Why is it that licensed games on mobile platforms are generally more successful than their PC or console counterparts? There is something about the eclecticism of mobile gaming that lends itself to movie–or TV–based titles. Rather than manufacturing yet another GTA or Zelda clone, many game developers are beginning to take advantage of the low overhead and creative freedom offered by the mobile app market to craft compelling, evocative adventures that just aren’t commercially viable or technically feasible on other platforms. The Martian: Bring Him Home, based on the blockbuster sci-fi film directed by Ridley Scott, is a successful experiment in using the unique capabilities of the mobile platform to reinvigorate a wildly unexpected genre: a minimalist text-based game.
On first look, many people wouldn’t realize this is a game at all. Its interface is strikingly reminiscent of many commercial security, business, and productivity widgets currently flooding app stores. Rather than placing you directly in Matt Damon’s spacesuit, you’re a grunt at NASA’s Mission Control, navigating pop-up windows and text messages in the pursuit of keeping the lone astronaut alive against the unrelenting Martian elements. Your time with the game will be spent reading Captain Mark Watney’s tweets, corresponding with world-renowned scientists, and only occasionally solving a puzzle or answering a multiple choice question. For a story that takes place in the 2030s, the interface looks and feels strangely reminiscent of Hotmail circa 1999. But the developers are able to use these simple ingredients to cook up a fun, challenging, and (gulp!) educational experience, not to mention a clever bit of world-building for fans of the film.
Acting as Watney’s support is an isolating experience. His main resource is information, and you’ll be spending your time with the game hopping between the app itself and your search engine of choice, scanning the internet for tidbits about the red planet that mean the difference between life and death for your stranded spaceman. You also get frequent updates from specialists that act as mission support: Psychologists, nutritionists, rocket scientists, and philosophers all chime in from time to time with useful factoids about Watney’s predicament. Often, you’ll be synthesizing elements of these messages and your web research into your puzzle-solving research, giving the game a metafictional twist that keeps things engaging while maintaining the high stakes of The Martian’s fictional universe.
One could argue that The Martian: Bring Him Home is a failed alternate reality game: a dump for all the excess research done by the writer and filmmakers that didn’t make it into the movie. Puzzles don’t require much more than a quick Wikipedia visit, and many of them deal with subjects so remote or so inconsequential as to practically render them gibberish, a far cry from the flashy-yet-grounded futurism the novel and film so powerfully conveyed. The game is also extremely linear, and occasionally falls prey to hacky dialogue and tediousness—dispatches from Watney and co. are often few and far between, which, while staying true to the story’s commitment to realism, makes your progress feel unnecessarily sluggish.
Yet The Martian: Bring Him Home transcends its shortcomings and limitations by maintaining an emotionally and intellectually stimulating atmosphere. No less refreshing is the game’s willingness to take chances in mechanics and design. For those compelled by Mark Watney’s odyssey, it’s a must play. Even for the sci-fi averse, The Martian packs plenty of punch. This is one small step for licensed games, one giant leap for text-based adventures.
Is it Hardcore?
Yes.
The Martian: Bring Him Home sets self-imposed limitations on gameplay and runs with them, delivering a surprisingly dramatic and engaging text-based experience by staying true to the film’s tonal center and thematic concerns.