This week, Brianna and Kaan combine forces in a cooperative play-through of On Mars, going through “Chapter 2: Outbreak” of the Alien Invasion expansion. We also give our informal review on the game.
Any brave soul who has ever tried their hand at a board game by designer Vital Lacerda knows that they are in for a crunch-fest (they’re usually 4.5+ weight out of 5 on Board Game Geek) and On Mars is no exception. While this style of game is not for everyone, we found the cooperative element might even be helpful in introducing newbies to this style of dense Eurogaming.
Plus, the sci-fi theme and the beautiful artwork by Ian O’Toole really work for us — recommended if you don’t mind your brain occasionally rebelling and telling you to jog on because this was supposed to be a RELAXING EVENING and now it can barely function, and it might never forgive you.
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GAMES AND GEAR MENTIONED
This video was not paid for by outside persons or manufacturers. No gear or games were supplied to us for this video.
We are Amazon Associates however and get commissions for purchases made from the “PAID LINK” affiliate tag, which helps support the channel.
On Mars (base game)
🛒 direct from publisher, Eagle-Gryphon Games: https://www.eaglegames.net/On-Mars-p/102253.htm
🛒 on Amazon (PAID LINK): https://amzn.to/3A4rH3g
🛒 on Ebay (PAID LINK): https://ebay.us/Q7RKWe
Alien Invasion (expansion)
🛒 direct from publisher, Eagle-Gryphon Games: https://www.eaglegames.net/On-Mars-Alien-Invasion-p/102345.htm
🛒 on Amazon (PAID LINK): https://amzn.to/3Oqo4Jk
🛒 on Ebay (PAID LINK): https://ebay.us/6QZ52P
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VIDEO CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction and Overview of Game
9:37 Objectives and Strategy Planning
14:56 On Mars: Alien Invasion Gameplay Begins
1:06:15 Post-Mortem and Game Review
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Intro Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
#wrathofminis #onmars #vitallacerda #boardgames
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DISCLAIMERS
The content of this video and our opinions were not reviewed or paid for by any outside persons.
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Good gameplay. These co-op missions and the solo chapter are usually down to the wire in my experience.
Just a few rules you missed:
At 28:00 the placement of that mine is not allowed as you don't own the tech needed to create the complex.
At 50:40 you're building a water extractor in an illegal place. A building needs to be built adjacent to another building of the same type, or exactly 2 spaces away from a building of the same type.
Same situation at 51:30 where you're building a generator in an illegal spot.
At 57:25 you forgot to collect medicine for the blueprint you took.
And in several instances you needlessly moved a worker to the working area when building. You only need to pay the cost (by moving a worker from the living quarters to the working area, or by paying a crystal) for every other player colour already present there when taking the action.
Good game overall.
It was cool to see the coop mode in action … And in a reasonable time too! I've yet to break out my own copy, hope to get a chance soon.
Have you given the other 3 modules a chance?
At the 1:00 mark I believe you could have used your private spaceship to come back to the surface to allow you to upgrade instead of getting materials you didn’t really need.