Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life

Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life is the second installment of the series combining economic strategies and simulators, launched in 2020. The sequel was developed by the authors of the original, namely Auroch Digital studio, and its release was handled by Secret Mode company.

Plot

Unlike the first Mars Horizon, in which we were responsible for preparing a manned mission to Mars, in Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life our priority is to find extraterrestrial life. For this purpose, we need to thoroughly investigate not only the Red Planet, but also other objects in the Solar System. It's worth remembering that discovering life in space doesn't necessarily mean encountering an alien civilization. Evidence of its existence could just as well be microorganisms or fossils.

Mechanics

In Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life we are responsible for all matters related to running a space agency that is engaged in the search for extraterrestrial life.

To conduct operations, we need bases that we can build on Earth, Mars and the Moon. We can construct laboratories, launch pads, and other necessary facilities. Our "eyes" in the Solar System are satellites examining the atmospheres of passing planets and moons in search of randomly located biosignatures and anomalies, such as disturbances in the magnetic fields of celestial bodies. Based on the data obtained, we can plan further missions and send rockets to ever more distant corners of the Solar System.

The game allows us to design the rockets ourselves, manually selecting their individual elements. The situation is similar with rovers. Interestingly, we can take control of them during missions on the surfaces of globes (presented in the form of maps covered with hexagonal grids). We can give orders to the rovers, decide on the directions in which they should go or even pick the places from which they should take samples.

Although we make key decisions here independently, we need to hire advisors and experts, who are diversified in terms of skills. In addition, research on new technologies should be conducted, because only by equipping our bases, rockets and rovers with the latest technological achievements, can we hope to achieve our main goal.

We need money for all of this, which we accumulate by accepting and completing subsequent tasks. Another resource necessary to conduct our business is time - individual missions and research can last for months or even years, which makes it necessary to properly set priorities and avoid taking on too many responsibilities.