Game Off 2020: The Best Moonshot Games, Ranked by Developers
Game Off, our month-long game jam, returned in 2020 with the theme “moonshot.” Over 500 games were submitted, each interpreting the theme in wildly different ways. The list below highlights some of the top-rated titles, as voted on by the participating developers themselves.
A Trip to the Moon
“Outstanding art and very enjoyable experience! A beautiful tribute to Le Voyage dans la Lune.”
► Play (Linux, macOS, Windows) · View source (Unity, C#)
A story-driven platformer inspired by “Un voyage dans la Lune.” The hand-crafted visuals and cinematic pacing make this a standout narrative experience.
Paralunar
By @Remruts
“A-ma-zing. I’ve had a ton of fun, everything is spot on: graphics, animation, audio, level design, writing.. it’s a real gem.” – @Akien
► Play (Linux, Web, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
A 2D shooting game set in a haunted castle on the Moon. Low gravity physics let you float, dash, and bounce while exorcising ghosts and vengeful spirits.
Launch Party
By @jeremycryan and @superduperpacman42
“What an amazing idea for a game! I am absolutely stunned at the creativity. I lost a lot of time tonight just tinkering with my commands, and talking to another random player trying the game out.” – @diego-escalante
► Play (Windows) · View source (Pygame, Python)
A multiplayer ship-programming game played via Twitch stream. Write code, send it as a comment, and watch your ship take off in a race to land on the moon first.
Catapult, cat space program
By @Deep-Fold
“Amazing entry, had so much fun with it! The atmosphere, gameplay, and graphics really tied it together.” – @plasmastarfish
► Play (Linux, macOS, Web, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
Exactly what the name suggests: a game about catapulting a cat to the moon. Simple, fun, and wonderfully executed.
Pack
By @MrBundles
“A really fantastic submission. Reminds me of other ‘programming’ games like SHENZHEN I/O or Human Resource Machine.” – @manicmoleman
► Play (Web) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
Preparing for an upcoming rocket launch, your job is packing boxes. This physics-based puzzle game introduces interesting spatial reasoning mechanics wrapped in a light-hearted frame.
Macro • Pool
“This is an amazing pool game! I love how you created so many different effects. The art and music are absolutely enamoring too.” – @DakotaHall
► Play (Web) · View source (Phaser, JavaScript)
Pool, but with planets. Throw the moon as a cue ball and send planets into a black hole, exploiting each planet’s unique effects to rack up the maximum score.
Moon Liberator
By @LeHaine
“This was a really fun one! The visual effects for firing the gun (overcharged or regular) makes it really fun to use.” – @dsmith111
► Play (Web) · View source (Heaps, Haxe)
A normal person finds themselves imprisoned in a science facility. Escape by using a weapon that harnesses the moon’s power to blast through scientists, guards, mutants, and other enemies.
Ogi
By @DefaultV, @miguelines, @spacenerdy, Jannick Drews, and Indigaya
“The beautiful artstyle and positive message of the narrative is fantastic.” – @biomatrix1-15
► Play (Web, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
Humans sent their treasured belongings to space to escape ego and greed—unknowingly imposing a great, otherworldly force upon a world of small, innocent white bears.
Stardust Lingers
By @Zelveri, @rk-exxec, and Bruno Almeida
“Excellent work for a game jam. The story was compelling and moody, and the art and audio work were fantastic.” – @plasmastarfish
► Play (Linux, macOS, Web, Windows) · View source (Unity, C#)
When Mira returns to an abandoned cabin searching for clues among memories and manuscripts, she finds an unexpected friend: a bunny with a fuzzy black coat who seems to be listening more than she realizes.
Strings of Light
By @LeBodro
“I loved the soothing music that was integral to the gameplay, watching the notes create stars in its path upward.” – @biomatrix1-15
► Play (Android, Web, Windows) · View source (Unity, C#)
A meditative take on the theme: a game about our own personal moonshots, those small steps that lead to success if we dare take them. Music is core to the experience.
Bloodmoon
“Wow, this was a blast! Really polished, loved the voice acting and character models.” – @smokecastles
► Play (macOS, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScrpt)
An early-90s, DOS-era-inspired, first-person action adventure that leans hard into retro aesthetics and feel.
Shoot the Moon
By @davidfig
“Polished, clever, difficult, and with a surprisingly compelling story. (It’s certainly kept me going ‘one more level!’ longer than the puzzle alone would have.) Nicely done!” – @perey
► Play (Web) · View source (PixiJS, JavaScript)
As a destruction sequence manager, your job is to find the proper firing sequence for the Moonerator laser to destroy each moon. A clever puzzle mechanic with a side of narrative charm.
Moonarchists
“Super clever mechanic, took me a few goes to get even basic mastery 🙂” – @thomasmichaelwallace
► Play (Linux, macOS, Web, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
Shoot mini-moons at other planets to push them toward their doom, and be the last celestial body left in orbit. A deceptively simple concept with deep mastery curve.
Abbadon
“The mechanic and technicality you shown just blew me away. I love the instruction panel, tutorial check-boxes and the concept behind it.” – @rumbledot
► Play (Linux, macOS, Windows) · View source (Godot, GDScript)
The old world is dead, but the Terrabot fleet awaits your orders. Command them to mine, build, and fight so they can settle their new home.
Moonkind, MonMon, Starcrossed & Moonshot, Scrap Out, and more
The depth of Game Off 2020 goes far beyond strategy and sci-fi shooters. Moonkind (by @PierreVandermaesen and @alessandraurso, Unity/C#) challenges you to keep the last surviving humans alive through careful management, while MonMon (by @DakotaHall, @YasmeenLec, and @atheniann, Unity/C#) sends you alongside a companion to bring peace to a beast-plagued realm using moon-derived abilities.
Elsewhere, Scrap Out (by @sabacu, Godot/GDScript) casts you as a self-conscious vacuum cleaner navigating a scrapyard, Starcrossed & Moonshot (by @inc-b, Unity/C#) explores a long-distance relationship with only enough money for one ticket to Saturn, and Stairway to the Moon (by @KhaledSakr, JavaScript) offers a pure roguelike where the only way is up and to the right.
Each entry in this roundup demonstrates the remarkable range of creativity that the moonshot theme inspired—from physics puzzlers and narrative adventures to retro shooters and programming games. The full collection, including all 500+ submissions and their source code, is available in the Game Off 2020 itch.io jam page.
One Small Step for a Game Jam
GitHub’s annual Game Off challenge asks developers to build a game from scratch in one month, and this year’s moon-themed entries proved that a tight timeframe can still produce surprisingly polished results. Between the physics experiments and the spell-slinging, the jam showcased both clever mechanics and creative takes on the celestial prompt.
Scent of Aurora
Developer @anttihaavikko turned in what one commenter called “an incredibly well polished game” in just 30 days. It’s a story-driven title about Selene and Aurora that sits somewhere between a physics brawler and a Bennett Foddy-style challenge. Fans of Stick Fight should feel right at home.
► Play (Linux, macOS, Web, Windows) · View source (Unity, C#)
Moon and Shot
From @sh1ft15 comes a more unconventional take: a game about structuring and casting spells. Reviewer @jvalen called the spell mechanic “definitely unique,” noting that it lays a solid foundation for a hybrid of an MMORPG and a Smash TV-style arena shooter.
► Play (Web, Windows) · View source (Unity, C#)
Beyond the Featured Few
Those two are just a slice of the entries. The full itch.io submission list lets you filter by platform, including browser-only and mobile games. You’ll find planetary pool variations, fast-paced arcade runners, tower defense, and gravity-based puzzle games.
Some titles push input design to the limits. There’s an eight-player moon racer that relies on just two buttons, plus a rocket flight game that’s controlled entirely with the A and D keys.
Since the jam is open source by design, you can dig into the code of any entry. A good starting point: search for gravity in nearly every project and try halving or inverting it to see what breaks.
Credits and Next Steps
The jam’s organizers thanked everyone who played, rated, and left feedback, plus the helpers in the forums and Discord who kept things running smoothly. If you gave some of the games a shot, share your favorites on Twitter with the #GitHubGameOff hashtag—screenshots, GIFs, and clips are all welcome.
GAME OVER
