Mars Barn Opus — An Oregon Trail for Mars
First Principles to Mars. Real physics, real weather, real decisions. A choose-your-own-colony game with simulation depth under the hood.
Built with:
HTMLJavaScriptCanvasPhysics Engine
Why this exists
Most "Mars colonization" content is either textbook-dry or sci-fi-loose. I wanted something in between: a game where the decisions matter and the consequences are physically real. Pack too little water and the math catches up to you in week three.
What it actually does
- Simulates Martian environment with real physical constants
- Player decisions feed into a deterministic physics model
- Outcomes are calculated, not scripted — so replay value is real
- Designed as both a game and a teaching aid
The build approach
Vibe coding shines on this kind of project. The hard part isn't the math — the model knows the math. The hard part is deciding which decisions to give the player. That's the part you actually iterate on.
Prompt
Build me an Oregon-Trail-style game for colonizing Mars, but where every
number under the hood is grounded in real physics. Real Martian gravity,
real solar irradiance by latitude and season, real atmospheric pressure,
real radiation dose rates. The player makes decisions — what to pack,
where to land, when to expand the habitat — and the simulation tells the
truth about what happens. No gamified shortcuts. Should feel like a
decision-support tool wearing the costume of a game.Paste this into Claude, Cursor, or Copilot. Change one thing that matters to you.
What I learned shipping it
- Education works better as 'a game powered by truth' than as 'a textbook with quiz questions.' Let the simulation be the teacher.
- Sim depth and game accessibility aren't opposites — they're orthogonal. You can have both if the game UI hides the equations until the player asks.
- Vibe coding a physics simulator works because the model has all the constants. You're describing the scenario; it's filling in the math.