Steam Users Can Now Buy To The Moon, A Game About Marriage, Memories, And So Much More

I didn’t know if I was strong enough to play a four-hour story game.

And yet, rewriting a subjective reality through memory modification isn’t the part of the game that haunted me. I’ve encountered metaphysics in my media before. Instead, what lingered with me when I tried to sleep was the picture of a life-long relationship, a decades-long marriage that fell to pieces as its partners aged.

We see the story of Johnny and River unfolding in reverse. When we meet him, she has already passed away; the moment where he and she first meet doesn’t show up until near the end of the story. And so, before they have ever met, we see everything wrong with their relationship.

Tiny glimpses of their marriage show us that really, this pairing isn’t healthy. There’s something wrong deep in the core of it, something undermining the entirety of their lives together. And although early hints suggest the problem lies with River, the truth of the matter is far more complex. The major flaw in their marriage isn’t River’s Asperger’s; it’s John’s reaction to it.

Johnny means well. And yet throughout their lives together, his concerns perpetually underestimate and undermine River’s autonomy. He asks a doctor’s office to silence a clock for her sake, even though she says the tick is fine. During an equine therapy session, he wonders, “Is that really a good idea?” prompting her to respond, “I’ll be fine. I’m not a child.” And then, most damningly, we see the conversation between John and his friend, Nick, before John asks River on their first date:

John: “Look, Nick. I just… I just don’t wanna be another typical kid in a sea of typical people.”

Nick: “But how the heck would being with her change your own identity? I mean, you’d just be some guy who hangs out with a shy girl.”

John:“She’s not just shy, Nick. There’s something strange about her.

Nick: “Being strange isn’t always a good thing, y’know. Do you even know if she wants to be different? Maybe she just wants to fit in like everyone else. And if she does, pushing her the other way wouldn’t help, would it?”

John:“Look, Nick, the point is that I know what I need, and she’s the one who has it.

Nick: “So you want her for what she has, but not for her? That’s cold, man. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

John:“I do.”

Nick: “I think you’re wrong, though.”

The music, so much our guide through this story, heavily underscores Nick’s words. And we, the players who saw the story of John and River’s life together unfold in reverse, can finally see the cracked foundations upon which their whole relationship was built.