Bear on Mars, an indie dog game about a Labrador astronaut
Bear on Mars is a free indie dog game that you play in a web browser. You are Bear, a chocolate Labrador in a space suit, running, jumping and zapping spaceships across Mars to collect Gummy Bears. There is nothing to download and nothing to buy.
Free to play on a phone, tablet or computer. Last updated .
- What it is
- An indie dog game: an endless runner and a tap-to-shoot arcade game in one
- Price
- Free. No adverts and nothing to buy
- Where it runs
- Any modern web browser, on phones, tablets and computers. It can be added to a phone's home screen as an app
- Players
- One player, with a leaderboard of the top 100
- Made by
- Arta Mo, an independent developer
- First released
- Latest version
- Update 6,
- Language
- English
How to play
Press Play, sign up with a made-up username and a password, watch the short opening story, and pick a mission. Everything you do earns Gummy Bears, which you spend on outfits for Bear.
Dog Dash
Bear runs across Mars by himself. Tap, click or press Space to jump over crystals, crates and alien bulldogs, and hold to keep hopping. Gummy Bears float along the way. Every so often something drops in to help: a Force Bubble that takes one bonk for you, a Gummy Magnet, Star Power for double Gummy Bears, Warp Boots that let Bear run through things, and the lucky golden boxers.
A steak turns up every 350 metres and gives Bear a double jump for a while. A boss waits at every 1,000 metres, ten of them in all, ending with King Bulldozer at 10,000 metres. Boss fights are turn-based: you pick Bear's move each round. Beat King Bulldozer and Bear climbs the tallest mountain on Mars to plant his flag, and the King joins you as a sidekick.
Click A Ship
Spaceships fly past and Bear zaps them with his laser eyes. Tap or click a ship and it drops a Gummy Bear. Golden ships are worth five, and the rare diamond ships drop Diamond Bears.
Bear On Earth
Own every Mars outfit and a third mission opens: a run along the streets of Harrogate, in Yorkshire. Jet Golds turns up, puts Bear on a lead and lets him bite through the roadworks. Now and then the run passes a school, where Mr Emmett sets a ten-question test on computers or on Harrogate.
Secrets
There are 32 secret outfits, several secret sidekicks and one secret haunted mission. Most are hidden in plain sight: in the opening story, on the main menu, or in something that happens during a run. Each secret outfit shows a hint in Choose Character.
| To do this | On a keyboard | On a touch screen |
|---|---|---|
| Jump | Space, W or ↑ | Tap anywhere |
| Keep hopping | Hold the jump key | Hold your finger down |
| Bite a barrier, once Jet is with you | Q | Tap BITE |
| Ride Cerberus, once he is your sidekick | R | Tap RUSH |
| Pause | P or Esc | Tap Pause |
| Zap a ship | Click it | Tap it |
The bite and pause keys can be changed in Settings, under Gameplay.
What is in the game
- Outfits. Suits, collars, hats and things for Bear's back, from Common to Mythic. You unlock an outfit by playing and buy it with Gummy Bears.
- Sidekicks. Jet Golds, Zombie Bullman, a three-headed dog called Cerberus, and a Wolf.
- The Logbook. Your stats and place on the leaderboard, badges to claim for Gummy Bears, a daily streak with limited edition outfits on days 7 and 14, a daily challenge worth 50 Gummy Bears and a weekly one worth 150, and a page of every secret hint.
- Menu themes and music. The main menu can look like Mars, Earth or a secret third place, and each theme has its own album of music. A player in Settings shows what is playing and lets you pause, skip or loop a song.
- Rebirth and the skill tree. Start again in exchange for a skill point, and learn one of ten permanent skills.
- A leaderboard. The top 100 players by Gummy Bears, each shown with the outfit their Bear is wearing.
- One account on every device. Log in on a phone and a computer and your progress is the same on both.
- Music and voices. Each mission has its own tune, and Jet has a real voice.
The story behind the game
Bear is a real dog: the family's chocolate Labrador. The game was made in his honour, and its opening story is a playful version of his daily life. In the game he wees on the grave of Bullman, the town's greatest superhero, gets told off by Jet Golds, and answers a call for an astronaut Labrador to explore Mars.
A note from the founder, as it appears in the game:
Thank you for playing Bear On Mars. This game was created to honour Bear The Labrador and the storyline explains what bear does in his daily life in a fun way, well unfortunately weeing on gravestones is one of them. What initially inspired me to create this game, was my uncle who programmed a game around an alien on mars who's role is to to tap flying spaceships for points which is very simular to the Click A Ship! Mission in the game, he introduced me into game development which gave me inspiration to create my own game around our family Labrador for everyone to enjoy! I Hope everyone enjoys this game and make sure to have fun !
Questions and answers
What is Bear on Mars?
Bear on Mars is a free indie dog game played in a web browser. You play Bear, a chocolate Labrador astronaut. In Dog Dash he runs and jumps across Mars, and in Click A Ship he zaps passing spaceships with his laser eyes. Both earn Gummy Bears, which buy outfits for Bear.
Is Bear on Mars free?
Yes. The game is free to play. There are no adverts, and nothing in it can be bought with real money. Gummy Bears and Diamond Bears are earned by playing.
What can I play Bear on Mars on?
Anything with a modern web browser: an iPhone or Android phone, a tablet, or a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. There is nothing to install. On a phone you can add it to your home screen, and it then opens full screen like an app.
Do I need an account to play?
Yes. Press Play and you sign up inside the game with a username and a password. No email address is asked for. The account keeps your progress, so you can carry on from another phone or computer.
How do you play Bear on Mars?
In Dog Dash, tap the screen or press Space to make Bear jump over what is in his way, and hold to keep hopping. In Click A Ship, tap or click the spaceships. Collect Gummy Bears, spend them on outfits in Choose Character, and look out for secrets.
How do I unlock Bear On Earth?
Own every Mars outfit. Each one is unlocked by playing and then bought with Gummy Bears. Once you own them all, the Bear On Earth mission opens.
Can I add friends or join a tribe in Bear on Mars?
Yes. Tap your name in the corner of the Play Menu to open your profile. On the Friends tab you can search for a friend by their username and send a request, and once they accept you can see each other's Bears and who is playing. On the Tribes tab you can join a tribe for free or make your own for 1,000 Gummy Bears, with a name and a banner you put together. A tribe can be open or closed, has a weekly challenge, and a Tribe Pass (500 Gummy Bears) pays 100 Gummy Bears for every level the tribe reaches while you are in it, and 250 and 10 Diamond Bears every 10th level. Leaving a tribe costs 350 Gummy Bears. The Leaderboard has tabs for players, tribes and friends. There are no messages between players.
Who made Bear on Mars?
Bear on Mars was made by Arta Mo, an independent developer, in honour of the family Labrador, Bear. It was inspired by a game the founder's uncle programmed, about an alien on Mars tapping flying spaceships.
Is Bear a real dog?
Yes. Bear is the family's chocolate Labrador, and the game's story is a playful version of his daily life. There is a photo of him on this page.
How do I report a bug or suggest an idea?
Email hello@bearonmars.com.
Update log
What has been added to the game, newest first. Times are UK time.
Update 6: Halloween, King Bulldozer, daily rewards, trading and school
- Leaving a run with the Menu button now keeps your distance, so a new best counts, just like when Bear bonks.
- Once Bear On Earth and Deathdogs are unlocked, they stay unlocked, rebirths included. If a rebirth locked them before, they are back.
- The weredog's change no longer ends on a white screen: the portal's light fades away and the portal closes smoothly behind Bear.
- The Wolf Busters story now plays every time Bear eats a bad steak with the Weredog skill, not just the first time.
- The first event, until midnight at the end of 7 November. Open it from the new Events button next to your profile on the Play Menu.
- Deathdogs has gone wrong on Choose a mission. Tap it and a portal swaps it for Death To BEAR!, a new mode for everyone while the event is on, whether or not you have found Deathdogs.
- Bear walks Deathdogs for 100,000 m, hears cries for help and finds the Blood Moon Village overrun by Zombie Bulldogs.
- An 8,000 m run under a blood red moon, with a boss every 1,000 m: Sir Rattlebones, Count Barkula, Old Strawhead, The Mummy Mastiff, Wicked Wanda, The Headless Hound and General Gnasher. Each one drops a part.
- At 7,500 m, build the Pumpkin of Souls on the crafting bench from the seven parts. Bear wears it over his head, inside his helmet, and it is yours to wear for good.
- At 8,000 m, The Jack O' Lantern, the mastermind of the war. Beat him to save the village and win him as a sidekick.
- Five power-ups found only in Death To BEAR!: the Witch's Broom, the Soul Lantern, Candy Rush, the Silver Bone and the Bat Pack. The skeletons there wear pumpkin masks.
- Pumpkin Treats, the event's own money: 500 for each of the first two bosses, 1,000 for the next four, 1,500 for the seventh and 2,500 for The Jack O' Lantern. Daily rewards and challenges pay them too.
