Taking the wheel of futuristic, ultra-rugged JCB vehicles, players must explore the alien landscape, mine precious materials, construct large-scale buildings and research new technologies to ensure humanity’s future lies beyond planet Earth. Esteemed astrophysicist, Dr Maggie Lieu, provided advice to Atomicom during the development process, as well as making an in game cameo appearance.

JCB Pioneer: Mars begins as the player awakes from a crash, surrounded by the wreckage of a Lander vehicle amidst falling debris and hurtling winds. Survival is the first goal – the location of oxygen and the founding of an outpost. As the player slowly begins to establish themselves on Mars, learning to combat the planets fierce and hostile weather patterns, they’ll begin a larger operation of colonisation. Life-support infrastructure is crucial but so to is the mining of natural resources, part of a broader mission to save an ailing Earth.

JCB Pioneer: Mars is a hardcore blend of survival and construction gameplay set on a hostile, alien planet. Meteor strikes, dust clouds and electrical storms all threaten the player’s survival and chances of a successful colonisation effort. Equipped with the futuristic, heavy-duty construction and mining vehicles specifically designed by JCB Engineers, every would-be astronaut has a chance of surviving and thriving in the face of extreme planetary challenges. Esteemed astrophysicist, Dr Maggie Lieu, provided advice to Atomicom during the development process, as well as making an in game cameo appearance.

The Steam Early Access version of JCB Pioneer: Mars will get a major update featuring a massive code overhaul, adds a new UI and front end as well as allowing the game to run at true 60fps 1080p resolution for the first time, plus many more tweaks and gameplay fixes which collectively help to make the game run better than ever before.

JCB Pioneer: Mars is headed to Nintendo Switch on 24th December, 2018 in EU and AUS, 3rd January, 2019 in NA for £19.99 / €22.19 / $24.99.