31: First Look at To the Moon
Days passed, and the deadline for the Game Challenge was getting close.
All kinds of game developers and companies uploaded their entries to the official game platform.
These included mobile games and PC games, most of them single-player, though there were a few online games too.
Clearly, some of them were in it to win, while others just joined in for fun.
Since they were already working on a project, they figured they might as well submit something.
Who knows? Maybe they'd win.
Once the games were uploaded, the next step was an initial review.
They'd filter out anything with serious issues or that was clearly rushed and low-quality.
This part wasn't public, but even the rejected games would still be listed on the platform.
Even with this rule in place, the number of rejected games each year was pretty low.
After all, only qualified game designers were allowed to enter, so most had at least some skill.
But this year, the attention was focused on one thing.
People were wondering whether Lucas's game, developed in just over ten days, would pass the review.
"It's out, it's out. I skimmed through the list—none of the games were rejected!"
"Holy crap, does that mean the Game Division actually approved Lucas's entry?"
"So that means at the very least, it's a working game, right?"
"Found it, found it! Lucas's new game is called To the Moon."
"Sounds decent just from the name. Is it about space or something?"
"The price is really low! Only 2 dollar?"
"Looks like it's available on both platforms—two different versions."
"Wait, two versions? Even Undertale didn't get that treatment!"
"I've gotta check this out. What kind of game did Lucas make in just ten days?"
As the entries were released, tons of players rushed to download the ones that caught their interest.
Of course, Lucas's To the Moon was at the top of that list.
...
On the game section of SharkTV's streaming platform—
Many streamers started live-testing the entries for the Game Contest.
SharkTV was helping promote the event, since it was being organized by the Game Division and had a bit of an official feel—even if they hadn't directly contacted SharkTV.
Still, when it's time to play nice, the platform knew how to show support.
Even if they weren't asked to help, the smart ones got the hint.
One of the SharkTV streamers, Eric, was aware of the event.
So that morning, he went live, with his stream titled: "Trying Out the Game Challenge Entries."
"Morning, folks!"
"What's going on, man? You're live this early?"
"Damn, did a monkey escape from the zoo or what?"
"Eric's here already?"
As soon as Eric started his stream, the chat was flooded with all kinds of jokes and teasing.
Seeing all the comments, Eric just chuckled to himself.
"Ahem, ahem!!"
"Alright, alright. Good morning, everyone. Today we're checking out one of the entries for the game design competition. Gotta say, we've got a big task ahead!"
While adjusting his streaming setup, Eric typed in his login info and entered the official game platform.
"First up, let's try the new game from the guy who made Undertale."
"Not gonna lie, I've been looking forward to this one."
"Why? Well, I mean, Undertale was just that good."
"But this new one called To the Moon—I heard it was made in just over ten days. And the crazy part is, it actually made it through the first round of cuts by the Game Division. Now I really wanna know what kind of game this is."
As he spoke, Eric opened the platform and searched for To the Moon.
"Changing memories? An old guy's last wish is to go to the moon? Man, this is wild."
"Today, as a proud grown man, I will see what this game is all about."
The game wasn't very big, and his fast internet downloaded it in no time.
He ignored the sea of question marks flying through the chat and went ahead and opened the game.
The game installed quickly.
The icon was simple—two kids sitting on a log, looking at the moon in the distance.
When it launched, the Nebula Games logo came and went.
Then a full moon, a lighthouse, stars scattered in the sky, and a few clouds drifting by.
The title To the Moon was carved into the moon.
At the same time, the camera slowly panned downward.
A soft piano piece started playing in the background—warm and calming.
Like moonlight, peaceful and still.
There was a lighthouse, a grassy field, and a large house near the cliff by the lighthouse.
The camera moved into the house, where a girl was sitting at a piano, playing. A little boy was next to her.
Then the music changed to a simpler piano melody. If you closed your eyes, it felt like you were standing by a quiet stream in a forest.
"Say what you want, but this music is really nice!"
"Yup, that's Lucas's work for you. No need to say more—the music is top-notch."
