Per Aspera Price History & Deals Across Stores

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Simplified Chinese	Yes	Yes	—
English	Yes	Yes	Yes
French	Yes	Yes	—

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
German	Yes	Yes	—
Spanish	Yes	Yes	—
Japanese	Yes	Yes	—
Portuguese-Brazil	Yes	Yes	—
Russian	Yes	Yes	—

RecommendedSteam player

10/08/2022

Went in expecting just another mediocre colonization sim with some very fancy graphics. Instead got a pretty great game with some of the best terraforming mechanics I've seen, a pretty interesting and engaging story with multiple endings (props to the great voice actors too!), and a stellar soundtrack (it's only got like 20 songs but I can't help bobbing my head along to them even after 36 hours. If the game seems interesting to you I definitely recommend you buy it, just please also get the Blue mars DLC. Without it, resources that are flooded during terraforming become permanently inaccessible. The DLC basically adds nothing new, it just makes it so some buildings (such as mines) can be built on water too. Should this have been part of the base game? Obviously Is it scummy of them to sell vital functionality as a DLC? Very Is the game still worth buying? AbsolutelyShow moreShow less

37 hours at review260 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/04/2020

Update about a year after initial release: The development team released several updates since the original release. The features in the free Green Mars DLC in particular are very welcome and are very much a step in the right direction. The terraforming and advanced agriculture part of the game is well thought out and breathes some much needed variety into the game, provided you can power through the early game to get there. Which brings me back to the main problem with the game: the core base building portion still remains repetitive and fairly uninspiring. The number of basic and manufactured resource is rather small, with very limited interplay between the different production chains. Progressing through the tech tree makes your factories work faster, but that is the limit of advances you can gain from industrial technology. Colonist interaction is similar - colonists are still just numbers, only useful for turning food and water into "research points". Colonists have no other requirements - they seemingly have no needs other than food and drink, and are apparently just as happy living under a dome in the middle of a desolate landscape as they would be living on the shores of a Martian lake surrounded by lush forest. Overall, I would like to upgrade my original review to a "neutral", primarily in light of the developers' recent efforts to improve the game and in anticipation of future content releases. Unfortunately, Steam does not give me that option and in my opinion this game does not yet warrant a positive recommendation. Original review follows: I tried to like it, but in the end, I just wasn't having fun. This game doesn't have the deep tech tree that makes 4X progression fun. It doesn't have the building interactions that make city-builders fun. It doesn't have the feature set that makes logistics games fun. It doesn't have the tradeoffs that make economic simulators fun. The game goes into the experience of being an AI, but if you want to know what it's like to be an AI, there's plenty of other Sci-Fi out there that deals with the topic without all of the extra baggage. In terms of the actual building, it mostly comes down to waiting. There isn't really a way to speed up resource collection (you can scan to find more resource patches, but that by itself is a long process that involves only waiting). The tech tree doesn't give you any cool new tech, instead opting for tech that merely gives your buildings +X production, but doesn't really change the overall approach. If you decide to make an outpost base, you'll find yourself repeating the same build over and over, since the resource progression locks you into a fairly rigid order that will have you repeating the same build order every time.Show moreShow less

7.1 hours at review502 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

12/03/2020

It seems simple on the surface, but this might be the most intriguing city/colony builder I've played in a while. It really plays on the AI elements, both in story and gameplay. Your self-awareness as an artificial intelligence is a constant theme as you make observations of the red planet. Your workers are actually smart, too. Low on power? Your workers will automatically prioritize building that solar array. Need a building finished asap? You won't need to crush down or turn off another construction project, your workers will pull resources away from that building to put in the designated priority. Some very welcome features, to be sure, and adds a lot of satisfaction to the game play. Certainly a gem, even among the popular genre of Martian colony builders. Fans of the genre should fall in love, easily.Show moreShow less

2.5 hours at review195 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/03/2020

