Simulation
Take On Mars
The first 3 hours are a test
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 15h rated like by long-time players
Started playing 64% of owners
Steam reviews 55% positive of 2,038
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours most reviews are negative (69%); after 15h it's 1 in 3 (37%).
- Fully opens up by hour 15.
- The opening is criticised more than in 95% of games we track.
- Only 64% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 2,047 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 293 reviews: 19.9h for positive, 10.7h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (63.8% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
Story milestones aren't labeled yet; all achievements are listed below.
All achievements (40)
- It's All About The Science Take your first analysis on the Martian surface 100%
- Postcard From Mars Snap your first picture of the Martian terrain 83%
- Martian Magellan Send a vehicle to Victoria Crater 77%
- Made On Earth Successfully make your first landing on Mars 69%
- Keys To The Rover Explore Mars for a total of at least 3 hours 60%
- Aussie Accolade Send a vehicle to Gale Crater 59%
- Careless Break off at least 1 instrument or camera while controlling a vehicle 53%
- A Dutchman's Tribute Send a vehicle to Kaiser Crater 52%
- Rover Engineer Construct your own vehicle from scratch in the Rover Lab 50%
- Roving With Technology Research the Small Rover 38%
- Ten Million For The Agency Earn a total of $10,000K 28%
- Martian Sprint Drive a total of 1km (or 0.62mi) with a Rover 26%
- Mars And Beyond Research the Zero-G Probe 23%
- Destructive Break off at least 5 instruments or cameras while controlling a vehicle 20%
- Half-Frame Frank Use an exploit to slow the frame rate down to 0.5fps for at least 5 seconds 19%
- Because Size Matters Research the Large Lander 18%
- Mars Explorer Complete a total of 100 Explore targets 14%
- Practise Makes Perfect Explore Mars for a total of at least 33 hours 13%
- Double The Wheels Research the Medium Rover 13%
- Catastrophic Failure Break off at least 10 instruments or cameras while controlling a vehicle 11%
- Mars Paparazzi Complete a total of 100 Photo targets 9.4%
- Mars Scientist Complete a total of 100 Analyze targets 8.2%
- 6-Wheeled Behemoth Research the Large Rover 8.2%
- One Hundred Million And Counting Earn a total of $100,000K 7.5%
- Secrets Of The Known World Find the secret room at Mission Control 7.2%
- Martian Half-Marathon Drive a total of 21km (or 13mi) with a Rover 5.2%
- 15 Seconds Of Fame Locate the old Russian Mars 3 lander 3.4%
- Martian Marathon Drive a total of 42km (or 26mi) with a Rover 3.3%
- Lost And Found Locate the lost Beagle 2 lander 3.0%
- Billion Dollar Grant Earn a total of $1,000,000K 2.8%
- Power Plant Generate a total of one Gigawatt of power 2.5%
- Dodgy Dave Use an exploit to earn a total of $1,000,000K in a single target 2.4%
- Mars Conqueror Complete all Major missions in the Space Program 2.0%
- Renegade Rover Escape the Mars Yard 2.0%
- Hardened Veteran Explore Mars for a total of at least 333 hours 2.0%
- Night Owl Drive 5km (or 3.1mi) at night in one go without using Night Vision 1.9%
- Shifty Shaun Use an exploit to research all available technologies at once 1.9%
- Life As We Know It Find evidence of life on Mars 1.9%
- Curiosity Kills The Cat Perform an analysis on the ancient Monolith 1.9%
- Ancient Relic Locate the ancient Monolith 1.9%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.