Peril, dice, and cannibalism in Tharsis, a game about our first mission to Mars

Tharsis Screen

The fate of the first manned mission to Mars was sealed with a six-sided die. Tharsis is one of the most interesting games at PAX, an intersection of boardgames, FTL-style presentation, a mostly-realistic representation of space travel, and roguelike-like permadeath. And cannibalism, or at least the possibility of it.

Responsible for a small crew, you have to direct astronauts to complete repairs and tasks across different modules of the spacecraft (each of which provide different bonuses), all while keeping them alive, fed, and sane. Tharsis plays out like a digital board game, with dice spent each round to fix stuff on the ship or complete research, and how you manage the risk of spending those dice (or re-rolling them to get a better result) determines the fate of your tiny astronauts, and which of Tharsis' different endings you'll arrive at.

You can find all of our coverage from PAX Prime 2015 right here.

Evan Lahti
Strategic Director

Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are CS:GO, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Arma 2. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging. Evan also leads production of the PC Gaming Show, the annual E3 showcase event dedicated to PC gaming.

Latest in RPG
kingdom come: deliverance 2 henry looks confused
'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts
The Huntress holding a bloody spear.
The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes
Key art for the Ranger class in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good'
Wuk Lamat, a character in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, stares in an unimpressed manner.
'I can't really say what they were thinking' says whistleblowing modder, as Final Fantasy 14's attempt to thwart stalkers falls terribly short of the mark
Raidou Kuzonoha and pals, looking like they've about to drop the most fire single of the 1930s
Raidou Remastered is finally bringing the historical Shin Megami Tensei supernatural sleuth spinoff to PC this June
Greedfall 2
Greedfall 2 aims to turn around a disastrous early access launch with a combat overhaul and a big new boat
Latest in Features
Dancing Green in Final Fantasy 14.
Final Fantasy 14's latest raids have me fully convinced that Square Enix can still cook, even as job design lags behind
Razer Blade 16 (2025) gaming laptop
Nvidia RTX 5090 mobile tested: The needle hasn't moved on performance but this is the first time I'd consider ditching my desktop for a gaming laptop
Phantom Blade Zero
Chinese action game Phantom Blade Zero didn't click for me until I realized its deep commitment to wuxia film authenticity meant I had to relearn how swords work
kingdom come deliverance 2 thunderstone quest
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's masterful quest design can be summed up by one wonderfully weird search for a magic stone
Blue Protocol players dancing minutes before the game closes forever
What will we do at the end of the world? If MMOs are any indication: mostly what we already do, plus a lot of dancing
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed