Surviving Mars – Starting Checklist (Tips for Beginners)

A guide to help new players manage their mars base at the start of the game.

See also: Basic Startup Guide to Self-Sufficiency.

Starting Your Mars Colony

The basics for the beginning “Sols” of your colony should look like this.

• Select your rocket ship payload. I suggest using the recommended payload for the first couple of playthroughs in order to get used to the game.
• Locate an area on mars that has a high amount of resources. 
• Use your starting probes to identify an area with a source of water and minerals. 
• Prepare a basic power source, the large solar panels are usually really good for beginning the game with. 
• Setup a basic loop with your power cables in order to prevent complete loss of power to anything connected to your grid.
• Place “Water extractors” over your source of water and connect it to a water tank. 
• Place Universal depots in order to save on storage space early game. 
• Using the “resupply” button in the bottom left hand corner, ship in supplies and building fabs as needed. 
• In the research tab in the bottom right, select a research that suits your colony and the buildings that you have placed.