$19.99Mars Horizon Run the agency, reach Mars
Run your own space agency from the first satellites to a crewed Mars landing. You build the base, design rockets, research tech, and guide turn-based missions, racing or befriending rival agencies along the way. Accessible, steady planning with real history behind it.
Is Mars Horizon worth it?
Mars Horizon is worth it if…
- you like slow, careful planning over fast action
- you enjoy tycoon games about budgets, buildings, and upgrades
- you like real space history and learning as you play
- you want a replayable campaign you can run differently each time
Screenshots
Running the agency month by month
You pick one of five agencies, or make your own, then grow it from a small base into a Mars program. That means adding launch pads, research labs, and astronaut training facilities, unlocking the tech tree, and deciding what flies next.
Money, research, and public support pull in different directions. You hire contractors for their bonuses, commission vehicles, and choose whether to rush a milestone for prestige or test longer for safety. Rival agencies chase the same firsts, so timing matters. It is budgeting and priorities rather than twitch reflexes, with a dry sense of humor about how often space punishes optimism.
Bolting rockets together
Rockets come from historically inspired parts, with hundreds of combinations of payloads, upper stages, and boosters. You research what you need, then assemble a vehicle suited to the mission and give it a name worth painting on the side.
There is no manual flying. Launching is the start of the work, not the end of it. You send up satellites and crewed spacecraft across the Solar System, recreate missions like Perseverance, Ingenuity, Zhurong, and Rosetta, and build stations on the road to Mars. Sandbox mode drops the competition and lets you build freely.
Calling the shots in mission control
Missions play out as turn-based puzzles where you spend limited power, communications, and data to answer setbacks. You fix a faulty antenna now or hold power back in case the oxygen acts up, and extra months of planning can make the trip kinder.
The choices carry the alternate history: any agency can reach the Moon first if it plans well. Missions get repetitive late on, and auto-resolve is there when you want to skip the puzzle and keep the campaign moving. Made with input from the European Space Agency, the game keeps the science grounded and adds facts to read between flights.
Good to know?
Do you compete against other agencies?
Yes. Other agencies race you to milestones like the first Moon landing. You can compete for prestige or enter diplomatic partnerships and share the rewards, including starting friendly with a historical rival if you set the game up that way.
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is single-player only. Rivals are run by the AI, and every campaign is you against their schedules and your own budget.
How hard is the management?
Approachable rather than punishing. You watch funds, pick research paths, train crew, and schedule launches, but the systems stay readable. It suits tycoon fans who want meaningful trade-offs without a steep simulation curve.
What happens if a mission goes wrong?
Setbacks cost resources and can lower the mission result, so a poorly prepared flight may fail. Careful vehicle choice, crew training, and longer planning reduce the risk, and auto-resolve can handle missions you would rather not play by hand.
