/pic3151415.jpg)
Collection Status
Your Rating
Description
Built on the core of the award-winning Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet pits players against the hostile Martian environment and a whole host of new adventures and challenges. The immersive experience is further enhanced with an integrated app that maintains the balance and challenge throughout. Players have the option of taking on the design as a series of separate games, in a custom campaign mode in which each successive game builds on the last.
Year Published
2017
Featured Videos
Playthrough
First Martians Full Playthrough - JonGetsGames
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video eT7JwFvyHjs
Under the Hood analysis at 12:15
video_pk 12475 · mention_pk 36402
Click to watch at 12:15 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Mars colonization
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- custom dice used as playing pieces / dice pools — dice carry information and drive multiple actions without charts
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- dice are probably the first board game mechanic
- the more sides of the dice the more extreme their variables will be
- dice can add uncertainty to actions and while you may recall vividly the fistful of ones you rolled in an important battle the overall distribution of rolls in the game should balance out over time
- there's really no such thing as luck there's just probability
- get better and stop blaming the dice when you lose
- friction is all the random things that happen in war that turn it from a mathematical challenge into the messy chaotic experience
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video HV1Kd3IA5K0
Jits Games playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5442 · mention_pk 16197
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Integrated exploration with tight base-management constraints
- Scenario-driven variability through events and upgrades
- Autonomous helpers and upgrades meaningfully affect planning
Cons
- Steep learning curve and high complexity
- Dice-driven luck can dominate certain outcomes and push games toward volatility
Thematic elements
- cooperative survival and scientific exploration under scenario constraints
- Mars, base settlement and exploration campaign
- scenario-driven, event and consequence oriented
Comparison games
- Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Adventure and event chaining with dice — Events trigger adventures with varied outcomes; dice determine success, damage, and potential penalties.
- Cooperative Game — All players work together to achieve mission objectives and manage station resources.
- cooperative play — All players work together to achieve mission objectives and manage station resources.
- Morale tokens and character skills — Morale can be spent to boost actions and grant improvements; each astronaut has unique skills that influence play.
- Resource management — Oxygen, energy, and food production/consumption must be balanced across blocks and actions.
- Rovers and autonomous helpers — Rovers like Froggy and Scorpio, plus autonomous repair/build robots, provide extra pawns or assist actions.
- Signal tokens and ring-path exploration — Signals are placed in concentric rings to form a seven-spot chain needed to locate the probe; exploration moves along this path.
- Three-block malfunction tracks — Systems, Living, and Working blocks each have malfunction tracks that escalate with events and require repairs.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this game borrows several mechanics from Robinson cruso but definitely has its own tweak on many of these things
- we're not playing this game from the particular perspective of one of the players
- exploration oriented Probe on the loose scenario long story short one of our probes is caring off in the distance
- Amazing fossil we just found
- you found the probe and the samples
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video FeTAVPnP-_0
Watch It Played top_10_list at 2:23 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4807 · mention_pk 14105
Click to watch at 2:23 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Compelling crisis management
- Makes you feel like a commander
- Good value currently as game did not perform well
Cons
- Cumbersome rulebook
- Significant time investment to learn
- Compared unfavorably to Robinson Crusoe
Thematic elements
- Crisis management simulation
- Mars base
- Tense system management
Comparison games
- Robinson Crusoe
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- crisis management — Manage gremlins and systems breaking down
- risk management — Balance pushing forward with dealing with system failures
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I've played about 300 solo games so this represents the top of all the solo games I've played
- These are entirely my opinions based on my personal play experience
- I think this is one of the cleverest solo modes on the market
- When you win a game of Robinson Crusoe there are very few things in solo board gaming more satisfying
- The closest experience in board gaming to being the captain on a bridge in a sci-fi movie where everything is going to shit
- I'm probably a solo board gaming masochist
- I just love Thunderbirds as a solo game
- It feels like Legendary Encounters was built for the Alien theme and was built as an upgrade to the original Legendary system
- Probably the best AI opponent in all of board gaming
- Few games have that genuine sense of exploration
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–3 of 3