FROM A CURSED ISLAND TO THE RED PLANET
Robinson Crusoe designer Ignacy Trzewiczek is taking his beloved tale of exploration and endurance out of this world and onto a new one with First Martians. He explains why the game’s companion app is crucial to its experience and considers why Mars is all the rage
Words by Matt Jarvis
■ First Martians is a spiritual successor to Trzewiczek’s Robinson Crusoe and is driven by a similar game engine.
“It all began with fans,” Ignacy Trzewiczek recounts when asked about the origins of First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet.
Hotly anticipated for years, the grand game of survival on Mars is a spiritual successor to the designer’s celebrated 2012 adventure title Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, which saw players work together to build shelters, hunt food and resist dangerous weather after becoming castaways.
First Martians recasts players from Robinson Crusoe’s stranded crew of cooks, carpenters and soldiers to become scientists, explorers and engineers landing on Mars as humanity prepares to settle the inhospitable rock.
“It is a co-op game,” its creator explains.
“There are a couple of managing phases at the beginning, like the event phase when you check new events for the round, the production phase where oxygen, energy and food are produced, or the morale phase when you check the psychological condition of the team.