Tharsis

The Good
Do you like dice? Are you lamenting the lack of more dice in your life? How about dice dressed in spacesuits? Worry not, Tharsis is here.

All jokes aside, this game can be a bit of conundrum to review. It is very difficult to make a clear distinction between what one likes and doesn't like about it without using qualifiers all around. However, once you decide to judge it simply on its own merits and not based on how much you personally enjoy its genre "problems" (how much RNG is good in your strategy?), things clear up a bit.

And my first question when the game was suggested to me was exactly that: Does any strategy survive the dice-apocalypse? The answer after playing it is, well, kinda. There is strategy necessary to win, and you do need to have a solid grasp of it in order to make appropriate risk-reward decisions, but at the end of the day statistics aren't fun for most of us and luck is luck. While the developers do give you a number of different ways to manage the dice you roll, bad dice will still break you. So if you don't like games with a very heavy luck component, Tharsis isn't for you. But if you embrace the luck component and decide to roll with the punches, the strategy elements are allowed to (occasionally) shine through and the end experience can be a net positive one.

What I'm trying to convey with all these qualifiers is that, yes, the main game loop can be quite entertaining. As far as dice-based digital board games go, this one is well thought out and well executed. There is also replayability here. Putting the main story (with its 3 difficulty settings) aside, the game features multiple scenarios, a.k.a. shorter campaigns with specific goals or restrictions that require considerably different strategic planning. There is also a score system and a bunch of unlockables to keep you coming back, all of which aren't a bad idea, because Tharsis can get a bit repetitive and is therefore best played in short bursts.

Also on the mediocre/positive side, the graphics, music, voice over and sound design are competently done and nicely polished. And while the music is a bit forgettable, I would count the art direction as one of the better elements of the game. The static backdrops convey atmosphere well and there is some love evident in the few animations.

The Bad
I will not lament the RNG problem again, except to reiterate that if one doesn't like dice and everything that dice mean, this game will be a very annoying experience. There really is only that much player agency possible when everything can break down with one bad roll. But we covered all that.

What did disappoint me was that the main game at first appears to feature something of a story, a mystery to be untangled, and it ends up being just a shallow bit of window-dressing. Now don't get me wrong, a complete lack of story would be fine for a board game. Unfortunately the game created some false expectations for me in the way it narrated its main campaign, leading me to believe there might be more of it and to expect some kind of a resolution at the end. But no, the ending was a completely anti-climactic, utterly open-ended non resolution to the mystery, which was a let down, especially considering how many reruns it takes to achieve it.

The theme in general is better handled and there is at least a decent attempt to create atmosphere and tension, to transport you to a lonely spaceship in the middle of nowhere where you can experience the constant war of attrition against failing systems and failing health. I thought it was a valiant effort but, again, it ultimately fails because... these are still dice. And I don't know about you, but personally when I think about space-faring, I like to delude myself that humanity relies a bit more on skill than on luck. I'm naive like that.

Lastly, let me mention that the tutorial of the game leaves a lot to be desired. I'm aware that the developers attempted to fix the initially provided one (and I don't even wonna know how bad THAT was), but it still isn't good at explaining some basic concepts of the game's mechanics. But let's not judge them too harshly on that, they are simply on par with pretty much every single other game ever developed. (And no, 3 exceptions over gaming's entire history don't disprove a rule).

The Bottom Line
My world wasn't set on fire by Tharsis, but I enjoyed myself. If you like board games and can deal with the heavy luck component, this is a well made little game that I can recommend. Just release all expectation of control over its outcome, don't obsess about winning every run and let the dice take you where they may. There is some fun to be had along the way.