• Welcome!

    It's the year 2152 and there is an all-out battle for control of the planet Mars! In this game you will control the Earthling forces in their battles against other planetary armies. You will need tactical skills and savvy, so read on!

  • Game Modes

    From the main menu, you can choose 'Quick Game' to choose a map and begin playing. Or, you can choose 'Campaign' to move through the sequence of campaign maps that lead to ultimate victory. In either case, choose a map, and the game will begin.

  • The Map

    When playing, you will be moving your cursor around a map. A black box in the bottom corner of the screen will show you convenient information about the square your cursor is on. When your cursor is on a unit (such as a soldier, or a bot), you can long press or hit 'i' on the keyboard to get complete information about the unit.

  • Building Units

    At the beginning of the game, you will have no units in your army. The cursor will begin on your Command Center building. Move around with the map until you find your 'Factory' building. It will look like the building shown the left. Press the trackball or touch the factory square to pull up the menu of units you can build, then select the unit you would like (and can afford). You can only build one unit per factory per turn.

    Each turn your buildings earn you money, so you can stockpile cash to build expensive and powerful units.

  • Ending Your Turn

    The units that you build on the first turn cannot move until the next turn. So, just press the trackball or touch anywhere on the map to pull up the game menu and choose 'End Turn'.

  • Moving Units

    During your next turns, you can move units by pressing the trackball or touching them while the cursor is over them. The map highlights the squares to which you can move the unit. Press the trackball or touch again once you are satisfied with the location. To complete the move, choose 'Hold' from the menu that comes up. If you make a mistake, press the back button before selecting 'Hold' and you can change your move or even cancel it by pressing the back button again.

  • Attacking

    When you move a unit beside an enemy, it can often attack that enemy. The menu that comes up after your move will include an 'Attack' option. Choose this, and then confirm the target by pressing the trackball or touching. You will see the combat take place. After combat, your unit may show that it is damaged by displaying a small number on top of it. This number ranges from 1 to 9. A value of 1 means the unit is almost wiped out, and a value of 9 means that the unit is barely damaged. If you send a unit back to one of your buildings, it will heal 2 points every turn.

  • Capturing Buildings

    Red buildings belong to you, but other buildings belong to your enemy, or may be unowned. Your soldier units can capture buildings for your army. To do this, move your soldier on to the building. A menu option to capture the building will appear. Be careful-- enemy soldiers can capture your buildings too!

  • Special Units

    Some units do not attack neighboring enemies, but instead have range attacks. These units cannot move and attack on the same turn-- they can only attack when they don't move. To see what their range of attack is, press the trackball or touch while the cursor is over the unit. Other units do not attack at all, but can transport other units. Move units on to these transports and a menu option to load the unit will appear. This can be useful for moving units quickly or across terrain they otherwise could not cross. When you move a transport that is carrying a unit, an option to unload the unit will appear if it is able.

  • Winning and Losing

    Your goal is to capture the Command building of your enemy (or enemies) while avoiding having your Command building captured. Be sure to defend your base carefully as the enemy armies will try to sneak in!

  • Strategies

    Below are some simple strategic tips to get you started:

     - Capture any buildings you can early. The more buildings you have, the more money you will earn to build your army.
     - Look at the stats of the units (by long pressing or hitting 'i' on the keyboard while the cursor is over them) and try to get match-ups that will favor your unit.
     - Keep your range units protected from direct attack by having some regular units stand in front of them.
     - Try to block bridges and other bottlenecks to keep the enemy from swarming your base.

    Good luck and enjoy Battle for Mars!