Shoot The Moon

What Shoot The Moon is and who it suits

Shoot The Moon is an action arcade game from Pipsqueak Games. The premise is simple: a cartoon moon is singing, and you want him to stop. You do that by firing rockets at him, and the developer's framing is that every hit only makes him angrier.

The game is built around short, repeatable rounds. Each go is about lining up a shot and scoring points, then trying to do better next time. That makes it suited to people who want a quick game they can pick up and put down, and to anyone who likes chasing a high score.

The listing gives the game a 4.62 star rating from 6,876 ratings on Google Play, with more than 500,000 installs.

Aiming rockets and the risk of missing

The core action is shooting rockets at the moon while he sings along to the music. The listing describes the moon as animated and cartoonish, and the shooting is the only thing you do to affect him.

Scoring rewards risk. Longer shots are worth more points than short ones, so the best play is to aim far, but a missed shot scores nothing. The trade-off between a bigger payout and a wasted rocket is the main decision in each round.

The developer's own prompt for the game is to see how mad you can make the moon, and whether you can get him to stop singing at all.

Goal milestones, high scores and leaderboards

As you score, the game sets goal milestones. Reaching one gives an extra score bonus on top of the points from your shots, so hitting goals is a second way to climb.

Each run is measured against your own high score. Beating it is the main target for most players, and the game connects that score to leaderboards, so you can see where you sit against other people.

Milestones and the leaderboard work together. A bonus at a milestone can be the difference between a new personal best and falling just short of one.

Costumes and the moon's reactions

The game includes a range of costumes for the moon, which the listing describes as silly. You unlock them as you play, though the listing does not spell out exactly what each unlock requires.

The costumes are cosmetic. They sit alongside the scoring and do not change how the shooting works, so they give a reason to keep playing after you have started chasing scores.

The moon's reaction is the other thing that changes as you play. The developer frames each hit as annoying him further, which is the main joke of the game.

Price and age rating

The game is free to play. The listing gives no price, and it describes the game as a free arcade title.

It is rated PEGI 3 on Google Play, which is the lowest age rating band, and the game is listed under the Action category.