Japanese game company Historia and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have collaborated to release Real Moon – a free Steam game that “recreates a scientifically grounded, realistic Moon” for players to explore.
Using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and other observational statistics provided by JAXA, Historia was able to accurately portray the surface of the Moon in Unreal Engine 5. Crater slopes, rock dispersion patterns, and other geographical features were created based on research papers and other scientific studies. The game also features a moving Sun, Earth, and Moon, all three of which change positions as time passes.
As Real Moon is a small realistic simulator, you won’t find any aliens to fight or a traditional gameplay loop here. Instead, you are given a single mission and are otherwise free to explore the surface by foot or by space rover. An entire playthrough will take you about 15-30 minutes, which is more than enough time for a close-up look at that natural mass in the sky.
Real Moon is available for free on PC (Steam).
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