
Mattéo Palombo
Terraforming Mars
It's time to take on the Red Planet!
Companies are competing to turn Mars into a habitable planet: each one is spending tons of resources and using innovative tech to raise the temperature, create a breathable atmosphere, and make the oceans liquid. As terraforming progresses, more and more people will come to settle on the Red Planet from Earth.
In Terraforming Mars, you lead a corporation with unique characteristics. Play Project cards, boost production, place your cities and green spaces on the map, and compete for rewards and objectives!​​
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The Colonies expansion is coming soon, adding a whole new system for trading with other planets!
Personal intention for the project :
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I was able to find this freelance mission right after my internship at the end of my studies. This mission was my first experience in a large studio and allowed me to discover multiple facets of the video game industry, notably the fact of having a client.
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I worked on an expansion for Terraforming Mars called Colonies, which was very interesting because I was given free reign to figure out how to translate the real-life version of the game into the existing video game. So I had to find solutions to preserve the spirit of the game while adding new gameplay elements.
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For this project, I mainly created design mockups explaining the necessary intentions to be respected, as well as regularly monitoring progress to ensure the game's clarity.
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The Colonies expansion will release in early 2026.
Context
Freelance - 2025 (Colonies extension) / Artefacts Studio
Role : Game Designer
Genre : Board game 2D
Platform : PC, Mobile
Team Size : 5 (During my mission)
Duration : 2 months (My intervention)
Engine : Unity
My contribution
Game design
- Definition of new achievements
- Explanation of game rules, including 1 complete tutorial
- Definition of new available actions and design proposals to implement them
- AI behavior for each new action
- Definition of important special cases to be taken into account for programming
- Establish a clear glossary to ensure the correct use of official terms in the game
- Monitoring of implementation to ensure that design intentions are preserved​​​​​
UI Mockups​
- Concrete gameplay elements, their function, and how to represent them
- Overall layouts and interactions
- Design solutions for special cases
- Specific feedback on new elements
- Mobile transcription of the game
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Others
- Management of new sound feedback
- Drafting of intent document for the client
If you would like to see some of the product mockups to have an idea, click here:​
Gallery