- The event shop: the Lantern Out sticker, the Blood Moon Village background for your profile, the Skull Collar, the Blood Moon Suit, the Vampire Cape and Boo the Ghost Pup, a new sidekick. A quest wins the Monster Hunter Coat, and two challenges win Bat Ears and a Trick or Treat Bag. Your Pumpkin Treats show next to your Gummy Bears while the event is on.
- The Jack O' Lantern and Boo come with Bear on every mission, and stay yours for good. Once a run, The Jack O' Lantern gives Bear an extra life, unless a power-up saves him first: if a power-up takes the bonk, the extra life goes with it.
- A Death To BEAR! menu theme takes the place of the Deathdogs theme, with an album of new music and a title that will not keep still, and the mode has music of its own.
- When the event ends, Deathdogs comes back and Pumpkin Treats go. Everything you won or bought stays yours: outfits, sidekicks, the sticker and the background are all limited edition.
- Beat King Bulldozer, the final boss at 10,000 m in Dog Dash, and Bear climbs the tallest mountain on Mars and plants his flag on the top, with a victory song and a crown in the sky. The flag shows your Bear on your tribe's colours, or on colours that stand out against your outfit if you are not in a tribe. Then choose Keep playing or Menu.
- The first time, King Bulldozer becomes your sidekick. Every 30 seconds he does a Crater Stomp, and the barriers and bulldogs ahead turn into Gummy Bears.
- New secret outfits: the King Bulldozer Onesie and King Bulldozer's Cape.
- Beating him also wins the Summit Flag sticker: your flag on the top of a Mars mountain. Wear it on your profile straight away, or pick it later from your profile.
- Daily rewards in the Logbook. Claim a reward once a day for 14 days: 50 Gummy Bears a day in the first week and 100 a day in the second. Miss a day and you carry on from where you left off.
- Day 7 brings a limited edition hat and day 14 a limited edition suit. Limited edition is a new rarity: these outfits only show in Choose Character once you have them, and they stay through rebirths. Around Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, Ramadan and Eid, Easter, Diwali and Halloween, they match the season.
- When a daily reward is waiting, it pops up on the Play Menu.
- Trade with your friends: Gummy Bears, Diamond Bears and limited edition outfits. Open a friend's profile and press Trade. Trading opens after your first rebirth, for both of you.
- Starting a trade costs 250 Gummy Bears. You get them back if the trade is declined, cancelled or runs out of time, or if nothing is traded.
- Both players accept, then both check everything once more and confirm. Nothing moves until you have both confirmed, and any change means you both accept again.
- In a trade you can send a + to ask for more, or one of ten emojis.
- Bear On Earth sometimes passes a school. Go in, pick one of three doors and find Mr Emmett's classroom. The other two classrooms are locked for now: coming soon.
- Flip Mr Emmett's coin for the test: computers and IT (it lands that way 7 times in 10), or Harrogate. Study the information sheet first: pick it up, zoom in, turn it round and flip it over.
- Ten questions, three lives. Lose all three and Mr Emmett throws his chicken tikka masala, then drives home to Bradford, City Hall, fountains and all.
- Pass and Mr Emmett becomes your sidekick. He gives Bear three extra lives in every run, if you can answer three of his questions each time.
- Mr Emmett speaks with a real Bradford voice.
- Profile stickers, won at big moments: the Summit Flag, Earthling, On the Lead, Top Marks, Wolf Buster, Reborn, and a few secret ones. Ones you have already earned are yours straight away, and stickers stay through rebirths.
- Pick your background and your sticker on your profile, from two strips under Bear: scroll left and right through them. Locked ones show a padlock and say how to win them.
- Drag your sticker anywhere on your profile picture, and everyone sees it where you put it.
- Every profile now shows nine stats. Best run is the longest run in any mission, in place of a best for each one, and time played and bosses beaten are new.
- Choose a pose for Bear on your profile picture: stand, wave or leap. Your sidekick strikes the same pose.
- Your profile picture can show your sidekick next to Bear. Switch it on or off in Settings, under Account.
- Turn music, voices and sound effects up or down on their own, in Settings under Audio. The TV announcer is quieter.
- Before you confirm a trade, a plain summary shows everything you give and everything you get, with a warning if you get nothing back.
- The first time the Mo Manor story finishes, you choose whether it plays every time you press Play. You can change it later in Settings, under Gameplay.
- The Tribe Pass costs 1,000 Gummy Bears to unlock, up from 500. If it is yours already, it stays yours.
- The Tribe Pass pays 100 Gummy Bears a level, up from 50, and every 10th level pays 250 Gummy Bears and 10 Diamond Bears.
