In the vast majority of base-building strategy games, things are pretty static. Sure, you can usually expand your reach far and wide or build multiple settlements, but everything tends to stay exactly where you left it. In the upcoming RTS game Dark Moon, however, you, your crew, and your lunar research facility are always on the move as you navigate the surface of the Moon in deadly circumstances. You can now get a taste of what that feels like in action, as playtests for Dark Moon have just got underway.
Dark Moon has been in development for quite a while now. Revealed over five years ago, the RTS game has had plenty of time in the oven over at Jujubee SA, the same studio behind the Realpolitiks strategy series. However, its intriguing premise means that it has remained a highly anticipated title. You and your crew were deployed to the Moon to set up a new mining facility. However, when an unprecedented solar storm wipes out all of the electronics and communications on both Earth and the Moon, your plans change. The intense radiation from the Sun’s rays now means that you must constantly remain in the shadows – exposure to them by straying into the light will be lethal.
The goal now is to survive, and build a settlement that can house you, your crew, and any other survivors you find. To remain on the move and dodge the shifting solar rays, you build your settlement atop the Mechaplex, a giant, spider-like machine. As Jujubee puts it, the Mechaplex is both a “base of operations” and a “getaway vehicle.”
You must learn new technologies, recruit new crew members, and harvest resources in order to build new structures and tools aboard the Mechaplex. Equally, you must plan ahead to ensure you have what you need to take on more crew and survivors as you encounter them. Of course, on top of all that, you need to make sure you’re constantly charting a course that’ll keep you shrouded in darkness.
The management game elements extend further, as you need to keep your crew both safe and happy – some may not agree with your methods and decisions as you try to survive this hostile environment.
You can now be among some of the first people to play Dark Moon as Jujubee has just kicked off a closed playtest. “Only a small portion of in-game content will be available during testing, namely the tutorial for some of our upcoming title’s core mechanics,” the studio says, but it’s still an opportunity to get a very early feel for the game. You’ll need to register on Steam, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get an invite, but you can sign up here.
There’s currently no release date for Dark Moon, and if you’re not accepted into the playtest, here are some other incredible strategy games and space games you can try instead.
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