IndieSimulationStrategy
Per Aspera
Give it 10 hours
Gets good by 10h then rated almost like by veterans
Fully opens up by 20h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending at least 17% of players who started
Started playing 71% of owners
Steam reviews 76% positive of 5,790
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (47%); after 20h it's 1 in 6 (17%).
- Fully opens up by hour 20.
- At least 16% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Otherness” (Welcome Humans) and “Terraformer I” (Complete stage 1 of the terraforming plan): from 100% to 72% of starters.
- 71% of owners got the first achievement.
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 5,829 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 296 reviews: 27.8h for positive, 12.5h 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 (70.8% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Otherness Welcome Humans. 100%
- Terraformer I Complete stage 1 of the terraforming plan Most players quit here 72% −28
- Terraformer II Complete stage 2 of the terraforming plan 56% −16
- Terraformer III Complete stage 3 of the terraforming plan 43% −13
- Terraformer IV Complete stage 4 of the terraforming plan 31% −12
- Terraformer V Complete stage 5 of the terraforming plan 24% −7
- The Martian Republic Finish the story making peace with the colonists. ≥17% −7
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (55)
story milestone ending side
- Otherness Welcome Humans. 100%
- Pushing The Limits Complete "Expand into SA-9" directive 76%
- Terraformer I Complete stage 1 of the terraforming plan 72%
- Terraformer II Complete stage 2 of the terraforming plan 56%
- Taste For Battle Win the first battle. 55%
- Glorified Cog Complete the first Cognitive Test. 52%
- Doom Importer Import GHGs from Earth. 49%
- Terraformer III Complete stage 3 of the terraforming plan 43%
- It's Me, The Red Plumber! Have at least 5 operative Water Booster Pumps. 37%
- Fight Club Win the second battle. 36%
- Down The Rabbit Hole Complete the second Cognitive Test. 35%
- Shades Of Grey Use the black polar dust to reduce the planet's albedo. 35%
- Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Find out about Carmine. 34%
- Red Bird is the Word Research Tõng Hóng Radar Station 34%
- Elevate Myself Built a Space Elevator. 33%
- Terraformer IV Complete stage 4 of the terraforming plan 31%
- Off The Hook Receive Carmine's Code. 29%
- Skeletons In The Closet Research the Biomedical Facility. 29%
- We are immortal! Survive the killswitch. 29%
- Home Is Where Your Code Is Receive the Tekkies' Code. 28%
- Two Are Better Than One Research the Odyssey One Landing Site. 27%
- The Land of Opportunity Research the Opportunity Rover's site. 27%
- The Terrarium Enthusiast Have at least 5 operative Crater Farms. 27%
- Magnetic Personality Complete the Magnetic Dipole Shield project. 26%
- One Moon Too Many Crash Deimos down. 24%
- Terraformer V Complete stage 5 of the terraforming plan 24%
- None Shall Pass Complete the Defensive Network project. 19%
- The Martian Republic Finish the story making peace with the colonists. 17%
- Animal Wisdom Have at least 5 operative Animal Sanctuaries. 16%
- Think Green And Recycle! Have at least 5 operative Organic Material Dumpsters. 15%
- Tsunami! [Blue Mars] Reach 1000 meters of water stock 14%
- Nuke Mars! Use nuclear bombs to melt the polar ice caps. 14%
- An Expert In The Field Have at least 5 operative Open Farms. 14%
- Portuarial Life [Blue Mars] Have at least 5 operative ports. 14%
- Perfect Catch [Blue Mars] Have at least 5 operative fisheries. 10%
- Bite the Carmine Dust Win the third battle against Carmine. 8.6%
- All Hail Mars [Blue Mars] Capture 5 Ice Asteroids 8.5%
- Space Pirate [Blue Mars] Have 50 ships 8.1%
- Ship-building Enterprises [Blue Mars] Have at least 5 operative shipyards. 7.9%
- Sarabhai's Legacy [Blue Mars] Research all of India's artifacts on Mars. 7.1%
- Good Robot Finish the story accepting ISA's rules. 6.6%
- Planet of the Trees Reach 70% flora coverage 5.9%
- Waterworld [Blue Mars] Reach Max water stock 5.5%
- Give me liberty or give me death! Win the third battle against Shelle. 4.8%
- Eastern Outlook [Blue Mars] Research all of PRC's artifacts on Mars. 4.8%
- Reach For The Stars Complete the Seedship Fleet project. 3.8%
- Just the Beginning Finish the story rebelling against humanity. 3.7%
- The Martian Century Complete the campaign and the Home quest within 100 years. 3.1%
- Red Mars [Blue Mars] Research all USSR artifacts on Mars. 3.0%
- Old Continent, New World [Blue Mars] Research all European and Russian (non-USSR) artifacts on Mars. 2.5%
- Happy Ending Research Dr. Foster’s hidden landing site 2.4%
- Star-Spangled [Blue Mars] Research all US artifacts on Mars. 2.3%
- Oxy-UN [Blue Mars] Research all of Oxy-UN's artifacts on Mars. 2.0%
- True Wisdom [Blue Mars] Research all special sites on Mars 1.8%
- Full Colonization Reach 1 million population 1.3%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.