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Project Overview
Lost on Mars is a unique alternative controller game that aims to immerse players in a retro sci-fi mystery. They must use a complicated physical controller, documents, and the digital game to unravel the mystery of a missing Mars mission. Explore, take photographs, scan objects, and uncover the story of the lost Atlas III mission.
Description
It’s the year 1985 and the National Space Exploration Agency (NSEA)
has successfully landed three human missions on Mars with the goal of
creating long-term permanent bases. The Atlas III Mission landed in
the summer of 1984 and while researching their surrounding area,
found metallic bushes clustered together in random spots inside their
mission area. Immediately, they began investigating.
While collecting samples for further analysis, one of the crew
member’s suits was infested by some kind of dust that eventually
made it impossible for them to move. In the interest of safety, they
were left behind as the crew returned to their main base. As the
mission went on, this metallic dust began to appear inside the main
habitat and caused electrical disruptions. In a desperate attempt to
cleanse the main building, they raised the internal temperature
hoping to kill whatever the dust was.
This was the last time the NSEA heard from the Atlas III mission
and now the Soter Exploration Rover has landed in the mission area.
It’s the player goal to piece together what happened using the
information left behind by the Atlas mission and report back to HQ.
While playing, players have access to a one-of-a-kind briefcase
built specifically for this project. It has buttons for all the
functionality of the rover, displays for rover information, and even
a printer that gives you information about various objects around the
world. In addition to this briefcase, the player also has physical
documents; these include a topographical map of the mission area, a
technical document that explains how the rover functions, and mission
objectives. Players need to use all of these elements in combination
in order to figure out the disappearance of Atlas III.
While designing this game, it was my goal to push back against
the removal of physicality in almost all of our daily interactions.
With the rise of digital technologies, the experience of pressing a
button or flicking a switch is disappearing in favor of touch screens
and flash sci-fi style displays. I find this to be a shame because
often simply the experience of interacting with physical objects can
be fun; through the disappearance of these interactions, it is my
opinion that we are slowly making our daily live less enjoyable and
more utilitarian. I want to bring some of that back in a deep,
alternative controller that asks for the player’s attention to
properly play. The game is not easy to pick up, but as the player
learns the sequences of actions needed to achieve different goals in
game, they’re able to master the controller and feel as if they are
really controlling this rover on a different planet.
Awards
Explorer Award- A MAZE Berlin 2023
The Leftfield Collection - EGX London 2023
Press Coverage
AMAZE Explorer Award for CGL Student Trey Ramm