Print and Play Spotlight – Below Mars

What is Below Mars:

Below Mars is a PNP that is currently on sale for US$4.99 on Randomskill Games PNP marketplace.

Components:

• 1 player board

• 100 double sided game tiles

• 12 Martian tool tiles

Additional Component Required:

• 6 tracking cubes/markers

How to play:

In Below Mars, you are a Mars explorer trapped underground, trying to dig your way back to the surface. You dig by removing the tiles from the 3×3 grid in the center of your player board. Remove all the tiles from the board to win.

Each turn, you will decide if you should: remove tiles, rearrange tiles to make larger groups, extract Element tiles, or recharge your tools with extracted Elements. Removing a tile reveals the tile underneath.

As you reveal tiles, you may encounter things that harm or help you. You may face horrors or break a tool. Or you may discover rare alien artifacts that let you gain powerful Martian Tools.

Why should you play Below Mars:

The decision making in this game is very meaningful. You will have to strike a fine balance between managing the different energy levels on different tools.  Just a side note that you will lose the game if the energy level on any of your tool is below zero or you run out of moves or energy.  You also get to decide, at the beginning of the game, the allocation of energy on each tool which will, in turn, vary the way you play your game.  This variable setup will definitely add to the replay-ability of the game as the setup for each game is different. 

Speaking of replay value, there are 100 game tiles of which only 45 tiles are required in the easy mode.  That should be enough permutations to last 100 games easy. You can also toggle between difficulty levels by varying the number of game tiles to clear in the game.

The fabulous artwork makes this game such a pleasant experience to build and play.  If you like constructing your own printable board games, this takes about 1-2 hours to print and cut the tiles depending on how fast your (home) printer prints.

Amidst the social distancing in the global coronavirus pandemic, what can be better than being able to play a game by yourself after putting your kids to sleep? At the cost of a cup of Starbucks coffee, unlock the path to your escape from Below Mars now!

Note:

For those constructing a game board for the first time using a blank game board, here is a useful video of how to do it: