End of the 19th century, ownership of every inch of land or mountain on Earth has been defined with astonishing accuracy by the four superpowers of the world: the English empire, the French Third Republic, the Prussian/German empire and the powerful United States. Nationalism is the dominant ideology and every country is constantly looking for that economical or scientific competitive advantage that would shift the balance of power in their favour. In this climate, Mars becomes the new frontier. The journey to Mars is however long and demanding. Also, the planet is not suitable for human life. Therefore the brightest minds of Earth concluded that if humans cannot be transferred to Mars, some new special robotic machine will prepare the ground for them. And so GOLEMs (Gear Operated Looting and Exploring Machines) appear. Their mission: to explore the Red planet, extract its resources and build structures suitable for human colonisation. Once deployed, GOLEMs will follow their programed mission: extract resources, improve their design, build colonies and destroy enemies indefinitely until one day their creators will land on the red planet and turn them off. Until then, GOLEMs are the only Lords of planet Mars… G.O.L.E.M. is a steampunk themed, card driven, battle and colonisation game featuring a modular map, high quality miniatures and superior artwork. —description from the publisher