- Badges no longer pay out by themselves: earn one, then press Claim in the Logbook. A dot on the Logbook button means something is waiting.
- Jet has a new voice, with a proper Yorkshire accent.
- Every story in the game shows Arta Mo © at the bottom, from start to finish.
Update 5: Profiles, friends and tribes
- Your name in the corner of the Play Menu is now a button, with a profile icon. Tap it to open your profile: Bear in the outfit you are wearing, your main numbers, your rebirth tier and your tribe. A red number on it means something is waiting: a friend request, a tribe invitation or a Tribe Pass reward.
- Your profile can have a background: Mars, Earth or a secret one. They unlock the same way the menu themes do. Other players see the one you pick.
- Friends: search for a friend by their username and send a request. Once they accept, you can see each other's Bears, who is playing now, and when the others last played. You can also see the friends you share.
- Tribes: join one for free, or make your own for 1,000 Gummy Bears. Give it a name and put a banner together from 16 icons, 10 colours and 4 patterns. The Tribes tab has a search box.
- A tribe can be open or closed. Anyone can join an open tribe while there is room. A closed tribe needs an invitation, and any member can invite a friend from the Friends list.
- A tribe levels up from the Gummy Bears its members earn, and a higher level makes room for more members. The tribe's page shows how much each member has given.
- Tribe Pass: unlock it for 500 Gummy Bears and it is yours for good. Every level your tribe reaches then pays you 50 Gummy Bears, and every 10th level a Diamond Bear too. Levels the tribe reached before you joined do not count.
- A weekly tribe challenge, Monday to Sunday: the tribe earns 2,000 Gummy Bears for each member. Reach it and every member who helped gets 150 Gummy Bears.
- Leaving a tribe costs 350 Gummy Bears, or what you have if that is less. Only the leader can disband a tribe, hand the lead to another member, or take a member out. The leader can also rename the tribe for 250 Gummy Bears, once a week, or change its banner for 100.
- The Leaderboard has three tabs: Players, Tribes and Friends.
- The Play Menu tells you when a friend accepts your request, when you are invited to a tribe, when you are taken out of one, and when your tribe is disbanded.
- Another player's profile and a tribe's page have a Report button, with three reasons to pick from. A report goes to Arta Mo.
- Rebirths are cheaper to start: the first costs 5,000 Gummy Bears, then 7,500, then 10,000, then 15,000, and 5,000 more each time after that. Once you have had enough rebirths for the whole skill tree, there are no more to do.
- A noticeboard pops up on the Play Menu after each update, once, with a short animation of what is new. To see it again, press Open the noticeboard on this page. Open your profile and press How it works for a quick guide to profiles, friends and tribes.
Update 4: A new way in, themes and challenges
- The game has an opening. Press any button on the first picture, of Bear floating over Mars, and it plays: the picture, the title, and a loading scene where Bear tries on outfits while your save loads.
- It ends on the Play Menu, which is now the first screen you see. Press Play to sign in and start: the sign-in page has become a popup, and the opening story now plays after you press Play.
- The bottom corners of the Play Menu show which account is signed in, and have an About button and the TikTok and Instagram buttons.
- The Play Menu has slimmer buttons, and fits the screen better on laptops and on small phones.
- The Mo Manor story plays every time you press Play. To see it only once each time you open the game, switch it off in Settings, under Gameplay.
- Nerf: Octoalien Power, Postman Power, the skeleton's Bone Bonus and the golden boxers' Boxer Boost now last 20 seconds, down from 30.
- The main menu has themes: Mars, Earth and a secret one. Earth opens when you unlock Bear On Earth. Pick one in Settings, under Theme, where each has a preview.
- Each theme has its own album of music, with the tunes from its mission and some new ones. The menus play the album of the theme that is on.
- Settings has a music player, under Audio: see what is playing, pause it, skip forwards or back, pick a song, or loop one.
- Settings is sorted into tabs: General, Audio, Theme, Gameplay and Account.
- Fourteen new outfits to earn and buy: scarves, chains and collars for Bear's neck, new hats, and new things to carry on his back. There are some for every mission.
- Six new secret outfits are hidden around the game. One of them is waiting for whoever wears Simo's Royal Robe.
- Simo's Royal Robe has been remade: gold brocade, an ermine mantle and fur cuffs.
- A daily challenge and a weekly challenge in the Logbook. The daily one pays 50 Gummy Bears and the weekly one 150, and everyone gets the same ones.
- The Logbook also has six new badges, your place on the leaderboard, and a page of every secret hint with a tick on the ones you have found.
- News from Arta Mo can now appear on the main menu.
