An Indie Backlog curated overview. We round up the best indie RPGs and how professional critics and players received each one — the scores and quotes below are theirs, linked to the source.
A dying man’s last wish sends two doctors rewinding through his memories — and what they find has reduced a decade of players to tears.
At a Glance
| Developer | Freebird Games |
| Release year | 2011 |
| Platforms | PC, Switch, Mobile |
| Subgenre | Story-driven adventure RPG |
| Length | ~4 hours (main story) |
| Metacritic | 81 / 100 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (~96%, 85,000+ reviews) |
| Steam Deck | Playable |
| Languages | 13 |
About the Game
To the Moon is a story-first adventure RPG from Freebird Games, built in RPG Maker but bending that engine toward narrative rather than combat. You play as Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts, agents of a company that grants the dying one last fabricated wish by reconstructing and rewriting their memories. Their patient, the elderly Johnny, wants only one thing: to go to the moon. He can’t say why.
To honor the request, the doctors must travel backward through Johnny’s life, hopping from memory to memory in reverse and assembling the story of who he was and why this wish matters. There’s little “gameplay” in the traditional sense — light puzzle-solving and exploration — because the game’s real engine is its writing and its score.
Composer Kan Gao, who also wrote and directed, built a piano-led soundtrack that has become as beloved as the game itself. The result is less a video game than a short, devastating interactive novella — and one of the most frequently cited “games that made me cry” of the last fifteen years.
Screenshots
Screenshots: official Steam media for To the Moon.
Why It Made the List
We included To the Moon because it proved an indie RPG could win a global audience on storytelling alone. No combat, no loot, no leveling — just a tightly written, beautifully scored story that lingers for years. It’s the game we hand to people who insist games can’t move them.
What the Critics Say
To the Moon holds a Metacritic score of 81, with reviewers near-unanimous in praising its writing and music while noting the deliberately sparse gameplay. The critical consensus treats it as a benchmark for narrative-driven indies.
What Players Say
On Steam it’s rated Overwhelmingly Positive across more than 85,000 reviews — roughly 96% positive — an exceptionally high mark that reflects how deeply the game connects with the people who finish it.
Praise & Criticism
Praise
- Genuinely moving, expertly paced story
- Gorgeous, memorable piano soundtrack
- Short and complete — zero padding
- Accessible even to non-gamers
Criticism
- Very little traditional gameplay
- Dated RPG Maker visuals
- Emotionally heavy — not a light pick-up
Games Like This
- Undertale — another indie RPG that lands an emotional gut-punch
- OMORI — a story-driven RPG that turns heavy themes into art
- Eastward — a warm, narrative-led journey with standout writing
Where to Buy
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