Surviving Mars - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

At first, Surviving Mars will be familiar to any gamer with experience of base building, resource gathering and exploring uncharted territory. But once Mars starts to feel like home, things get very different.

Surviving Mars has an exciting variety of pre-plotted 'Mysteries' that kick off wholly new scenarios for established colonies to navigate, from contact with strange 2001-esque structures to episodes of political unrest or threats from diseases.

Meanwhile, discovering esoteric technology might enable you to control the minds of your colonists or prevent them growing old and infirm.

With such a combination of innovative challenges and proven structure, Surviving Mars has an allure worthy of the red planet. 

Summary: A fantastically bold SimCity-style sci-fi adventure

Score: 8/10