Surviving Mars: Colony Survival Guide

How to land, expand, and keep colonists alive in Surviving Mars: opening build order, resource chains, disasters, mysteries, and the status of the original game versus Surviving Mars: Relaunched.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the original game's final build (Martian Express era, 2022) and Surviving Mars: Relaunched updates through September 2026. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status note: The original Surviving Mars (Steam app 464920) is no longer sold on the Steam store as of September 2026. Paradox replaced it with Surviving Mars: Relaunched, released November 10, 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, which bundles the base game and previous expansions with upgraded visuals, a refined UI, and the new Martian Assembly political system. If you already own the original, it stays in your library and remains fully playable offline. Everything in this guide applies to both versions unless flagged.

Quick Start

1. Start on an easy sponsor. International Mars Mission has the most funding and the most forgiving perks. Save the hard sponsors (Church of the New Ark, Paradox) for later runs.
2. Pick a landing site with concrete, metals, and water close together. The pre-landing screen shows resource and disaster ratings; a site with low disaster threat and nearby deposits is worth more than anything else.
3. Build power, water, and oxygen before your first dome. Colonists need all three from the moment they arrive.
4. Don't rush colonists. Get a Drone Hub network, Concrete Extractor, water, oxygen, and a food source running first. Colonists arriving to a half-built dome die fast.
5. Keep reserves. Water tanks, oxygen tanks, and batteries turn a disaster from a colony-ending event into a nuisance.
6. Scan and explore anomalies. The RC Explorer investigates anomalies for research boosts, resources, and breakthroughs. Breakthroughs are some of the strongest upgrades in the game.
7. Export Rare Metals for funding. Rare Metals can be sent back to Earth for cash, which funds rockets and supplies.
8. Plan for maintenance. Every building collects dust and needs repair resources; your drones need spare metals, concrete, polymers, and machine parts on hand.
9. Use cables and pipes carefully. One broken pipe or cable can take out an entire dome's supply. Build redundancy.

Before You Land: Setup Choices

Mission Sponsors

Sponsors set your starting funds, rocket count, and unique perks. Relaunched values shown; the original game's list is similar but excludes the Interplanetary Codex.

Commander Profiles

Commander profiles add a smaller bonus (a pre-researched tech, a production boost, or a unique perk). For first runs, read the tooltips and pick one that shores up your sponsor's weakness: extra money for low-funding sponsors, or a production/research boost for rich ones. Harder profiles raise your difficulty score.

Landing Site

• Check resource deposits (Concrete, Metals, Water, Rare Metals) and threat ratings for Dust Devils, Dust Storms, Meteors, and Cold Waves.
• A flat site near multiple deposits is ideal.
• Higher threat equals higher difficulty score but more disasters.

Resources and Production Chains

Rule of thumb: import advanced resources (Polymers, Machine Parts, Electronics) from Earth early, then build local production once you have workers.

Opening Build Order (Relaxed Start)

1. Drone Hub placed centrally near deposits, with drones.
2. Concrete Extractor on the nearest concrete deposit.
3. Power: Wind Turbines (steady, day and night) plus a couple of Solar Panels, and a Power Accumulator (battery).
4. Water: Water Extractor on a deposit, or a Moisture Vaporator if there are no deposits close by; add a Water Tower.
5. Oxygen: MOXIE plus an Oxygen Tank.
6. Second Drone Hub near a Metals deposit.
7. Fuel Refinery so your rockets can return to Earth.
8. First Dome: a Basic Dome with a Living Complex, Hydroponic Farm, and a service building (Grocer or Diner).
9. Founders: bring your first colonists only when the dome has water, oxygen, and power flowing with backups. Your first batch of colonists (the Founders) has to survive a set number of Sols before new applicants arrive.

Colonists and Domes

Colonist Stats

• Health: drops without oxygen, water, food, or medical services.
• Sanity: drops from disasters, working in unpleasant conditions, and bad shifts.
• Comfort: from housing and services.
• Morale: combines the other stats plus traits.