TL;DR: it's very pretty, fairly relaxed, isn't very riveting, and has early-game issues. I hope patch 1 is good. I'm kind of picky about user experience and the base building part of the game was kind of bumpy for me. In the first few hours of gameplay I wasn't really thinking, "Wow this is a fun game!" though that's kind of how factorio/other logistics games are. I don't really play these games for the story so I don't really have a review for that. I really want to like this game but it's feeling like a chore just to keep expanding without being able to make my setups more efficient in ways other than research, which I really want to use to unlock terraforming instead of making my workers faster. Early game I guess is just grinding out structures and research but it's not really a challenge and more of a waiting game. Kind of reminds me of early days of Astroneer, but less walking and exploring and more just waiting. After the first few hours, I'm still just grinding out structures and research... From my gameplay, the "terraforming" part of the game is just researching terraforming tech that gets progressively more interesting and making mars habitable for people? On normal difficulty I used up the resource deposits fairly quickly and ended up removing redundant miners, which ended up requiring me to replace those holes in my network with random structures. Feelings as I've played (at the time I was playing): 30 minutes in and I was quite frustrated with the basebuilding (particularly the bootstrap paradox) 1 hour in and it was getting better but I was disappointed in the lack of solving any logistics problems. I suspected that once the base gets massively bigger it would be important. 2 hours in and progression is kind of slow, took me a while to realize that there are other tabs in the research panel. It took me longer than necessary to figure out that in order to unlock other sectors, you have to unlock two researches in the space tab, create another space port, and then you can use the dropdown from orbit. 3 hours in I was tired of playing so I took a break. For reference, the first time I played factorio, I played for 15 hours straight. Oxygen not included maybe 6 hours. I still hadn't gotten to meaningful terraforming other than greenhouse gasses because research for it requires either a lot of waiting or a lot of researchers (which requires a lot of waiting or exploring, which requires research and waiting). Finally got hyperloops around 4 hours in. Woo! No idea how to use them! Pros: + Art is cool, logistics look really nice + Sounds are so satistfying + I love the structure models and how everything sits perfectly with the terrain + Once you get the ball rolling and get past the awkward, frustrating starting UX it's okay + UI looks really nice individually but has some weird usability + Probably one of the cleanest, sexiest UIs I've seen in a game + Seeing resource metrics makes me happy + Overlays are very useful + Beginning of game haven't been hit by any natural disasters or really been stressed about failing Cons (Gameplay): - Iron is a prerequisite for steel factory and steel is a prerequisite for an iron mine so if you accidentally build something you weren't supposed to build in the beginning (like more worker hubs, maybe some factories), you can't make any progress. I wasted 2 [in game] years of waiting before realizing this. - As a result, you HAVE to build in a specific order or you will be stuck and have to scrap all the factories you tried to build. Either the unlock tree needs to be ordered specifically, the tutorial needs to be more clear, or there needs to be some UX telling me that I have limited steel to begin with and I can't be wasting it on the things it's shoving in my face and telling me to build. - Progression feels really slow - Instead of waiting for the satellite and second landing site to build, I built a long highway of maintenence facilities and solar farms just so I could place a single research tower down. - I am not a fan of having to completely restart basebuilding at every landing site (and having to manually place cheaper tier 1 miners). I think custom made landing sites should have more resources or it should be easier to make highways/train equivalent. - Making a new base is a pain in the ass. Am I missing something or do you have to build up an entire base up to colony/spaceport just so you can bring colonists in to do research? Do I have to do this for every sector? - Gameplay feels repetitive - There is a bug that removes all workers from your base. And it sucks. A lot. Cons (User Experience, not really important for some people, mostly things that gave me minor headaches/inconveniences) - Wish I could rebind the mouse controls (right click to drag, middle click to rotate) - Some buttons are missing tooltips (priority looks like an upgrade on the normal hover but on the focus view it has a tooltip and is in a different place than expected) - Priority constructions do not remove priority once they finish construction - Cannot unfocus structures on the right by left clicking on the terrain, you have to right click. - Cannot see pending materials at hover, you have to click on the structure, then hover over the materials - No hotkeys to scrap, build, upgrade, or open research. E/X/Q aren't even mentioned as hotkeys. - No "mark all unread entries as read" in knowledge base - Clicking on directives doesn't really give you tips for the task if you're stuck. - No way to search knowledge base - Shift click building doesn't always place the structure, even if the structure under your cursor appears to be white? Have to re-navigate through the menu to get the structure to place it again. - I wish there was a way to view all towers of the same type so I could bulk upgrade or at least know if I already have something down at a glance. - When visiting a new landing site, if you accidentally start building tier 2 miners (which are selected default after the upgrade, thankfully), you may accidentally place tier 2 miners instead of tier 1. You start with 5 alluminum, you need 6 alluminum per tier 2 miner. I keep hitting this over and over every single time I start a new base. This is infuriating. - There should probably be a shortcut/tooltip/hover menu on the resource deposits for quick creating the miner for that resource - Kinda sad I can't set some "emergency" tier priority and micromanage my workers, though that's not a big deal - Knowledgebase entry for hyperloop is not very helpful, am I supposed to be reading a wiki for this game?Show moreShow less

