Paradox Interactive is publishing a hardcore strategy game about building cities on the Red Planet and trying to avoid killing people inside the Martian cities. “Surviving Mars” will be released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. It was developed by haemimont games.

Kotaku noted that while the hardcore survival city-builder game appears to sound dreadful and grim, “Surviving Mars” takes instead an optimistic approach to the process.

The different approach is based on a realization that the work would be done by the best scientists and engineers.

Building suitable habitats for settlers

The game, published by the same publisher of “Hearts of Iron” and “Crusader King,” will launch in 2018. According to the announcement trailer for “Surviving Mars” shown at the PDXCon, the colonization effort begins with rovers and supplies dropped to parts of Mars where the player can build suitable habitats for brave settlers from Earth, PC Gamer reported. All of the colonists are important to the mission as the settlers struggle to gain a foothold on the Red Planet which is characterized by a hostile environment and scarce resources.

Gabriel Dobrev, CEO of Haemimont, explained that as the developer of “Surviving Mars,” they feel that strategy and management games are at their best if the players are allowed to experience a unique story resulting from their own decisions. He pointed out that the colonists are not working to improve production. Rather, they are struggling to survive amid intense concerns and conflicts.

New challenge for Haemimont fans

The game will let the player understand what the colonists need to deal with on an individual level and in crafting creative plans for their needs. It will be a new challenge for Haemimont fans, Dobrev said, according to Polygon. The game website noted the mixed tone that accompanied the trailer, while the English voiceover is stoic and even somber in some parts.

While the narrative is ongoing, autonomous robots playfully crawl all over Mars. Haemimont Games is also the developer of another totalitarian city-building game, “Tropico.”

Outside of the games made by Haemimont, in September a team made up of a German physicist, French astrobiologist, and American architect, pilot, soil scientist, and journalist completed a mission of Mars life simulation in Hawaii. Since August 29, 2015, they lived in a small space inside a dome with no outside air, no privacy, and no fresh food for one year.