"Yeah, these two piano tracks sound great."
"Even in Undertale, the music added so much to the game!"
"Not just Undertale, Mirror had really good music too!"
"Caught a gentleman in the wild!"
Seeing the chat messages, Eric quietly nodded to himself.
The game hadn't really started yet, so it was hard to say if it would be fun, but the music was definitely solid.
Just as everyone was getting pulled into the beautiful piano piece, a car engine suddenly roared, followed by the sound of a crash.
The screen shook a little to match the impact.
The camera cut to outside the house, where a black car had slammed into a tree.
Two people—a man and a woman, both wearing lab coats—stepped out of the car, looking like doctors.
"Where were you looking while driving, Neil?"
"Uh, sorry. I was heroically dodging a squirrel that jumped out of nowhere."
"...But still, you ran over it. And crashed into a tree."
"See? Nothing to worry about—it's the company car."
"Are you serious? The boss is going to kill us!"
"Well... let's just say I saved a puppy. He likes dogs, right?"
"He's more of a cat person."
"Why is the world so complicated? Okay, whatever he likes—we're in the clear!"
-------------1--------------
32: Why Did It Suddenly Get Spooky?
As the two scientists talked, Eric could finally access the game's control screen.
The simple, slightly sarcastic dialogue stood out. When they walked up to the squirrel, the back-and-forth between the male and female doctors continued.
"This game's attention to detail is really solid. The writing too—it's all very sharp, just like Undertale. Every little thing counts," Eric said as he played.
For example, when they passed a signpost, they joked about whether it'd get stolen out here in the mountains.
The dialogue had a bit of humor, and it made Eric, as a streamer, feel a bit sidelined—
This kind of banter? That's usually his job!
If the game's already doing all the snark, what's left for him to say?
"Is this more of a story-driven game? Feels a bit slow," Eric commented.
Aside from moving around and a few simple conversations, the only moment that stood out was when they moved what looked like a rock.
Nothing else really happened.
Even Undertale had some simple bullet-dodging battle scenes.
The only thing that really stood out here was the music.
From Mirror to Undertale to this one, To the Moon, the soundtrack had always been great.
As for the visuals—Lucas did make some upgrades compared to the RPG Maker pixel art of his previous life.
But still, it was just okay—not amazing by any means.
While Eric was thinking this, the two doctors, Neil and Eva, arrived at their destination: a large mansion.
After they knocked on the door, a middle-aged woman answered. Her name was Lily, according to the intro.
She was the one who looked after an elderly man named Johnny.
The two kids playing the piano earlier were her daughter and son.
After a quick intro, Lily led the two doctors upstairs.
Meanwhile, back in the living room, the two kids started arguing over who got to play piano, then ended up sitting side by side and playing together.
It was the same tune that played right before the car crash.
Was that the game's main theme?
That's what Eric guessed.
As the doctors Neil and Watts kept bickering, Lily and another doctor filled them in on the main character, Johnny.
Johnny was bedridden, in a deep coma—alive only in the most technical sense.
According to the doctor, he only had two or three days left.
And Johnny's final wish was simple: to go to the moon.
Why he wanted that, though, Lily didn't know.
Even though she took care of him, Johnny never really talked to anyone. He was a very odd man.
"Damn, the old guy's got some wild dreams! He wants to go to the moon? So the whole point of this game is to figure out why he wants to go, and then help him make it happen?"
"A puzzle game, huh? Now we're talking! Brain games are my thing!"
Eric slapped his leg after going over what they'd figured out so far.
He talked to the caretaker, Lily, and got a clue—basically, they need to find certain key memories from Johnny, then use those to enter his mind and change things to help him fulfill his wish.
Since a person's memory spans a whole lifetime, you can't just scan it all at once with the machine, so they need to find memory anchors.
Eric left the female doctor tinkering with the machine, while he controlled the male doctor to wander around the house.
"Damn, this old guy's loaded! This house is huge!"
"But seriously, the guy's lucky he ran into me. Wants to go to the moon? Heck, if you wanted Mars, I'd get you there too!"
