Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror Psychological horror

Moons of Madness

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Cosmic horror on a failing research base on Mars.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (77% of 2,950 reviews); Metacritic 69 (PC)
Length: about 6 to 8 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Rock Pocket Games
Released: 2019

What frightens An engineer alone on a research outpost on Mars watches its systems fail, a strange mist fill the greenhouse and his crew go silent, and starts seeing visions and monstrous, tentacled things from beyond the stars.
Content: jumpscares, disturbing imagery, violence.

Moons of Madness is a first-person cosmic horror game set on Mars. As Shane Newehart, an engineer keeping a secret research outpost running, you fix failing systems, solve puzzles and explore beyond the base while visions and something ancient and alien close in.

About Moons of Madness

Moons of Madness is made by Rock Pocket Games with Dreamloop Games and published by Funcom. It came out on PC in October 2019 and on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2020. It is set in the same universe as Funcom's The Secret World, though you need not know that game.

The Orochi corporation has picked up a signal from Mars that its analysts say is of intelligent origin, and has built a research outpost, Trailblazer Alpha, in secret to study it. You are Shane Newehart, an engineer at the base whose clearance is too low to know any of this. Your job is to keep the lights on until the next crew arrives. Then the systems start failing, a strange mist fills the greenhouse, and the rest of the team does not come back from their mission outside.

Most of the game is exploration and puzzles: computers, electrical systems, rovers and solar panels on a base built to feel believable. Between them come visions, hallucinations and monstrous apparitions that make you question what is real, a few chases and a couple of short stealth sections. Beyond the outpost lies the darker side of Mars, and something ancient waiting there.

Reviewers praised its visuals, writing and puzzles, and some found the stealth parts frustrating. It suits players who like story-led, puzzle-heavy horror in the vein of SOMA or Call of Cthulhu, with space and Lovecraft in equal measure.

How to play Moons of Madness

Explore the Mars outpost in first person, reading notes and messages to learn what is going on.
Fix the base's systems by solving puzzles with computers, circuits, power and equipment.
Head outside in your suit to reach other parts of the base and the surface beyond.
Get away from the apparitions in chase sequences, and stay hidden in the few stealth sections.
Look for lore entries to fill in the story and the Orochi conspiracy.

Screenshots

Moons of Madness screenshot: a towering tentacled creature rises through mist and dark branches beyond a console

Moons of Madness screenshot: an astronaut in a worn suit stands in a red Martian dust storm beside a stack of balanced stones

Moons of Madness screenshot: a bunk, desk and round window inside the cramped crew quarters of the Mars outpost

Moons of Madness screenshot: caged lamps hang over a dim cave chamber with candles and a carved floor of strange symbols

Tips

Read the logs and emails; they explain both the puzzles and the plot.
Save your nerves for the second half, where the stealth and chase sections come.
Take your time with the puzzles; most rely on reading the equipment carefully.
There are two endings, both reachable from the final checkpoint.