First Impression
First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet
The Short Story: It’s Okay
First Martian was built 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 immersion 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.
Designers: Ignacy Tzewiczek
Publisher: Portal Games
Year: 2017
MSRP: $23.99
Players: 1–4
Play Time: 60–90 Min
Ages: 10+
Rules Available Online: Yes
After weeks of my husband asking to play First Martian, I finally caved. I took the game carefully off of our beautiful Kallax shelf and placed it on our kitchen table with a note that read, “Let’s try this tonight.” I thought I was prepared. I was wrong. I had watched a Shut Up & Sit down video about First Martian prior to even cracking it open. So I knew it was going to be rather difficult. I mean, it did score a 4.13 out of 5 for difficulty on Board Game Geek. After I got home from work, I started the “How to Play” video created by Watch it Played. After about 20 minutes I found myself muttering the following:
“What did I get myself into?”
“Wait, what?!”
“How did he get that from the game play instructions?”
“I am so lost.”
I sat down with the husband and we started setting up the game according to the directions and app for the tutorial scenario game. I had pulled the game play instructions up on my phone so husband and I could both flip through to answer any questions that popped up during setup and game play. We flipped through the rule book, scenario sheet, and app like a bunch of crazy people wondering what we missed and where we missed it. It turns out, we missed a few steps such as placing some spare parts in the cargo bay.
My Thoughts:
While we I enjoy the artwork and the idea of the game, I’m unsure if I actually enjoy the game and/or game play. However, I have decided not to give up on it just yet, as Husband and I were playing a step incorrectly. I am going to make this a two part review. The second part will have my final thoughts on the game. First Martian could benefit from extra game storage, or an optional Broken Token. Luckily, we had left over storage bags from another game. I am going to give it another go to give First Martians a fair review. But, for now….