Eric kept chatting as he had the male doctor walk around. On the first floor, he tried talking to two kids, hoping they'd show him around so he could dig up some clues. But the little brats told him to get them a candy cane first.
"Man, these two are something else. Whatever, I'm not gonna argue with kids."
He headed into the kitchen and saw the candy cane on a high shelf. But the character couldn't reach it, so Eric had to drag over a chair to stand on.
"Don't get it twisted. I could totally reach that shelf! It's the game's doctor who's too short—not me!"
"I'm 190 cm, man! No way I can't reach a cabinet. What a joke!"
Seeing the chat messages flying by in his livestream, Eric twitched a bit, but didn't stop his banter.
190 cm meant he could dunk if he had to!
He gave the candy cane to the two kids and got some useful clues from them.
Apparently, Johnny used to go to the basement often when he was still active. Also, the piano piece the kids were playing was one Johnny used to play when he was healthy.
Following their lead, Eric found his way into a small room in the basement.
It was pitch dark, with only a lamp nearby.
But the second Eric turned it on, the music in the game suddenly changed.
It turned creepy, eerie, and tense. The dim lighting didn't help, and the whole room was filled with paper rabbits made out of colorful paper.
"What the hell? Why'd this suddenly turn into a horror game?!"
It caught him totally off guard. The shift in mood made Eric's skin crawl.
The room wasn't that big—it looked like some kind of storage space.
The floor was piled with folded paper rabbits. On the table near the door sat a platypus plush toy.
It wasn't straight-up horror.
But it definitely gave off a lot of psychological pressure.
Even the chat was blowing up.
"This vibe just got super spooky!"
"Don't tell me this turns into a horror game…"
"Spam the chat, y'all—I'm scared!"
"Why are you guys acting like babies? It's broad daylight!"
Eric glanced at the overly dramatic chat and took a deep breath to steady himself, then started searching the room.
The platypus plush could be picked up—looked like an important item.
As for the game, yeah, the vibe was off.
But he had already checked—there was no horror tag on it.
It was only labeled as adventure and story-driven.
No need to panic. Even if it was horror, so what?
He was 190 cm and built like an athlete. Was he really gonna let some game scare him?
"Alright, alright, look at you scaredy-cats!"
"Let's keep going and see what this game's really hiding—why does the old man want to go to the moon? What's up with all these paper rabbits? We'll figure it all out soon."
Eric chatted with the livestream viewers a bit more and went back to moving the story forward.
--------------1---------------
33: Full of Confusion
While chatting with the two kids, Dr. Neil got another piece of information—that Johnny used to visit a lighthouse near the edge of a cliff often, back when he was still healthy.
And Johnny built his house in such a remote place just to be close to that lighthouse? Clearly, something's going on here!
So Eric followed the two kids toward the lighthouse.
On the way to the lighthouse, everyone started chatting about random stuff, which made the boring walk a bit more fun.
Boy: "Do you play role-playing games too?"
Dr. Neil: "Uh… I don't…"
Girl: "He's not cool enough to play those!"
Dr. Neil: "If I wanted to, there's nothing I couldn't do!"
Right after he said that, the two kids spotted a sleeping squirrel and shouted with excitement.
"Look, a squirrel!"
At that moment, Dr. Neil got into a serious stance: "Oh no! A scary squirrel monster!"
What?
In front of the screen, Eric was totally confused.
Right after that, some intense battle music started playing. The squirrel, Dr. Neil, and the two kids faced each other, and a rough-looking RPG turn-based battle screen popped up.
"Don't worry, kids! I'll protect you!"
The two kids looked at each other, shrugged, and gave helpless looks.
Attack and defend buttons appeared on the screen.
"What the heck? This kind of system? Why does it feel so weird?!"
"Oh my god!"
Seeing how the game suddenly changed its style, Eric was stunned.
He clicked the attack button, and four skill options showed up.
"Volcano Kick, Tornado Palm, Final Blow, Shoes?"
Eric looked completely lost and picked one at random.
Then a new option popped up: scream volume.
