We are excited to launch our game MOON tomorrow (Saturday, April 19th). The game is free to play, works on mobile, and connects to Hive. Come get mooned!
To see the game in action, take a look at this YouTube video:
To keep things fresh, this game will periodically reset. This gives new players a good time to jump in and start without feeling left behind. For the first round, we are setting a victory condition. The game will end about 1 week after the first player unlocks the Battle Fortress ship. This is the most powerful ship in the game, and it can destroy moons. We expect to reach this milestone a few months after the season begins, but we cannot predict precisely when it will be achieved. Offensive players may sabotage players who are rushing to the victory condition tech unlock.
For future seasons, we have many ideas for other victory conditions. As well as fun weekend contest events. A lot depends on how the first season goes. We can rebalance and adjust things for Season 2.
The Solar Plant generates energy, which is used to produce the three primary resources. For this production to occur, the energy used in production cannot exceed the energy generated by the plant. When the load exceeds the available energy, the energy numbers in the menu turn red. Avoid running with an energy deficit.
Metal is the first of the three primary resources available in the game. It is used for almost everything you can build or research. Therefore, expansion of the ore extractors is advised.
Silicon is highly used for buildings, ships, and research. It is produced more slowly than metal, making it more expensive.
Uranium is a fuel source, highly used for research, as fuel for ships, and for scanning star systems.
Pizzabits is the fourth resource of the game. You can spend them on officers, a ship merchant, or a traveling salesperson. None of those things is core to the gameplay. Buildings, ships, defenses, and research do not require Pizzabits.
There are two ways to gain Pizzabits: from expedition missions and deposits. A deposit of 1 pizza is converted to 10 Pizzabits. And they cannot be transferred between players or converted back to PIZZA.
Pizzabit purchases only last for one universe or season. They will not transfer to a new season.
In a separate post, we will explain what happens to the PIZZA tokens. A portion of them will be returned to the players as rewards.
After constructing a Shipyard, you can begin assembling a fleet and planet defenses. Look at the Technologies tab to find the list of all available ships in the game. Some ships have higher technology requirements. Leveling up the Shipyard enables faster construction of ships and defenses.
Researching new technologies unlocks new buildings, ships, and defenses. The Technologies tab also shows the list of all available research. Research can also yield bonuses for production and combat. Research progress can be accelerated by upgrading the Research Lab building.
The Robot Factory is a crucial building for expediting the construction queue. Upgrading this building reduces construction time for other buildings.
The Galaxy tab is used to find nearby planets and players. Here you will find detailed information on planets. Quick actions allow you to dispatch fleets and missiles. Besides that, you can message other players and send spy probes to collect intel.
You can send your fleet directly from the Galaxy tab or the Fleets tab. First, select the quantity of ship types to send on a mission. Second, enter the coordinates (auto-filled if you clicked on the planet) and select the speed of flying. A slower flight consumes less fuel.
The last step is selecting which type of mission, such as Attack, Transfer, Transport, Recycle, Colonize, Expedition, or Deploy.
Transfer means to gift the ship to the target player. Recycling is for collecting battle debris. Colonize is only for colony ships to settle on a new planet. Expedition is available when flying to deep space for exploration.
Defenses protect your planets in addition to parked ships. These offer some protection against enemy ships being raided. Unlike fleet ships, 70% of destroyed defenses are repaired after battle.
A raid is an attack on another player's planet to steal resources. If an attack is successful, up to 50% of the resources on the target planet may be taken as plunder. There are several types of attacks, such as:
A focused raider tries to steal resources fast and easily. Often, your neighbors are all active players who are online or fleet saving. Inactive players are easier targets as they are not likely to come online.
The Alliance Combat System (ACS) allows friends and alliance members to temporarily combine their fleets for attack or defense, enabling them to take down or repel a more powerful enemy. Building an Alliance Depot is not a prerequisite to using ACS.
Fleet interception is brutal. You must determine how, when, and where the player is saving the fleet. To do that, you have to observe the player. Using a phalanx sensor, you can detect fleets on planets. Depending on how the player hides, you may have to destroy the moon(s) to detect the fleets.
Heavy defenses can make raiders hesitate to attack ships parked at a planet. In some universes, destroyed defenses do not contribute to the debris field.
Missiles can be used to wipe out defenses, since Interplanetary Missiles' only aim is to destroy defenses. Missiles are one-time use, unlike ships. A well-planned attack, with several interplanetary missiles, reduces the danger of losing a fleet. Interceptor missiles are less expensive and counter the missile threat.
An increase in spy research level allows you to probe the planets and defenses of the other players.
It is best that no player can see all of what you have while you are offline. Raiders can only probe and steal the resources on the planet, not cargo that is flying through space. Enemies may decide that you are weak and poor, and therefore not bother to attack you.
Fleet Saving is a key component of the game strategy. It works by sending your fleet to a nearby planet on a Transfer Mission, checking the time so you can be online to "Return" the flight before it arrives at the destination.
Another way to protect the fleet is to send it to a moon or a debris field. Enemies can't use the Phalanx Sensor to scan moons to find the fleet.
To form a new alliance, navigate to the Alliance menu and select "Create Alliance." Choose your short tag abbreviation and provide a name for your alliance.
This option allows you to remove an alliance. If you wish to stop it without deleting, consider transferring ownership to another player instead.
A moon can form when a field of debris has at least 100,000 units. You are lucky with a roll of the dice. The default universe setting is a 1% chance for a moon. Maximum chances, however, are only 20%, no matter how big the debris field is.
The moons can be named, and the default name is "Moon". You can have more than one moon, but only one per planet.
A moon can be spawned depending on the number of units destroyed in combat. Destroying 1667 Light Cargos/Fighters has a 20% chance to spawn a moon. Light cargoes are recommended because they are easily destroyed.
The target planet should have defenses sufficient to destroy the ships. Build at least 3334 Missile Launchers or Light Laser Turrets.
The amount of destruction from the battle will determine the size of the moon.
Probability for Moons between 1% and 19% is random, while a 20% chance means the moon will have an average diameter of 8000 km. Regular moons never exceed 8944 km in diameter.
On moons, you can build resource storage, a Robot or Nanite Factory, a Moonbase, a Phalanx Sensor, an Alliance Depot, a Shipyard, and a Jumpgate. The Shipyard is not very useful because you can quickly transfer ships from the planet. Alliance Depot helps defend the Moon.
The three specific buildings on the moon are:
Moons can be destroyed by one type of ship, called Battle Fortress. In the Fleet menu, select a Battle Fortress and target a Moon, then choose Destroy for the mission type. Destroy missions are not guaranteed to succeed. The larger the moon, the more Battle Fortresses are required.
Thanks for reading, and happy MOONing! Brought to you by 
