# Mars colony RPG

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Mars colony RPG and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Players who like the aesthetics and feel of this Mars colony game recommend it for its design and fun early sols, though critics report bugs, unclear controls and lag.

## Why people recommend it

- Appealing aesthetics and design (2 comments): "liked the aesthetics so I bookmarked it to come back to it later and discovered a bug" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937262)) "Interesting game, love the design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937552))
- Fun to play, enjoyable feel (3 comments): "The game is definitely fun but there's some papercuts that make it tough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939911)) "I really enjoyed my first few Sols." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947242)) "Really like the feel of the game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46946640))

## What people warn about

- Bugs and rough edges (3 comments): "liked the aesthetics so I bookmarked it to come back to it later and discovered a bug" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937262)) "The game is definitely fun but there's some papercuts that make it tough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939911)) "I can't select him, stuck between the base and a solar panel." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944987))
- Confusing controls and messages (4 comments): "the default action must be cancel in case the user is pressing E without reading the messages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46943913)) "the screen shows ‘tap’ over the highlighted tile, which does nothing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939185)) "It is hard to understand and play... maybe make it more obvious." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937550))
- Lag or game won't load (3 comments): "it looks cool but for some reasons I cant play it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46942399)) "Feels really laggy on desktop. Tried both Firefox and Brave. Like 3-4 FPS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46951432)) "I just get a black screen on my iPhone when I click your link." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937530))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [TinyWind](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tinywind.md): 61 recommend
- [Starfling](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starfling.md): 59 recommend
- [Starcraft: Ashfall](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starcraft-ashfall.md): 46 recommend
- [Half-Life 2 in a Browser](https://hackerapproved.com/p/half-life-2.md): 42 recommend
- [Number Gacha](https://hackerapproved.com/p/number-gacha.md): 33 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Mars colony RPG", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mars-colony-rpg-based-on-kim-stanley-robinson-s-mars-books/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).