There were three choices—Loud, Louder, and Loudest.
What kind of nonsense is this?!
What even are these?
Eric was totally dumbfounded.
He picked the loudest one without hesitation.
"Your turn is over, squirrel monster!"
Dr. Neil shouted with all his might.
Then the two kids behind him stepped forward.
"Stop it—or I'll tell Mom you're bullying animals!"
"Yeah! She'll call the police and have you arrested!"
Right after that, the whole RPG UI disappeared. The squirrel looked at Dr. Neil like he was an idiot, then turned and ran off.
"What the heck kind of twist is this?! I was just getting into it! Totally got played!"
At that point, Eric finally understood—this was just a joke scene inside the game that made fun of classic turn-based RPGs.
Because in most RPGs, that's exactly how things go.
The livestream chat was going wild with comments.
"Damn, I really thought it was a turn-based RPG!"
"Just got into it and now I'm pulled right out!"
"Haha, I was wondering why the art style suddenly changed."
"Damn, we got tricked!"
"Lucas is such a troll!"
"23333333, I actually think it's pretty fun. Could this be a comedy game?"
"Haha, maybe! Everything so far has been full of humor!"
In the game, Eric followed the steps and arrived at a lighthouse by the sea.
In front of the lighthouse, there was a gravestone.
The name on the gravestone was: River Wyles.
"It's the old man's wife's grave."
Looking at the grave, Eric remembered the nanny in the house had once said Johnny had a wife, but she passed away a long time ago.
Clearly, this was the old man's wife's grave—but why was she buried in front of the lighthouse?
Did this lighthouse mean something special to the couple?
With these questions in mind, Eric climbed to the top of the lighthouse.
There were paper rabbits here, just like the ones in the basement earlier, but one of them was different.
This one was made with two different colored papers, and folding it that way took much longer than the regular ones.
It could also be collected, and seemed like an important item.
But Eric only felt more confused.
After going in circles, none of his questions were answered—he just ended up with even more.
The lighthouse and the paper rabbits… what did they all mean?
Full of doubt, he returned to Johnny's room and started up the machine with Dr. Watts, who was already prepared.
Johnny, the old man lying in bed, was about to have his whole life shown to them.
But just like before, they needed a link to enter his memories.
The goal was to reach the old man's childhood memories. That way, they could plant the dream of becoming an astronaut. With the help of the machine, that dream would become something he held on to in his virtual memories.
In the end, the old man would be able to create a fictional future—one where he became an astronaut and landed on the moon. And that would fulfill his final wish.
To reach that goal, they had to go step by step through his recent memories, slowly working their way back to his childhood.
Before they began, they found a sheet of music by the piano downstairs—For River.
It was composed by Johnny himself, clearly written for his wife.
Behind the house, the two doctors found Johnny, and during their conversation, something strange came up.
Dr. Neil asked Johnny why he wanted to go to the moon.
But even Johnny himself seemed confused.
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know."
"I just… want to."
Seeing Johnny's lost expression, Eric—like many people watching the stream—was stunned.
He didn't even know why he wanted to go to the moon?
Then why was the obsession so strong?
"Could it be the origin of an alien invasion? No… that doesn't make sense."
Eric looked puzzled, but full of curiosity, he pushed the story forward. Using the paper rabbit he got at the lighthouse, he triggered a memory jump to move further back in Johnny's memories.
Time moved back—the game showed Johnny's later years.
The room was full of paper rabbits, and old Johnny just sat at the piano, playing the song he wrote for River over and over again.
It was clear that by this time, River had already passed away.
"Paper rabbits... what do they really mean?"
Eric was sure at that moment—the paper rabbit must have something to do with Johnny's wish to go to the moon.
But the question was, what exactly was the connection?
This part of the game was also very simple—it was just about finding memory items related to Johnny.
Once you found them all, you'd do a not-so-hard puzzle, and then the story would continue, taking you deeper into Johnny's memories.
At this point, one thing was clear—To the Moon wasn't a game focused on fancy gameplay.
It was a story-driven game, plain and simple.
(End of Chapter)