- The leaderboard can show a coloured tag next to a player's username.
- Bear on Mars is on TikTok and Instagram. The buttons are on the information page, under Contact us.
Update 3: Bosses, aliens and a leaderboard
- Choose Character on a phone: Bear stays on screen while you scroll through the outfits. Hold the phone sideways and he stands on the left, with the outfits on the right.
- On a small screen, unlocks and power-up messages no longer cover the run. They wait behind a bell in the corner: tap it to pause and read them.
- Bear's laser eyes in Click A Ship fire from his eyes, even in the middle of a jump.
- A new secret outfit is hidden in the opening story. Have a good look round the Mo Manor.
- The Alpha skill has a switch. Once you have learned it, tap it on the skill tree to choose whether Bear starts each run as a weredog.
- The update log says when each update arrived.
- The Logbook and the Leaderboard have swapped places on the main menu.
- Aliens have landed in Dog Dash. The bulldogs are bulldog aliens now, and an octoalien has taken over the postman's round on Mars. Bite him for double Gummy Bears.
- Four new Dog Dash power-ups: Force Bubble, Gummy Magnet, Star Power and Warp Boots.
- Bear zaps ships with laser eyes in Click A Ship.
- Two new skills on the skill tree, Laser Sweep and Bear Pack, bring power-ups to Click A Ship: every ship zapped at once, or two more Bears to help.
- A leaderboard of the top 100 players, ranked by Gummy Bears, showing what each Bear is wearing.
- Usernames. You pick one when you sign up, and it is the name on the leaderboard.
- Rebirth points are now Diamond Bears, and diamond ships are harder to find.
- A rebirth is a proper fresh start: Gummy Bears, Diamond Bears and bought outfits reset, and Planet Deathdogs and Bear On Earth have to be won back. Secret outfits and sidekicks stay. (Changed since: Bear On Earth and Planet Deathdogs now stay open after a rebirth.)
- Steak Thirst lasts 10 seconds. Steaks and golden boxers turn up a little less often.
- The weredog stops for a howl when he turns, and howls again every minute.
- New music all through the Wolf Busters story.
- Play as an app: add Bear on Mars to your phone's home screen and it opens full screen.
- Jet is now Jet Golds.
- This update log, and a way to get in touch.
- A boss fight every 1000 m in Dog Dash: ten bosses, ending with King Bulldozer at 10,000 m.
- A steak every 350 m. Steak Thirst gives Bear wild eyes and a double jump.
- Some steaks have gone off. With the right skill, a bad one starts the secret Wolf Busters story and turns Bear into a weredog.
- A secret Wolf sidekick and the Werewolf Onesie.
- Rebirth and the skill tree, with permanent skills to learn.
- Diamond ships in Click A Ship.
- Play with your phone held sideways or upright. The game asks the first time, and you can change it in Settings.
- The story behind the game moved to its own button on the main menu.
- Start again from scratch, if you want to, from Settings.
- Rush Ride takes 1500 m to recharge.
Update 2: Planet Deathdogs, the Logbook and the story
- The Story: why this game was made, and a picture of the real Bear.
- Skeletons stroll about Planet Deathdogs. Bite one for a Bone Bonus.
- The graveyard throws a party, with its own tune, whenever a power-up is running.
- A secret outfit hidden in the opening story's news report.
- Choose your own keyboard keys for biting and pausing.
- Bear's Logbook: your stats, and badges that pay out Gummy Bears.
- Deathdogs power-ups: Ghost Cloak, Candy Cauldron, Bone Shield and Fight Treat.
- Spooky outfits to buy, and more secrets to find.
- Outfits now have a rarity, from Common to Mythic.
- Planet Deathdogs, a secret haunted mission. Something in the opening story opens the way.
- Zombie Bulldogs and turn-based Dog Fights.
- Cerberus, a three-headed boss who can become a sidekick. Ride him with Rush Ride.
- More secrets tucked into the opening story.
- Each mission has its own music.
- Zombie Bullman, a secret sidekick buried in the opening story.
- Bear got more expressions, and the main menu got music.
- A postman on his round. Bite him for double Gummy Bears and a secret outfit.
- The opening story of how Bear ended up on Mars.
- Jet and the TV got real voices.
- Gummy Bears to collect, and outfits to spend them on in Choose Character.
- The lucky golden boxers.
- Bear On Earth, with Jet, a proper brew and a Yorkshire pudding.
- The first secret outfits.
Update 1: Bear lands on Mars
- Click A Ship and Dog Dash, the first two missions.
Contact
Found a bug, or got an idea for the game? Email hello@bearonmars.com.