Gameplay

To the Moon is built on the RPG Maker XP engine, which is used to create 16-bit 2D role-playing games, in the style of Dragon Questor Final Fantasy. However, unlike a typical RPG, To the Moon has no battle system (aside from a joke battle near the beginning), inventory system, nor party system. The game's focus, being a more story-driven game, is around puzzle solving, interpreting information from the subject's (Johnny's) life, and finding ways to get deeper into his memories.

Gameplay is primarily about exploring Johnny's memories to find significant objects and collect energy from them to strengthen the memory and connect to a more distant one, from Johnny's old age leading back to his childhood. Occasionally, the player will have to explore Johnny's house and the surrounding area for certain clues, if they cannot gather enough energy from a certain memory, or don't know how to proceed to a further one.

Once the items are all gathered and the player has seen all the memories, they can connect certain objects that exist across two different memories to move freely between them. At this point, the player can begin manipulating the memories, by changing around characters, objects and events, to make Johnny believe he had achieved his dream of going to the moon.

Sequels

A game set in the same universe, titled A Bird Story was released in November 2014. While not a direct continuation of the story, it serves as a bridge between To the Moon and Finding Paradise, a direct sequel which was released on December 14, 2017. 

Reception

To the Moon received generally positive reviews. Critics, while noting that the gameplay itself was lacking, praised the story and music. The game holds an average rating of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic.

In GameSpot's 2011 Game of the Year awards, To the Moon was given the "Best Story" award, which was won against Catherine, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Portal 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles. which were also voted in the same category. To the Moon was also nominated in the categories of "Best Music". "Most Memorable Moment","Best Writing/Dialogue","Best Ending",and "Song of the Year".

In 2018, the mobile version was nominated for the "Game, Original Adventure" and "Original Light Mix Score, New IP" categories at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards.