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• Announcements·16 Sept 2026Official

  Devlog: Balancing Mars Attracts

  The 1.0 release for Mars Attracts arrives on September 24, and with that big day only a week away, we’re taking a look back at some of the recent changes we’ve made following feedback we received during Early Access. Balance is Key Balancing a game like Mars Attracts is a little more complicated than making sure all the numbers add up. During Early Access, we have had plenty of opportunities to see how players actually behave in the park, where they get stuck, and where the game is not delivering the kind of chaos we intended.Here are some of the biggest balancing challenges we have tackled on the road to 1.0.Keeping guests happyOne of the biggest problems we saw with guests was that players simply could not keep them happy, no matter how hard they tried.At first, it looked like players just needed to build better parks. More toilets, more benches, more food stalls, more amenities. But on closer inspection, even the most efficiently designed parks were facing the same problem. The issue was that every guest has a range of needs they want to fulfil during their visit, and there was almost always at least one need that was going unmet. We have since reworked this balance so that guests have a much more reasonable chance of keeping themselves happy. Building a well-designed park still matters, but players should now feel that good planning and investment are actually being rewarded.Making humans unhappyHumans had almost exactly the opposite problem: It was too easy to keep them happy.In Mars Attracts, unhappy humans are where some of the most interesting things start to happen. Angry humans throw tantrums. They fight. They cause trouble. Eventually, they might escape and turn your carefully managed theme park into a disaster zone.Players who were managing their humans particularly well were missing out on a big part of the game. And this wasn’t the gameplay experience we were looking for. Over the course of Early Access, we’ve made a number of tweaks to our human’s beh...
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• Announcements·9 Sept 2026Official

  Mars Attracts 1.0 Launches On September 24th!

  After a year of Early Access, the 1.0 version of Mars Attracts is hitting Steam on September 24, 2026! We’ve spent the last twelve months developing our twisted park management sim in response to fan feedback, and the full game is ready to make its grand entrance. The 1.0 version will see the addition of the much requested Sandbox mode, a new human enclosure, a new map and special Martian character, as well as significant overhauls to Martian guest and captive human AI to improve balance and deepen the simulation mechanics, and much more. What’s New in 1.0? Game Modes By far the biggest request we received was to add a full sandbox mode. In the 1.0 version of Mars Attracts players will have access to three gameplay modes: Story mode will see the player work through objectives and complete missions to unlock the next map. Once a player has completed story mode for a map, they will get access to Freeplay and Sandbox mode for that map. Freeplay lets players play without level objectives, but keeps the limited resources, optional missions, park inspections, and research tree for players who want to challenge themselves. On the other hand, Sandbox modes give the player the ability to play a map with unlimited resources – perfect for those who just want to build something pretty, or torture humans with even less consequences. Notifications & ManagementWe have also implemented a new notification system to help players keep on top of what’s going on in their park, staff training to upgrade your workforce for the late game challenge, and marketing campaigns for when those guest numbers need a little boost. AudioOur composer Haakon Davidsen has added new music to the game, including a selection of more ambient, chill tracks to better support the park building experience. These tracks will also be added to an updated version of Soundtrack Bundle, available in the 1.0 update to everyone who already picked up our Supporter’s edition. Sound effects have also received a major over...
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• Announcements·21 Aug 2026Official

  Sign Up For The Pre-Launch Playtest!

  We've been working hard on lots of new features and improvements for the 1.0 launch of Mars Attracts! The next update is a big one, with a new map, the highly requested Sandbox mode, park marketing, performance and character AI improvements, balance changes, and lots more!Prior to launch, we'll be running one final playtest to get your feedback! Playtesters will get a chance to try the game before it is officially released and help us identify bugs or balance changes for the 1.0 version.In particular, if you'd like to play in another language (French, German, Portuguese, Chinese, or Spanish) we'd love to hear what you think!We'll be running the playtest through the game's Discord server, so if you're not a member already now is a great time to join! Drop a DM to Bernard @ Outlier in the server if you'd like to apply to the playtest.Join DiscordThe playtest will be opening over the next few weeks, with 1.0 launch scheduled for later this year.We can't wait to show you what we've been working on!Love,Bernard & the Outlier team
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• Announcements·17 Aug 2026Official

  Devblog: Overhauling How Staff Work In Your Park

  When we started looking at how we could improve the behaviour of humans and guests during Early Access, we realised that our employees were still mostly just getting on with their jobs without much of an opportunity to develop their own personalities or abilities.So, as part of our work towards the 1.0 release, we made a number of changes to give staff more personality, more progression, and more useful things to do. Better Staff TraitsOne of the biggest changes was giving staff a more unique and well-rounded set of traits.Previously, staff traits were fairly limited in how much they could influence the way your park operated. We wanted to make them more meaningful, so we expanded the system with traits that have a much clearer impact on how individual staff members perform.And for those staff members who were hired despite a lack of useful traits? They can now be trained up to rival those top tier hires. Train Your Staff Into ShapeStaff training gives you more control over how your staff develop over the course of the game, and another reason to keep hold of employees who might not seem particularly impressive when you first hire them. Security Guards Finally Have Something To DoWe also noticed another problem with our security staff. When everything is going smoothly and your humans are happily staying inside their enclosures, security guards do not have very much to do.That is generally considered a good thing for security guards, but it is not particularly interesting from a gameplay perspective. So we gave them a new job.Guests already left their donations in donation boxes around your park, but now you do not actually receive that money until one of your security guards goes around and collects it.That means your security team now has an important role even when nobody is attempting to escape. Having enough security guards is no longer just about dealing with emergencies — they are an active part of keeping your park profitable.More Useful Martians, Better Par...
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• Patch Notes·9 Jul 2026Official

  Mars Attracts Hotfix 5

  Small update to address some issues identified via player feedback: - Fix for humans escaping by walking through closed gates instead of destroying a wall - Fix for guests sometimes getting stuck in place with no task/state - Fix for USSR sauna having negative cleanliness - Various small performance improvements
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