Mars base in Civilization 6 strategy game

Civilization 6 (Sid Meier's Civilization VI) is a turn-based strategy game released in 2016. The goal for the player is to develop a civilization from an early settlement through many in-game millennia to become a world power and achieve one of several victory conditions. One of the paths to win the game is through science domination where you need to be the first to launch a satellite, land humans on the Moon and establish a Martian colony.

Spaceship approaching Mars to establish a colony there:

Full in-game cinematic for science victory:

Human colony on terraformed Mars by Tiago da Silva

Human colony on partially terraformed Mars - a concept artwork by Portuguese fantasy artist Tiago da Silva (Grafik) created for upcoming computer game Terraformers. It is a Mars colonization strategy game currently being developed by indie game developer Asteroid Lab.

Brutalist architecture in Martian science fiction

Brutalism is an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s and grew out of the early-20th century modernist movement. Brutalist buildings are characterized by their massive, monolithic and "blocky" appearance with a rigid geometric style, large-scale use of poured concrete and a predominantly monochrome color palette. The style was popular in 1960s and 1970s in the West and well into 1980s in communist countries and Latin America.

As Brutalism started with an ethos of social utopianism but ended with associations of being cold, inhuman and totalitarian, no wonder it is the most dominant architectural style in dystopian fiction. But it is present also in general science fiction when envisioning a city in future.

One of the flaws of most Brutalist buildings is associated with weather effects on raw concrete, especially in wet and cold climate. Thus, despite being massive and seemingly long-lasting, most of Brutalist buildings are in poor condition today. But it's not a concern on Mars with its dry climate preserving rocks for billions of years. That is one of the reasons movies, TV series, games and art portraying human colonies and bases on Mars is filled with buildings in Brutalist style. Although the truest reason could be that Brutalist architecture with its simple shapes and monochrome colors can be easily reproduced in art, computer graphics and film sets :)

Here are some examples of Brutalist architecture in movies, TV series, video games and art set on Mars:

In movies and TV series

One of the most famous Martian movies - Total Recall (1990) - has some of the purest examples of Brutalist architecture, although most of them in scenes on Earth (filmed in Mexico City):

Family watching news on terraformed Mars

Family watching news in their room at a human colony on partially terraformed Mars - a concept artwork by Portuguese fantasy artist Tiago da Silva (Grafik) created for upcoming computer game Terraformers. It is a Mars colonization strategy game currently being developed by indie game developer Asteroid Lab.

Note the news ticker below the main story in TV displaying: Carl Sagan National Museum opens new exhibit, "The first missions - Elon Musk" :)

Mars base by Maciej Rebisz

Picture of the Day 20/12/2020 - Exploration rover at human base on Mars by Polish artist Maciej Rebisz - concept art for Space Company Simulator - a management simulation game (2018) where your final goal is to launch the first manned mission to Mars. Maciej Rebisz is currently working as senior concept artist for game developer CD Projekt RED (The Witcher game series, Cyberpunk 2077); more of his art here.

Astronauts returning to Mars colony by Ferdinand Ladera

Picture of the Day 13/12/2019 - exploration team returning to human colony on Mars by Filipino fantasy artist Ferdinand Ladera; illustration for The Expanse role-playing board game.

Orcus Patera base on Mars from Orbiter space flight simulator

Orbiter is a free-to-play space flight simulator developed by a single man Martin Schweiger since 2000 (the last major update was on 2016) and using realistic physics. Originally it's a very bare-bones program, but has a lot of fan-made addons which make the simulator much more enjoyable. One of those addons is Orcus Patera - a fictional human base/spaceport located in Orcus Patera depression on Mars; the addon is developed by Well and DanSteph.

Here are some images of the base modified in New Rome addon (which uses more recent Mars HRSC high-res texture pack and places the base in Valles Marineris):

Human base in a Martian canyon by Colin Geller

Picture of the Day 11/10/2019 - Damaged human base in a Martian canyon - concept art by Colin Geller for "Lazarus labs" exterior in DOOM (2016) computer game.

New cinematic trailer for Occupy Mars simulation game released

The Martian frontier is yours in Occupy Mars - the upcoming (as of today: Coming soon) highly technical open world simulation game about Mars colonization from Polish indie game developer Pyramid Games. In the game you will be able to "build and upgrade your base, discover new amazing regions, conduct mining operations, retrieve water and generate oxygen, grow crops, fix broken parts, learn how to survive on Mars!"

Here is the newest cinematic trailer of the game and beautiful HD images from it. Note the SpaceX's Starman style spacesuit and ITS v2016 Starship.

