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By Moonlight

By Moonlight Game Cover
90%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
replayability, grinding
90% User Score Based on 106 reviews

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By Moonlight Game Cover

About

By Moonlight is a single player casual role playing game with mystery and comedy themes. It was developed by SugarHyped and was released on February 19, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

By Moonlight is a comedic mystery visual novel where you play as a paranormal investigator tasked with finding a headless horseman’s missing head before nightfall. The game features five relationship routes, customizable pronouns and name, multiple locations to explore, and numerous bad endings, blending humor with spooky investigation.

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By Moonlight screenshot
By Moonlight screenshot
By Moonlight screenshot
By Moonlight screenshot
By Moonlight screenshot
By Moonlight screenshot
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90%
Audience ScoreBased on 106 reviews
story17 positive mentions
replayability3 negative mentions
  • The game features charming and cute art, with a lovely visual style that enhances the overall atmosphere.
  • The story is light-hearted and engaging, with interesting characters and multiple endings that encourage replayability.
  • The writing includes fun humor and clever dialogue, making it an enjoyable experience for fans of visual novels.
  • The gameplay can feel simplistic and linear, with many choices leading to unsatisfying or bad endings.
  • The game suffers from technical issues, including crashes and unresponsive buttons, which can disrupt the experience.
  • Some players found the writing to be reminiscent of low-quality fanfiction, detracting from the overall narrative quality.
  • story
    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its interesting premise and lovable characters, while others criticize its pacing and lack of depth. Many noted that the narrative feels rushed, with characters introduced too quickly and a reliance on multiple bad endings that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the art and story are praised for their charm, there are calls for a more developed and cohesive plot.

    • “The artwork and story are so good!”
    • “I really love the art style, and the story is quite interesting.”
    • “The story in general needs to be longer; in-game time seems to barely pass any slower than real time.”
    • “Needs more mystery and plot build-up; it felt like characters were introduced too quickly, with too many bad endings before I got to learn more about each character or the world around me.”
    • “After one full playthrough of a route and the different bad endings, you can skip most of the main story given that it's the same each time and only read the different character interactions with the character(s) you choose as investigation partner(s).”
    • “The story attempts to present endearing characters, though it is unable to present them as anything other than two-dimensional.”
  • graphics
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game received mixed reviews, with many praising the charming and cute art style that fits the game's tone and enhances the overall experience. However, some users noted inconsistencies and a lack of polish in the artwork, which could detract from the enjoyment. Overall, while the visuals are creative and appealing to many, they may not meet everyone's expectations.

    • “Charming and cute with a nice art style!”
    • “The art style is creative and fits the game's overall tone splendidly; I adore each of the characters so much!”
    • “The art style was a charming blend of realistic and cute, and has a sort of western cartoon feel to it.”
    • “The writing is in fact even worse than the painfully bad drawings slapped out on 'my first Wacom tablet' or whatever hellish device was responsible for the terrible artwork here.”
    • “Whilst having an ambitious story, the uncoordinated art style and generally predictable characters in 'By Moonlight' tainted the experience.”
    • “When dedicated, the game presents a playful and fun vibe, genuinely enjoyable, though this is diluted through a weak storyline and somewhat lazy art style.”
  • music
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it enchanting and fitting for the scenes, others criticize it for being repetitive and poorly looped, detracting from the overall experience. Many appreciate the chill vibe and its contribution to the atmosphere, but there are calls for improvement in its execution and synchronization. Overall, the music is seen as a charming yet flawed aspect of the game.

    • “The music is enchanting and appropriate per scene.”
    • “It's a fun short game with nice music and a very charming art style reflective of the cast.”
    • “I love the art style, I love the characters, I love the music... it's just perfect!”
    • “That being said, there was only one problem that I actively noticed while playing: the music.”
    • “Look around the options and you'll be told that the OST was created with GarageBand, and while I think that's totally fine, considering that the lo-fi tunes standard in visual novels are perfect for creating atmosphere without actually distracting the player, the music here really needed some extra work.”
    • “Every single track is not only very short, but loops very jarringly, and in some early cases, elements of the music don't stay in sync with each other.”
  • humor
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised for its originality and wit, featuring a mix of clever puns, meta jokes, and relatable character interactions that resonate with players. Many reviewers find the comedic elements both funny and endearing, enhancing the overall experience with a blend of lightheartedness and emotional depth. While some humor relies on pop culture references, it generally appeals to a broad audience, making it a recommended choice for fans of quirky and magical storytelling.