Specializations

Engineer, Scientist, Geologist, Botanist, Medic, Security (and unspecialised colonists). Match specialists to workplaces for a big efficiency bonus: Geologists in extractors, Botanists in farms, Scientists in research buildings, Engineers in factories.

Dome Tips

• Keep work and home in the same dome or connect domes with Passages so colonists don't commute across the map.
• Filter domes by specialization in the dome filter panel to avoid mismatches.
• Build services that fit your population: Grocer, Diner, Infirmary, Spacebar, Medical Center, Garden.
• Use the Sanatorium and School (from research) to remove bad traits and add good ones.

Research and Breakthroughs

• Research is split into fields: Biotech, Engineering, Physics, Robotics, and Social.
• Early priorities: anything that improves drones and extractors, farming tech for food, and the techs that unlock larger domes and factory production.
• Breakthroughs appear from anomalies and are random each run. Standouts include Artificial Muscles, Superconductive Materials, and Hive Mind.
• In Relaunched, the free update released on September 8, 2026 (alongside the Feeding the Future content pack) rebuilt two of the game's core systems. Check the in-game patch notes: tech names and positions may differ from older guides.

Disasters

Always keep a reserve of oxygen, water, and power storage equal to a few Sols of demand.

Mysteries

Each run can include a Mystery with its own storyline, choices, and rewards. Difficulty varies:

Asteroid mysteries also exist with the Below and Beyond content.

Expansions and Updates

• Green Planet: terraforming, plants, and atmosphere goals.
• Space Race: rival colonies and diplomacy.
• Below and Beyond: underground and asteroid mining.
• Martian Express: trains (2022).
• Relaunched additions: Martian Assembly political system (with a possible route to independence from Earth), reworked asteroids (they no longer expire, have more buildable ground, dedicated Metals/Rare Metals/Exotic Minerals Micro-G extractors, and rockets can fly directly between Earth, Mars, and asteroids), a reworked Underground based on player feedback, and the September 8, 2026 free update that rebuilt two core systems. The first part of the Prime Mission expansion pass, Feeding the Future (released September 8, 2026), adds deeper food and production management with new ingredients and meals; Machine Utopia is announced as the later expansion.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Bringing colonists too early. Always have oxygen, water, food, and power buffered.
• One cable or pipe path. A single meteor can break your supply; build loops and backups.
• Too few drones. Drone Hubs get overloaded; add drones or a second hub when resources pile up.
• Neglecting maintenance. Buildings break down; keep repair resources stocked near hubs.
• Mixing specialists randomly. Mismatched jobs tank productivity.
• Ignoring Earthsick colonists. They'll try to leave; build services to keep them happy.

Advanced Tips

• Rare Metals exports are your money engine. Automate Rare Metals extraction early.
• Upgrade extractors with Amplify and Automation upgrades after researching them.
• Use Shuttles (after research) to move resources between hubs automatically.
• Food is the long game: once you have Botanists, large in-dome Farms scale better than a pile of Hydroponic Farms. Watch soil quality and rotate crops.
• Tourism and Wonders: Build Wonders (such as the Space Elevator) to change your economy.
• Specialization domes: Build domes around work types (farming domes, research domes).

FAQ

Can I still buy the original Surviving Mars? No. It is no longer sold on Steam as of September 2026; buy Surviving Mars: Relaunched instead. Owners keep the original in their library.

What's different in Relaunched? All previous expansions included, upgraded visuals and UI, the Martian Assembly political system (including a route to independence from Earth), reworked asteroids and underground, and a September 2026 free update that rebuilt two core systems alongside the Feeding the Future content pack.

What's the easiest sponsor? International Mars Mission.

How do I stop colonists dying? Keep oxygen, water, food, and power buffered, and build medical services.

What should my first research be? Research that boosts drones and building efficiency, plus farming tech for food.

Can I play Relaunched with mods? Relaunched has added modding improvements (such as asteroid modding), but older mods for the original may not work. Check the Steam Workshop for compatible versions.

Sources

• Surviving Mars on Steam
• Surviving Mars Steam news
• Surviving Mars: Relaunched on Paradox Interactive
• Surviving Mars Wiki: Mission sponsors
• Surviving Mars Wiki: Mysteries