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Mars Rover Builder's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sounds | #239 | 2.200 | 2.200 |
| Fun | #241 | 2.333 | 2.333 |
| Theme relevance | #255 | 2.600 | 2.600 |
| Graphics | #262 | 2.267 | 2.267 |
| Overall | #268 | 2.400 | 2.400 |
| End-of-life plan | #276 | 2.600 | 2.600 |
Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
End life plan
🔧 Build your rover. 🚀 Chase the high score. Survive the red planet.
Design your perfect Mars rover from 35+ unique parts—each affecting speed, grip, stability, and durability. Then take it for a test drive across procedurally generated Martian terrain. Navigate sand, rock, and crater fields. Collect data samples. Dodge meteor showers. And if you're lucky, spot a UFO quoting Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Every decision matters. Every part wears down. Every run is different.
Transparency note
AI for the few bits of graphics.
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Comments
I liked it, has great potential!
The menu has EXPORT SAVE and IMPORT SAVE. In a Stop Killing Games jam, letting the player take their own save file away with them is the sharpest possible tribute to the theme. That isn't a detail, it's a position, and you're the only entry I've played that turned the jam's cause into a design decision rather than just narrative. Bravo.
The build screen is enviable. A Part Library with 40 draggable parts on the left, a Component Assembly Table in the middle with slots for Chassis, Mobility, Suspension, Power, Sensor, Utilities, Propellant and Vertical, and an Engineering Telemetry panel on the right updating live: Top Speed 58, Traction 61, Stability 63, Durability 59, total mass 15.8t and a "Course-fit estimate: 61/100". And the briefing BEFORE the build gives you the terrain data (Plain 41%, Sand 20%, Rock 39%, crater severity, max slope), so you're designing the rover FOR that specific course. That's real design, not decoration.
The race screen keeps the loop closed too: Battery / Boost Fuel / Grip / Rover Condition, checkpoints, mission time, and a WEAR REPORT showing each component degrading in real time. When the sensor warned me "SENSOR: ROCK HAZARD AHEAD", the part I picked in the workshop had a concrete function on the course. That's a beautiful bit of closure. The pause menu listing every control and the "Peace, love and engineering!" in the menu footer are lovely touches.
Three practical notes. I got stuck in a dip in the terrain at 0 km/h and couldn't get out even with boost. There is an "R - recover" key in the pause menu but I only found it afterwards, so showing "press R" on screen when the rover has been stationary for a few seconds would help. The pilot name is mandatory (minimum 2 characters) and Start Journey errors on an empty field even though the text below says your score will be saved as Guest, so those two messages contradict each other. And it's a lot of information at once, so a one click "recommended rover" preset would help people who only have three minutes.
Along with A Game About Driving Fast and Until The Last Mile, this is the most ambitious trio I've played here.
I really liked the UI and the idea. I think it would have been even better if there was a tutorial that played alongside the gameplay.
Reminds me of Planet Racer game so nostalgic :) gj
Humanity needs more machine building games. I like it.
Fun game. Frustrating, but funny.
Thank you matey!
AI ruined the whole game
uhmm and how's that so? I think it did a great job to be fair
I didn't mean to be negative, sorry if I offended you. But in any case, the AI graphics look terrible, especially considering it's HTML and procedurally generated.
No offence taken don't worry, I appreciate all comments positive and negative. I agree with you the AI generated graphic is nothing compared to what a human can do but I normally use it for my prototypes because it gives me freedom to focus on the game design part but I would be looking to an actual artist if the game goes out for example on Steam.
Find an artist through the community thread in jams, and I would recommend rewriting the game yourself from scratch in Godot/Unity if you're planning a Steam release
Somewhat reminds me of one of the roblox interview games. Nice work!