To The Moon - Game Review

This is an interesting time in gaming world. Making your own indie game - crazy as it might be - has become easy enough so that anyone can do it. And since anyone can do it - we get tons of new games, of all kinds and varieties. Games that the big companies won't produce. Won't pay to produce. Games that are different.

And different is not a bad word.

One of those games is "To The Moon". Calling it a game is really a stretch. More like - an interactive story. You don't fight. Don't shoot anyone. You don't jump from platform to platform. You don't collect items. You don't make money, or buy items. You don't actually do anything! Except, follow the main story...

And that's about it. You see the story unfolding in front of your eyes. You read the texts, follow the characters, listen to the music. Most of the time, you just click through the conversations. Once in a while you solve a minor (very minor) puzzle that takes all of 5 seconds to complete. And that's it.

To some of you, that may sound like a bad thing. It's not.

Without all these distractions you can really let the story draw you in. You can focus on the plot completely, and ignore all distractions. And it works! The story feels really sad, and you get to identify with the characters and their pain.

The story revolves around an old man named John. On his deathbed, John makes a final wish - to reach the moon. In the game, a technology exists that allows to implent memories inside peoples' heads.

Enter Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts - our 2 officials come to fulfill John's last wish - at least, in his head. In order to do that, they plug a machine to his head, and enter his memories, going through them, from his latest (old age), to his earliest. Their goal: reach an early memory and implant the idea of getting to the moon there. Kinda like "Inception". On the way, they get to know the man, and see interact with his memories.

Most important of all - they get to meet his deceased wife, River, the love of life ever since he was a kid. 

Following the trail of memories is a painful process. At first - it seems strange and intimidating. But as the journey continues, we get to know John and River better. We get to connect to them, and to understand them. And when things start to clear up (after several hours of playing) - emotions start to emerge.

All of that is achieved despite of a century-ago-graphics, and despite repetitive music (which does set the right tone). Quite an achievement.

I've played the entire game with my girlfriend, who's anything but a gamer, and even she enjoyed it. Probably because it doesn't feel like a game. We should probably broaden our definition of a game now...

The game clocks at about 6 hours, and although it's more of an interactive movie than a game - it's a fun experience, well worth the 10$ (cheaper than a movie, lasts longer).

4/5 - go get it.

Have fun getting to the moon

-Shay