Game profile
To the Moon
Two scientists traverse a dying man's memories in reverse to fulfill his final wish of traveling to the moon. Minimalist pixel art frames an emotionally intense story about regret and love.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Adventure / RPG, set in the present day. Visually it is built on pixel art, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. It is built around short sessions, which makes it easy to pick up for half an hour.
Difficulty stays forgiving, so progress rarely depends on your reflexes. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 5 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Travel backward through memories
- Emotionally intense story
- Minimalist pixel art
This fits you if
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- you usually have thirty to sixty minutes and want that to be enough
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you want zero frustration and no difficulty wall
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
- you are watching your budget
Look elsewhere if
- you need real difficulty to stay interested
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you want something that lasts, this is over after 4 hours
- you want something light and easy going
How long is To the Moon?
About 4 hours in total. That is roughly 2 evening(s), so you can realistically finish it this week.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 83 out of 100, which puts it above 47 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 677 overall. That is mid-table for this database. Not a standout at the top, but solidly rated.
For comparison, Adventure averages 83 points across the database, so this one is right in line with its genre. The figure rests on 476 collected ratings.
Released in 2011, which makes it 15 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 2011
- Genres
- Adventure, RPG
- Playtime
- approx. 4 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Relaxed, forgiving
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Present day
- Visual style
- Pixel art
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, Switch, Mobile, Xbox, PlayStation
- Critic rating
- 83 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To the Moon | 2011 | approx. 4 hrs. | 83 | Budget |
| Unavowed | 2018 | approx. 10 hrs. | 79 | Budget |
| Back to the Dawn | 2025 | approx. 25 hrs. | n/a | Budget |
| Disco Elysium | 2019 | approx. 30 hrs. | 89 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- 79/100 Unavowed Shared: Adventure, RPG, Present day, longer
- n/a Back to the Dawn Shared: Adventure, RPG, Present day, longer
- 89/100 Disco Elysium Shared: Adventure, RPG, Present day, longer
- 73/100 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Shared: Adventure, RPG, Present day, longer
- 88/100 Control Resonant Shared: Adventure, RPG, Present day, longer
- 84/100 Citizen Sleeper Shared: Adventure, RPG, longer, rated higher