If humans ever live on Mars, will they 'bend the knee to Earth's institutions' or turn the Red Planet even redder? Mars Tactics puts the answer in your hands next year

Mars Tactics release window trailer - PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct - YouTube

If you lent a keen eye to the Mars Tactics trailer which dropped at today's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, you might have spotted the ability to establish universal basic income right next to a button which wheels out a Martian Guillotine, or even the option to declare neoliberalism and "bend the knee to Earth's institutions." Come for the tactics, stay for the ethical and logistical burden of leading a revolution!

I'm interested in any game that offers an XCOM-like blend of turn-based tactics and squad management, but Mars Tactics' cheeky tone and larger metaprogression are what stand out to me most in the new trailer.

There are those governance policies I mentioned earlier, which seem to let you fine-tune an ideology reflected through your playstyle, as well as a research tree, and gun mods. I'm curious to see how deep the well goes; a scrappy resistance leveraging prison breaks and guerilla tactics against a heavily armed and entrenched corporate master presents a juicy sort of asymmetry. My heart tells me to side with the exploited underdog, but my lizard brain likes the look of those sleek business mechs.

We also get a peek at base building, which is one of the more unique aspects of the game I'm eager to know more about. Solo modes in tactics games can sometimes feel more like a series of puzzles than a player-driven campaign—not to say that's a bad thing, I hope I didn't hurt Into the Breach's feelings—but I'm hoping that in this case, I have the agency to hem and haw about which policies I can't afford to not be heartless about.

Mars Tactics is set to come out May 2026 and is available to wishlist on Steam.

Check out every game, trailer, and announcement in the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct.

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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