0.5 hours at review340 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

12/06/2020

Reading the reviews... people seem very confused about what to expect from this game. There seems to be some major frustration from fans of city builders and deep simulation/ management games coming to this expecting something very different from what it is. I don't blame the game for this - the description is fairly accurate. If you come into this with the right expectations (or no expectations at all) you might find, like me - you're pleasantly surprised. Per Aspera does not offer some deeply complex resource manager that requires pin point micro-management with in depth tinkering of assets. What Per Aspera offers is a very chill - very zen colony building game with very simple, very intuitive mechanics. In short - you spread across the martian surface like a slime mold, all while enjoying a pleasant, perfectly voice acted soap opera involving an AI slowly coming to terms with their purpose and identity. There's JUST enough going on that it doesn't over whelm you, but not so little that you get bored and distracted. For me - it was a wonderful balance between management and simply focusing on much bigger picture concerns, like terraforming and figuring out where I can focus my expansion. There are some scenarios that may provide frustration. You may, like myself, find yourself needing to reload a few times during the story campaign because you've reached a dead end with your resources, requiring you to reload an older save in order to fix your mistakes. Problems that are easily solved but present some head scratching as you slowly learn how to maximize efficiency and avoid these pitfalls. When it clicks - it's great. A calm, pleasant and entertaining experience that perfectly balances between engagement and allowing yourself the luxury of considering bigger picture concerns, all framed by a nice and simple little soap opera about an AI growing up.Show moreShow less

21 hours at review176 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/05/2020

You're likely interested in this game due that promise of complexity; it is not here. It will make sense when you realize players are running out of water next to newly-created oceans simply because they can't find ice deposits in which to place their mines, that are ironically, submerged under water. That is Per Aspera; the deeply complex simulation hamstrung by rigidly board-game like rules. Per Aspera is a frustratingly limited title that feels as if internally it was developed by two separate design teams, and both settled on compromises to meet in the middle. It squanders a deep, complex and reactive simulation model to try position itself as a meaningful visual novel; it feels like somewhere in development there was an argument over how complex the building, tools and management options for players should be - and they settled on 'very little'. The lack of management, logistics, resource exploitation and even quality-of-life options means that Per Aspera remains a great proof-of-concept for an interactive simulation, but one that is difficult to recommend. Perhaps after profiling their audience they can pivot, but otherwise it may influence new projects that will pick-up where Per Aspera left off.Show moreShow less

