Tharsis Reviews
Its simple rules coupled with the brief length of its rounds make Tharsis very easy to pick up and get addicted to...for a few hours. Unfortunately, so much of its gameplay is reliant on luck, which can make for an incredibly frustrating and unforgiving experience.
There would be a good story to be had if Tharsis was developed to involve more than just trying to survive a few rounds. The theme of surviving on a spaceship and figuring out how to keep everything—and everyone—together should make for a good game. Unfortunately, Tharsis fails on too many points to be really worth playing.
This game has elements that make people like me smile and rage at the same time, but being objective, I can see how people may not be too enthused by that concept. This game is great for people who can stand praying to the RNG more than usual.
A tense, challenging, and addictive strategy game with strong atmosphere, weakened by excessive randomness that too often pushes things past "hard" into "hopeless."
Tharsis is an enjoyable game to start, but the frustrations and random nature of the game quickly eliminate the fun.
After playing (and dying) a few rounds in a row, I started tinkering around with a few of the game's settings and literally cackled when I saw there was a hard mode—though that's probably just the space madness setting in.
A turn based strategy that actually employs strategy, Tharsis is a rougelike you'll want to keep coming back to.
Difficult games are fun, and we're all capable of accepting a decent amount of challenge, but Tharsis seems to teeter on the edge of "I can figure this out eventually if I try hard enough" and "YOU STUPID DICE, WHY DO YOU KEEP ROLLING ONES AND TWOS!?" Luck plays a bit too heavily into the whole concept.
For those looking for something unique and original, Tharsis definitely offers that up in spades. It's not a game that can be played for hours on end, but you'll certainly return to it time and again should you fall for its clever blend of roguelike and strategy board games.
Tharsis is a good yet difficult strategy game that takes a lot of time to master.
I really want this game to work. I want it to be another breakout hit from a studio known for engaging and relatively-simple titles. I want it to be something I'll return to time and time again, to land the world's least reliable spacecraft, piloted by the world's most fickle space crew, upon the surface of Mars, and revel in the rush of victory felt when tremendous odds have been surmounted. It's a bummer, then, that it just isn't. Tharsis is a brilliant title that is ironically marred by its reliance upon dice rolls, and as such, I'm doubtful that many players will be able to reach through the game's thick veil of frustration to the genius that awaits just beyond.
Tharsis is a time-waster. Nonetheless it is a time-waster that's thoroughly recommended wasting time on - particularly good for fans of strategy and decision-based titles.
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.
Tharsis isn't a game for everyone. Strategy may be an important factor in determining how long you'll survive, but luck plays a much bigger role in things toward the end. The game is punishingly difficult early on, but it throws you a bone every now and then with character unlocks that can make things feel different. With the likelihood of failing more often than winning due to streaks of near-impossible situations, some may be disenchanted from the get-go. For those who love to conquer big challenges, this digital board game can be very appealing.
Tharsis offers some interesting mechanics, a story with little innovation but plenty of space for the player to create his narrative, and a lot of replayability but all of that comes at a price: the difficulty level that can make players abandon the title before they see everything it has to offer.
Jokes aside, Tharsis is an incredibly meaningful game that has picked a woefully inadequate format to express an innately intelligent idea. If this was a narrative game, in the vein of Telltale Games' work or Life is Strange, then we really would have had something special on our hands. As it is, we have a board game that goes out of its way to be unfair so it can make players make decisions that should have great emotional impact, but in practice become a quite pragmatic stepping stone towards victory.
When it comes to strategy games there are crowds with pretty different tastes out there...
If you’re looking for a challenging and brutal strategy game to play at home and/or on the go, Tharsis is for you. With your entire world literally breaking down all around you, tough decisions must be made and your morality will be pushed to its limit, should you save the ship or sacrifice a crew member to prolong the life of those still alive? With its newly revamped difficulty modes, the Nintendo Switch edition makes it a little bit easier for newcomers whilst still being just as challenging as I recall on the PS4. Despite how frustrating and unforgiving the game can be, just remember; in space, nobody can hear you scream…
Overall I liked Tharsis. It’s a fun, but short experience, that has you managing resources and trying to keep your crew alive. Yes there is some replay value as there are a few different endings it’s still not enough. I do think with some tweaking this would make a really good single-player board game that I would gladly play.
Tharsis is one of those games with a different approach, interesting and with the necessary complexity to invite the player to throw in all the hours of the world.
Review in Spanish | Read full review