Mars. They call it the red planet, and never has been a nomer more apt.

I stare out of the landing capsule's smoked windows as I enter the barren planet's atmosphere. Its bleak landscape is a fitting reminder of the bleakness with in me, my heart as empty as my stomach, the last proper meal three weeks ago. I still shudder at what that meal consisted of, but it was this or starvation.

And we had a mission to complete.

A warning signal blinks continuously in the corner, indicating a system failure inside the cockpit. We never got around fixing it since things started to break down.

And break down they did.

Our pilot was the first to go, barely a week after the initial accident that kicked off the catastrophe, a subsystem in our life support module malfunctioning. He had been certain of being able to fix it. His dying scream still echoes through my communicator.

Our specialist confessed at hiding some food outside the airlock. I ordered her to fetch it, knowing the price she'd pay for it. It was the first proper food the Doctor and me shared. It was the last.

With Mars in sight, the ship threatened to break apart. I exchanged a last look with the Doctor - I was too injured to make it to the maintenance module to duct tape the ship together long enough to reach Mars. She would have to stay behind, or we both would.

Mars. The red planet. It has earned its name in these past weeks.

The solitude is breaking me. And all I can think of what a waste it was to send the Doctor away to die alone inside the ship, for what use was her meat up there in the cold emptiness of space when there is this gnawing hunger still inside of me?



Tharsis is a game of dark stories that hide behind difficult decisions and strategic application of dice and crew talents, a fine mixture of Darkest Dungeon and FTL. I wish there was more variety to the story, but I'm committed to bring each crew member down on the red planet's surface at least once.