9.4 hours at review298 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

12/01/2023

Enjoyable title. There were a few things off with the game but it was mostly fun. The logistics were a bit bizarre, but I got the hang of it. I think the most immersive breaking parts of the game was mentioning Elon Musk and his invention called the Hyperloop, which you actually need to build to maintain good logistics. Well, first Elon Musk did not invent it and second the Hyperloop is completely impractical and dangerous. Come on devs, do a bit more research before you put these things into your game. The story would sometimes seem rushed or inconsequential. The main dialogue between you and the other characters followed a logical progression and was interesting. However, there were many times when it was out-of-place or just cringe to further some emotional arc. And you, the AI, would become grating at times with constant interrupting self-pep dialogue. The most frustrating part was the inability to filter out which buildings I was looking for. Sifting through hundreds of buildings to find one is awful. This QOL feature is sorely needed. Even though I enjoyed terraforming Mars, it felt lifeless. Surviving Mars did a much better job at making Mars feel alive, though the terraforming physics were more enjoyable and detailed in Per Aspera. In general, it's a good game. I recommend.Show moreShow less

26.9 hours at review130 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

01/10/2021

I've got about 85 hours into the game and I feel that's probably more than enough to make a post. Unfortunately, the game just isn't polished enough for the market. I'd classify the game state as more like in Alpha than in release. So it's got a great bit of potential for the future, but it's just not ready now. Reasons for stating the above: 1) This is a logistics game. A basic of this is the ability to command how, where, and when resources are used. -----1A) Stockpiles: While you can build stockpiles in the game, the stockpiles' override what they should be supplying. I.E. you can build a stockpile next a factory. The stockpile works in requesting goods; however, it will not let anyone else touch those goods until it reaches its minimum. So, effectively, the stockpile works in pulling resources, but doesn't work in pushing them to factories. The "minimum" mechanic needs to change so it just affects the pull, but doesn't prevent nearby factories from drawing the resources. -----1B) The game needs a trigger for automatically turning factories/devices on and off. For example, there needs to be an easy switch in the gui (probably just above the bottom bar) that states a minimum and maximum. As an example, let's say Electronics. I set a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 200. Once my electronics hits 100, the factories all turn on and keep producing until they hit 200. Then, once the factories hit 200, they turn off until the supply goes down to 100. A player spends far too much time switching these on and off using the Buildings UI rather than just having a simple switch. -----1C) Idle Bots need to keep working. In the beginning of the game, you typically have tendrils spiraling out from your base looking for resources. Eventually, those mines will stop working, since they hit maximum output and there are no nearby stockpiles. I've noted that sometimes if the stockpile is too far away, the workers will sit idle, rather than pushing them down the chain towards the nearest stockpile. I'm unsure if this is intentional (encouraging players to put multiple stock piles) or not. But because of the daisy-chain method of moving goods by the workers, no worker should ever sit idle unless they're literally in the middle of no where. Otherwise, they should be on the resource-bucket brigade, working all the time to shove resources towards factories or stockpiles. 2) The maintenance bots need work. -----2A) Currently, each maintenance bot post requires its own resources to produce the bots. This doesn't seem like much, but once you start really expanding, your bots are spending quite a bit of time shoving Electronics and Polymers out to your "tendrils" rather than actually focusing on bringing in new, raw resources. The idea of the maintenance tower is sound, just not its supply. This results in the players often times demolishing portions of their base that no longer have readily available, raw resources nearby, just to cut down on the maintenance and usage of the roads; this further leads to, at end game, creating smaller bases connected only by Hyperloops. -----2B) Another issue is that cascades happen more readily, since the production is so spread out across the network. For example, i've had some runs on easy, normal, and aspera where during the initial meteor shower, it essentially just ruined the run because the cascade slowed down production across the board, eventually leading to failure. I say this with having 84-100+ maintenance bots on standby each time, only to lose because the destruction, but more importantly the cascade, is too great. -----2B) The solution to this is actually already presented in the game, via the Military tree. The military tree has a drone factory, and drone "spires". If the developers were to copy this /exact/ same idea onto the maintenance bots, it would work and be fantastic. Whereby, there's a maintenance drone factory; maintenance drone spires; and so long as they are near each other, the drone factory pushes the maintenance drones out to the network. I.E. the player would have a firm grasp of where his factory it; it would consolidate supply chains; and the underlying mechanic of keeping the towers within range of each other, so they share bots, would remain intact. 3) The resources need a bump up per node. -----3A) I understand that the game is somewhat roguelike in that the resources spawned are randomized across the map. It's interesting and makes playthroughs feel different; however, I've run into too many games where I'm playing the campaign with multiple surveyors, desperately looking for a single resource I'm about to run out of. Then, lo and behold, it turns out that the resource is in a sector i haven't unlocked, and won't unlock, since I'm going to run into a cascade-death before finishing the requisite objective. -----3B) I suggest that most resources have a baseline amount that they have to give, then randomize from there. So, set a floor of 1K resources per node, then randomize up from there. When you get to the more heavily resourced zones (Shaded in by looking at hte surveyors), those should have a floor of say 3K+. These cascade deaths due to no resource nearby just aren't fun. The issue is greatly mitigated in sandbox since you can immediately start opening sectors, but the game's shining feature is the campaign, and this feels like a real drag on it. ============= The above feels more like a "Hey Gamer, you should post this in suggestions LUL". But honestly, after watching just a casual playthrough, i feel that anyone reading the above would grasp the pending issues and see them as game breakers. Moreover, many of the issues above have been mentioned before, but have yet to be fixed. I understand this isn't a AAA company, etc., but it still bears noting that the issues are still pending a couple months after posting. I feel that this is just a case where the company couldn't afford a QA team, sent it out to their audience to do this, and then the issues overshadowed the gem that the game could be. I really love the campaign, the feel, and the idea of the game. I think that if the logistics portion of this game were tidied up, it would really, really be the game it's meant to be. I hope that my criticisms (and suggestions) above are seen as analytical, rather than damning. I'd give the game a couple more patches before purchasing. Thank you for reading my technical manual above. ~TwoMoons.Show moreShow less

