanic got added in a patch.
march 2020 edit: 12 new levels got added in a patch.

in a world where mars is not just a candy bar, you are tasked with providing resources to martian settlements. and collecting strawberries, because it's a video game.

levels (or years, as they're called here for narrative reasons) are basically grids, and you have to place generators (and later other things) to provide every building with the resource they need. it's mostly electricity, but later can be some sort of liquid as well (it's purple, so I hope it's not water).

generators (and later other things) can only be placed on squares with blue crystals, which are either there by default, or are created by the generators themselves. furthermore, all the placables have directions, so they only affect squares to their left and right, for example, or 2 squares up, and so on. you have to place these in the order they arrive on a conveyor belt, but you can see the next 4 items besides the currently active one, so planning ahead is possible.

once a structure is placed, it can't be moved, and even if you're only dealing with identical structures, placement order is important, as the terrain can change based on what kind of martian lifeforms or terrain you're dealing with. some can't be changed, some change after every turn, and so on.

this all sounds very restrictive, but every level is relatively small and only has a handful of items to place, and there's unlimited undo, so it's not a stressful experience at all. no timer or time limit either. there's a certain amount of trial & error, but it's of the experimental and exploratory variety, rather than the annoying kind. plus you can't screw up by sending 2 charges of electricity to a building that only needs one, and even sending the liquid there isn't an issue, as long as they also get the electricity they need.

there are a total of 133 levels, 78 regular and 19 bonus ones with new mechanics constantly appearing, and a bunch got added after release with even more surprises: 12 winter levels, 12 supposedly hard levels and 12 levels using a new house building mechanic. they need to be unlocked as you play, but I'd rather not reveal more, suffice it to say, you'll want to collect all the strawberries, not just do the other things. not that the extras can be missed on the levels, and they're also marked on the level select screen, which was a thoughtful decision. and you don't have to solve a level for these to count, it wouldn't always be possible anyway.

controls aren't bad, you click and hold the mouse, drag the structure where you want to put it, then release the mouse. I think click to pick up and click to place would be less straining on the hands, but right click for undo got patched in upon request, since you can't move placed structures anyway, and now there's no need to move back to the undo button all the time.

resolution options and windowed mode are possible through the unity launcher, but sadly, audio controls are lacking. music on/off and sound on/off got patched in instead of a single audio on/off button, but ideally there'd be separate volume sliders for both. the music is great though, very atmospheric, fits the setting perfectly, and the graphics are charming too.

while the game won't tax your brain too much, nor will it take up a whole lot of your time (I'm sure it can be done in less than the 4 hours mentioned on the store page, but it took me 5, and then some with the new levels), it's highly recommended, as it's a nicely packaged, fun and memorable experience, even the narrative ended up being more than I initially expected, and it's priced very reasonably.

[quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote] [b]june 2020 edit:[/b] 24 new levels and a new mechanic got added in a patch. [b]march 2020 edit:[/b] 12 new levels got added in a patch. in a world where mars is not just a candy bar, you are tasked with providing resources to martian settlements. and collecting strawberries, because it's a video game. levels (or years, as they're called here for narrative reasons) are basically grids, and you have to place generators (and later other things) to provide every building with the resource they need. it's mostly electricity, but later can be some sort of liquid as well (it's purple, so I hope it's not water). generators (and later other things) can only be placed on squares with blue crystals, which are either there by default, or are created by the generators themselves. furthermore, all the placables have directions, so they only affect squares to their left and right, for example, or 2 squares up, and so on. you have to place these in the order they arrive on a conveyor belt, but you can see the next 4 items besides the currently active one, so planning ahead is possible. once a structure is placed, it can't be moved, and even if you're only dealing with identical structures, placement order is important, as the terrain can change based on what kind of martian lifeforms or terrain you're dealing with. some can't be changed, some change after every turn, and so on. this all sounds very restrictive, but every level is relatively small and only has a handful of items to place, and there's [b]unlimited undo[/b], so it's not a stressful experience at all. [b]no timer or time limit[/b] either. there's a certain amount of trial & error, but it's of the experimental and exploratory variety, rather than the annoying kind. plus you can't screw up by sending 2 charges of electricity to a building that only needs one, and even sending the liquid there isn't an issue, as long as they also get the electricity they need. there are a total of [b]133 levels[/b], 78 regular and 19 bonus ones with new mechanics constantly appearing, and a bunch got added after release with even more surprises: 12 winter levels, 12 supposedly hard levels and 12 levels using a new house building mechanic. they need to be unlocked as you play, but I'd rather not reveal more, suffice it to say, you'll want to collect all the strawberries, not just do the other things. not that the extras can be missed on the levels, and they're also marked on the level select screen, which was a thoughtful decision. and you don't have to solve a level for these to count, it wouldn't always be possible anyway. controls aren't bad, you click and hold the mouse, drag the structure where you want to put it, then release the mouse. I think click to pick up and click to place would be less straining on the hands, but right click for undo got patched in upon request, since you can't move placed structures anyway, and now there's no need to move back to the undo button all the time. resolution options and windowed mode are possible through the unity launcher, but sadly, [b]audio controls are lacking[/b]. music on/off and sound on/off got patched in instead of a single audio on/off button, but ideally there'd be separate volume sliders for both. [b]the music is great[/b] though, very atmospheric, fits the setting perfectly, and [b]the graphics are charming[/b] too. while the game won't tax your brain too much, nor will it take up a whole lot of your time (I'm sure it can be done in less than the 4 hours mentioned on the store page, but it took me 5, and then some with the new levels), it's highly recommended, as it's a nicely packaged, fun and memorable experience, even the narrative ended up being more than I initially expected, and it's priced very reasonably.