Quick Snapshot
Below and Beyond expands Surviving Mars by opening up subterranean play areas and deepening resource mechanics. It shifts the focus from surface-only base building to multi-layered colony management, where subterranean exploration and long-term planning become central to success.
Underground Colonies and New Environments
Players can tunnel into caverns and lava tubes to build living spaces and industrial zones beneath the surface. These enclosed spaces offer an atmosphere-rich, immersive setting that changes how you plan layouts, protect habitats, and route infrastructure compared with surface settlements.
Resources and Strategic Mining
- Access to previously hidden mineral veins and rare materials that are found deeper in the crust, which are vital for colony expansion and technological advancement.
- Increased need for deliberate planning around extraction logistics, hazard management, and supply chains when exploiting underground deposits.
Research and Progression Paths
- Expansion branch: unlock construction modules, subterranean habitat tech, and upgrades that improve the survivability and efficiency of underground facilities.
- Recon branch: develop discovery tools, mapping tech, and scouting upgrades to safely locate and evaluate cavern systems and resource pockets.
These two tech trees let players tailor their approach—focusing either on finding and evaluating new areas first or on rapidly developing the means to settle and utilize them.
What This Means for Gameplay
Below and Beyond introduces tension between exploration and consolidation: do you invest early in scouting to reduce risk, or pour resources into expanding immediately to gain faster production? The expansion rewards thoughtful, long-term decisions and offers fresh systems to master for veterans of the base game.
Alternative Recommendation
- Our Life: Beginnings — Always Paid: a narrative-driven experience that provides a contrasting, character-focused gameplay for players looking for a different kind of depth.
- Consider this title if you prefer story and personal progression over large-scale resource management and colony logistics.
Technical
- Mac
- Full