9.5/10
So... You're here to take me to the moon?


To The Moon doesn't offer much in the gameplay department. It doesn't present stunning visuals nor is it particularly exciting... But it doesn't pretend to offer any of those things. It's short, honest, beautiful and emotionally consuming. A solid piece of masterful storytelling.


The story follows the whimsical Dr. Neil Watts and level-headed Dr. Eva Rosalene, high-ranking employees of the Sigmund Agency of Life corporation, a service that specializes in altering a terminal person's memory before time of death in order to make their dreams come true. Basically, they're selling deathbed happiness.

To The Moon isn't a comedy, though it's hilarious. It isn't a tragedy though it's heart-rending. What it is is brilliant. The dialogue is as powerful and relatable as the thematic is harrowing. I don't want to go into too much detail about the story; I want you to experience the twisty narrative of it by yourselves.


At first glance, the game plays like you'd expect an RPG to play, minus any form of combat or statistical management. The gameplay mechanics are bare-bones: You walk around, talk with people and interact with objects to progress in a linear fashion. The walk-and-interact gameplay is briefly diversified every now and then with a series of flip-tile puzzles. These are never too difficult and are not detrimental to the experience in the least. Other unexpected gameplay elements are also introduced for brief segments, all of which are an appreciated change of pace.

Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene enter the mind of John (their patient) and start off in a late memory. They need to understand the patient's history in order to progress farther back into his past and construct variables to influence the patient's future. The goal is simple: Work your way through John's memories and spark the changes that will alter his future forever.


The original soundtrack may be the strongest aspect of the game. It's strongly in-tune with the emotions that the game attempts to pull out of you and often feels like it leads the resulting impressions. I can't lie, I had to hold back tears to Laura Shigihara's "Everything's Alright" when it ripped the limelight from the scene during which it's presented.


Though the game isn't a technical marvel in itself, the user interface is pretty bland and appears "cheap". The lack of options or settings is odd and the game does not support the Steam overlay. These are all very minor shortcomings and I could only bring myself to shave off a fraction of a point for these. The game otherwise runs well, saves automatically to prevent progress loss and it all just works.


An engaging fable of love, waning time and the human condition it encompasses. A tale of fabrication and untruth. This is a story you likely won't soon forget. It lingers with you. A tragic comedy.

To The Moon is a success. A brilliant, sense-shattering success.

9.5/10 [b]So... You're here to take me to the moon?[/b] [h1]Overview[/h1] [i]To The Moon[/i] doesn't offer much in the gameplay department. It doesn't present stunning visuals nor is it particularly exciting... But it doesn't pretend to offer any of those things. It's short, honest, beautiful and emotionally consuming. A solid piece of masterful storytelling. [h1]Story[/h1] The story follows the whimsical Dr. Neil Watts and level-headed Dr. Eva Rosalene, high-ranking employees of the Sigmund Agency of Life corporation, a service that specializes in altering a terminal person's memory before time of death in order to make their dreams come true. Basically, they're selling deathbed happiness. [i]To The Moon[/i] isn't a comedy, though it's hilarious. It isn't a tragedy though it's heart-rending. What it is is brilliant. The dialogue is as powerful and relatable as the thematic is harrowing. I don't want to go into too much detail about the story; I want you to experience the twisty narrative of it by yourselves. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] At first glance, the game plays like you'd expect an RPG to play, minus any form of combat or statistical management. The gameplay mechanics are bare-bones: You walk around, talk with people and interact with objects to progress in a linear fashion. The walk-and-interact gameplay is briefly diversified every now and then with a series of flip-tile puzzles. These are never too difficult and are not detrimental to the experience in the least. Other unexpected gameplay elements are also introduced for brief segments, all of which are an appreciated change of pace. Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene enter the mind of John (their patient) and start off in a late memory. They need to understand the patient's history in order to progress farther back into his past and construct variables to influence the patient's future. The goal is simple: Work your way through John's memories and spark the changes that will alter his future forever. [h1]Audio[/h1] The original soundtrack may be the strongest aspect of the game. It's strongly in-tune with the emotions that the game attempts to pull out of you and often feels like it leads the resulting impressions. I can't lie, I had to hold back tears to Laura Shigihara's "Everything's Alright" when it ripped the limelight from the scene during which it's presented. [h1]Technical[/h1] Though the game isn't a technical marvel in itself, the user interface is pretty bland and appears "cheap". The lack of options or settings is odd and the game does not support the Steam overlay. These are all very minor shortcomings and I could only bring myself to shave off a fraction of a point for these. The game otherwise runs well, saves automatically to prevent progress loss and it all just works. [h1]The TL;DR[/h1] An engaging fable of love, waning time and the human condition it encompasses. A tale of fabrication and untruth. This is a story you likely won't soon forget. It lingers with you. A tragic comedy. [i]To The Moon[/i] is a success. A brilliant, sense-shattering success.