Mars Attracts – Promising Park Builder, Rough Around the Edges

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• DEVELOPER: Outlier
• PUBLISHER: Outlier
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Management / Simulator
• RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2025
• STARTING PRICE: 24,50€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

I spent most of my childhood playing Zoo Tycoon 2, the brilliant park management simulator from 2004. Now, Mars Attracts gives me that same feeling. It’s not a graphically advanced game like Two Point Museum or Planet Zoo, but it has a nostalgic, retro vibe. It also takes a twisted and satirical approach to a familiar genre. It flips the script, putting us in the role of a Martian CEO whose business is abducting humans from across history to be the “star attractions” of their alien amusement park.

Graphically, Mars Attracts adopts a cartoonish and stylized art style. The clean visuals are reminiscent of the 1996 film’s aesthetic, and the design of the Martian, with their oversized brains and grinning skulls, is perfectly captured. The human models and environments are also well-realized, with plenty of gory and comical detail.

Build the Park, Control the Humans

The core gameplay of Mars Attracts is a blend of classic management sim mechanics and the unique, macabre themes of the Mars Attacks universe. At its heart, it’s a park builder where you construct paths, rides, amenities, and stalls to keep your Martian guests happy and entertained. This includes managing finances, hiring staff with varying traits, and ensuring the park runs smoothly.

“To unlock new rides, amenities, and research, you must conduct various forms of scientific study.”

However, the real twist comes with the “human enclosures”. You send out expeditions to Earth to abduct humans from different historical periods, be it Ancient Rome, the American Frontier, or others. These humans are the main draw for your park. You must build and furnish their enclosures according to their historical era to keep them from becoming unhappy, which can lead to them attempting to escape and causing chaos.

The game’s most memorable feature is the “experiments”. To unlock new rides, amenities, and research, you must conduct various forms of scientific study, which are, in essence, acts of torture on your human captives. This could be anything from a boxing machine beating up a Roman to fatal dissections. These experiments generate research points (chemistry, physics, and biology) and “specimens,” which are then used to advance your park. The system is brilliantly integrated, tying the grim premise directly to your progression and making even the most mundane tasks feel thematically cohesive.

Current State of Early Access

What truly sets Mars Attracts apart is its complete commitment to its premise. Every menu, action, and line of dialogue is full of the Martians’ charmingly cruel view of humanity. The exhibits aren’t just built; they’re collected through alien abduction. Rides and attractions aren’t bought; they’re crafted from the corpses of humans you’ve deemed unfit for exhibition. This simple change, where you’re responsible for grinding down humans for raw materials, creates a profound sense of ownership and morbid satisfaction.

As of its Early Access launch, Mars Attracts shows immense promise but is not without its rough edges. While the fundamental systems are solid, the developers have stated that the Early Access period is planned for approximately nine months. They are actively seeking community feedback to guide the game’s development.

“The game feels more like Two Point Hospital than Planet Zoo.”

For an Early Access title, it feels surprisingly complete, with enough content to easily make you lose track of time. It’s easy to figure out the basics, but the more you play, the more you realize there’s a lot of strategic depth to running things well. However, it’s important to manage your expectations. The game feels more like Two Point Hospital than Planet Zoo; so don’t expect deep customization, terrain editing, or off-grid creativity.

Promising Park Builder, Rough Around the Edges

The core experience focuses more on management and progression than on sandbox building. However, the most notable issues are technical, including a lack of polish. I personally encountered many minor bugs and glitches, such as humans escaping and then getting stuck. Some animations, sounds, menus, and even some gameplay functions are still rough; they can be choppy, buggy, or simply not working yet. While the game has good bones, it might be wise to wishlist it and wait a month or two if you don’t want to deal with glitches or work around missing mechanics.

Review copy provided by the publisher