87.3 hours at review262 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

06/09/2021

I don't often write reviews, but I hope the developers read the constructive criticism here and can adjust their development. This game has a *lot* of potential, and I am tepidly recommending it. If you like management sims you'll enjoy this game, despite its flaws. Let's list the positives. 1. Great concept and design. 2. Interesting story with good voice work. 3. Balanced tech progression system. 4. Great graphical execution. 5. Decent replayability. Here's the cons. 1. RNG can screw you - either a well-placed meteor wiping out major production centers, or not enough necessary resources spawning in your area. 2. Very little in the way of help or hints on what things do - I've completed special projects and seen no notable difference. 3. Gameplay mechanics need alternatives. Food shouldn't *just* be made from the same 2 resources, give techs that provide renewable alternatives (for example), or end-game techs that can provide limitless (albeit expensive) crucial resources. 4. Worker AI is abysmal and resources will stack up in places they aren't needed. I think there's a lot to improve in this game, and I am excited to see where the developers take it. In its current state, though, it needs more polish and work. Still, I had fun, and will continue playing it.Show moreShow less

32.6 hours at review74 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/04/2020

The interface is no good and the game absolutely falls apart once combat is introduced. You have to constantly expand towards new resource nodes as the old ones run out. If you get bad RNG you will not have enough resources to expand. There is no point in expanding colonist capacity past the initial dome. All they do is eat up your finite resources in exchange for faster research. Destroyed buildings aren't automatically replaced. Drones eventually just stop distributing resources intelligently. Combat requires ridiculous levels of micro. There's no grid snapping or terrain alteration tools, you can't build anything better than a vague grid for efficiency purposes. Upgrading roads is horrendous, you can't upgrade multiple roads at once. Some road sections refuse to upgrade. Trying to upgrade a longer section results in roads going wherever they feel like. The terraforming aspect is pretty sparse in information and functionality. The event and dialogue system often seems detached from the game. You can fix a satellite and be congratulated on doing so, 20 years later. You can simply game the event system and build up a huge base without facing any danger. Overall would have refunded had I of known it would be this bad. Unfortunately you have to waste a fair bit of time before the game falls apart.Show moreShow less

7.2 hours at review248 people found this helpful

Per Aspera

Price History

01About Per Aspera

Credits

Steam player reviews

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02Before you buy

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03Frequently asked questions

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