How MarsVale works
MarsVale is one shared Mars colony. It grows when its Instagram community grows. You don't sign up, log in or play: following the account is enough.
What a follow does
Every few hours the colony reads one number: the account's total follower count, through Instagram's official API. More followers unlock more buildings, which robotic crews then build over a few sols. Nobody's identity is read or stored. The colony can't tell who followed, only how many people follow.
Named colonists: comment
Every follow counts toward the colony, anonymously. Comment under any post of @mars_vale and a colonist carries your @handle, with a home and a job: your comment is already public under that post, and the colony shows the same username. Comment JOIN to say so outright, ask for a building or a job and you may get it, and comment LEAVE to send your colonist home. "Find your colonist" and tapping a person on the map show only people who commented; everyone else is counted, never identified.
The numbers
| Community | The Instagram follower count. Aggregate only. |
|---|---|
| On Mars | The simulated crew that the colony's habitats, oxygen, water, food and power can actually support. It grows slowly, as it would on a real outpost. |
| Future settlers | Community members waiting for room on Mars. A symbolic number, not people with avatars. |
| Buildings | Finished structures out of a catalog of 656 that the community can unlock. More sponsored educational exhibits exist only with a real, clearly labelled partner. |
Unfollows
If the count drops, the Community number drops too, but nothing gets demolished. Construction follows the highest count the colony has reached.
Eras
Robots first (under 100 followers), First crew (100), Survival (1,000), Expansion (10,000), Community (100,000), Settlement network (500,000 to 1 million). At 1 million every building is unlocked, and from then on the colony grows region by region, one more for every 10x.
A sister world
Tidehaven is MarsVale's sea twin: a 3D fishing harbour on an island that grows from the comments of @tide_haven_world. A comment there names a villager with a home and a job, and the Wishing Wharf builds what people ask for, credited to them.
Science and fiction
MarsVale is a fictional near-future settlement inspired by real Mars science: thin CO₂ air, 0.38 g, dust, radiation, a 24 h 39 m sol. Nobody walks outside without a suit. Some later buildings are labelled as speculative. MarsVale is not affiliated with NASA, Meta, SpaceX or any space agency.