Second Look - Boardgame reviews in depth. Check out that cat.Martians are attacking an alternate-reality 1950’s Earth, and it’s up to you to stop them…or is it?

Mars vs Earth is a 3-10 player cooperative game where you’re trying to stop aliens from invading and taking over Earth. The thing is, the Martians have replicated human DNA, and their clones walk among us. In traditional cooperative game fashion, that means there may be one or more traitors in the midst.

Over the course of several rounds new challenges will arise and players must pool their resources to stop them. The game has a cool mechanic where players can only play so many cards to a challenge depending on how far they’re sitting from the current mission leader. Players directly to the left and right of the leader can play more than those sitting 2 or 3 seats away on either side.

Mars vs Earth

The game ends when the humans foil a pre-determined number of Martian threats, or the Martians deplete all the human resources. It’s a relatively fast paced card game, playing in 30-60 minutes. Having played with a max of 4 players, our games tended to run 30-40 minutes. All my game-age kids tested this one with me, and had a great time with it. My 5-year-old needed a bit of help with text, and when he turned out to be working against the other players, but still really got into it. We actually ended up taking the game camping with us, and it worked out really well as a portable game without the board.

Overall this is a great co-op that I can enjoy with my kids. The 1950’s sci-fi feel, and the tense nature of the challenges make this a fantastic game in a short amount of time.

You can snag Mars vs Earth from The Game Crafter for $38.99.

Geek Fever Games is actually located near me in CT, and I’m hoping to get a chance to play the game with the designer soon.

A copy of Mars vs Earth was provided free for review by Geek Fever Games.

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