A Trip to the Moon is a free adventure video game wherein you get to go to the moon. Developed by NamraGameDev, this 2D indie platformer features beautiful hand-drawn art to go with its whimsical storytelling through the use of gameplay stages. Made for the “Game Off 2020” jam, this game was heavily inspired by the classic 1902 French adventure short film, Le Voyage Dans la Lune, and contains various references to it.

In memory of director Georges Méliès

A Trip to the Moon is a direct homage to Le Voyage Dans la Lune—especially with its name being the English title of the movie. From the space adventure plot about reaching the moon to the recreation of the iconic scene where the space capsule lands on the moon’s eye, it’s an obvious love letter to the film and its legacy of becoming a great influence on the filmmaking industry. 

The game plays out like a black-and-white silent cartoon, complete with “expository intertitles” or the descriptive text that shows up to explain things to the audience. This is how the tutorial plays out and teaches you most of the controls—although some like the W and D keys for left and right movement and Spacebar for jumping are not taught since they are commonly used. Much of the story is portrayed in how you progress through the levels.

This platformer is pretty short and easy to finish in a few minutes. The main goal is to keep going to the next area, regardless of whether you defeated any of the enemies. What’s great is that if you die, you repeat an area. However, this annoyingly respawns enemies you’ve already gotten rid of. Another issue is that the keybindings for the keyboard require you to play with both hands.

Short but fantastical

Nonetheless, A Trip to the Moon is a beautiful indie game that’s worth a try for any platformer fans or fans of short but story-driven adventures. While the lack of keybinding settings can make things tricky for the harder late stages, they’re actually challenging and not frustrating to complete. The art style and silent storytelling is also pretty compelling and keeps you going through each area to see where the plot takes you.