SpaceX ITS v2016 Starship landing at Mars base:

Assembling Mars base module by module:

Astronaut planting a tree in Mars biodome:

Mars base layout:

Mars city clouded in a sandstorm

Picture of the Day 19/8/2019 - Mars city clouded in a sandstorm; an image of ArcCorp Area 18 cityscape from upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Star Citizen funded by an unprecedented crowdfunding campaign of over $200 million on Kickstarter. The game is released by modules and is playable for several years now in alpha stage.

Leaving the cradle - incredible trailer of TerraGenesis

The latest trailer of TerraGenesis mobile game made by famous YouTuber MelodySheep is just stunning, reminding the vibes of The Expanse TV series. TerraGenesis is a popular mobile terraforming simulator game where you can establish a colony and gradually terraform other planetary bodies in Solar System.



Here are some images from the trailer:

Mars rover concept by Jort van Welbergen

Picture of the Day 31/3/2019 - Mars rover concept by Dutch concept designer Jort van Welbergen for upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Star Citizen. More of his concept art here.

Mars biodome by Simon Klinz

Picture of the Day 23/2/2019 - Working day in a biodome on Mars - a loading screen for Memories of Mars by German video game artist Simon Klinz. Memories of Mars is an open world survival game where you have to craft, build and fight for your survival. The game is set 100 years in the future among abandoned mining operations on the red planet and currently is in early access on Steam. More of Simon's game art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in HD wallpaper resolution)

Memories of Mars - open world survival game set on Mars

Memories of Mars is an open world survival game where you have to craft, build and fight for your survival. The game is set 100 years in the future among "abandoned mining operations on the red planet, as the dream of exploiting and colonizing Mars has proven impossible. You play as a recently awoken clone who learns its lifespan is limited by the lethal solar flares that hit the surface of the planet every few weeks. Tasked with surviving the barren wastelands of Mars, players must explore the unforgiving Martian terrain and build a habitable homestead while fighting against a variety of dangers including strange enemies, harsh environmental elements and other human clone survivors."

The game is developed by "Limbic Entertainment" and currently is in early access on Steam.

Here are some images and a trailer from the game:

Concept art from "Dome City" - cancelled VR adventure game set on Mars

"Dome City" was a space adventure video game project with multiplayer (rarely seen in adventure games) and virtual reality support. It was developed by a small indie game developer "Overon Station", relaying on a (unsuccessful) crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, and never left past the pre-Alpha stage. In the game three young characters would be stranded fighting for survival in a domed city on Mars abandoned for 100 years. Sad the game didn't saw its release; the concept was interesting.

Here are some concept art images and a teaser for the game project:

Mars base by Richard Wright

Picture of the Day 14/12/2018 - Street fight in Mars base by British concept artist Richard Wright - concept art for the Call of Duty game Infinite Warfare (2016) - a first-person shooter (FPS) set in an undefined future where Earth nations are competing for power in the Solar system with ruthless and technologically more advanced but outnumbered space settlers.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Racing on Mars in Star Citizen MMO game

Picture of the Day 25/11/2018 - racing on Mars; an image from upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Star Citizen which will consist of several components - space combat simulator, first-person shooter and economy&trading simulator - and is mostly funded by an unprecedented crowdfunding campaign of over $200 million on Kickstarter. The game is released by modules and is playable for several years now in alpha stage; there is a good outside video review what is the current status of the game by the end of 2018.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Capital city of Mars by Nick Hvostik

Picture of the Day 15/7/2018 - "Opportunity: The Capital of the Corporate Republic of Mars" - cover art for Half Life 2 unfinished game mod "Badge of Blood" by concept artist Nick Hvostik from "Massive Black".

SpaceX BFR spaceship on Mars at evening

Picture of the Day 6/6/2018 - SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) spaceship (BFS) on Mars at evening; fan vision by Instagram user astro_kerman from Kerbal Space Program rocket simulation game with Tundra Exploration Mod.

Occupy Mars - simulation game about Mars colonization

Occupy Mars is an upcoming (as of today: TBD 2018) highly technical open world simulation game about Mars colonization from Polish indie game developer Pyramid Games. In the game you will be able to "build and upgrade your base, discover new amazing regions, conduct mining operations, retrieve water and generate oxygen, grow crops, fix broken parts, learn how to survive on Mars!"

Here are some promo images, posters and a trailer from the developer. Note the SpaceX style spacesuit and ITS 2016 spaceship(s) near the base.