    • “It's very respectful of pronouns, its comedy is very funny, and its characters are very original and likable.”
    • “Would recommend to anyone who likes magic and witty humor.”
    • “The art style was awesome, the characters were funny and adorable, the dialogue was hilarious, and it hit all of the emotional beats.”
  • character development
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The character development in the game is praised for its memorable and visually appealing designs, particularly for characters like Mer and Iris, which evoke a nostalgic feel. However, some users feel that the writing and overall character development could be improved, noting that other free visual novels offer better narratives and depth. Overall, while the character designs are a highlight, the development and storytelling aspects may not meet the same standard.

    • “Love the characters and character designs.”
    • “The character designs were nice to look at; the art style has a nostalgic DeviantArt OC feel to it.”
    • “I really like the character designs, specifically Mer and Iris's.”
    • “There are other free visual novel games that have better writing, better character development, and better plots than this.”
  • replayability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers significant replayability due to its multiple character routes and various endings, encouraging players to explore different choices and relationships. Users express enthusiasm for revisiting the game to uncover all possible outcomes and deepen their connections with the characters.

    • “The five different character routes make it replayable, and even if I tried every single option available in one sitting, I'll definitely come back to this gem.”
    • “The game is definitely very replayable as there is a plethora of characters to learn more about and build relationships with.”
    • “The five different character routes make it replayable, but even after trying every single option available in one sitting, I don't feel compelled to come back to this gem.”
    • “While there are multiple endings, the lack of significant changes in gameplay makes replaying feel tedious.”
    • “I found the replayability lacking; after completing the game once, there wasn't enough incentive to go through it again.”
  • grinding
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of visual novels and e-books tedious, likening the experience to a frustratingly slow reading process where they must click to progress through text, leading to a lack of player control and enjoyment over time.

    • “I don't mind reading in games, but I feel like there's very little player control and it's just tedious after a while.”
    • “Visual novels/e-books are tedious at best... imagine the best novel you ever read, but then translate that to a format where the words dribble out and you have to click your mouse every time you want to read the next sentence, instead of just turning the pages.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, frequently crashing and exhibiting numerous bugs, such as unresponsive buttons and dialogue windows getting stuck. Players are advised to save often, as these problems can often only be resolved by restarting the game.

    • “It constantly crashed, was extremely buggy at times (for example, the window with choices was stuck on the screen while the dialogue kept going), or does not even start at all.”
    • “The game is pretty buggy, with unresponsive buttons that can only be fixed by restarting the game (save often).”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its wholesome story centered on friendship, complemented by charming art and humorous dialogue, which effectively captures a range of emotional moments. Players find the characters endearing and the overall experience enchanting, making it resonate on an emotional level.

    • “Yet the wholesome story of friendship, sprinkled with good puns and a few anime nods, enchanted me.”
    • “The art style was awesome, the characters were funny and adorable, the dialogue was hilarious, and it hit all of the emotional beats.”
  • gameplay
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of this visual/interactive novel is criticized for being minimal, primarily consisting of clicking through poorly written dialogue that detracts from the overall experience, raising concerns about its quality and suitability for publication.

    • “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print. This poses the question, 'How did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
  • atmosphere
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in the game is enhanced by lo-fi tunes typical of visual novels, which effectively support immersion without being distracting. However, some users feel that the original soundtrack, created with GarageBand, lacks the polish needed to elevate the overall experience.

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10h Median play time
10h Average play time
10-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

By Moonlight is a casual role playing game with mystery and comedy themes.

By Moonlight is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing By Moonlight.

By Moonlight was released on February 19, 2019.

By Moonlight was developed by SugarHyped.

By Moonlight has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its replayability.

By Moonlight is a single player game.

Similar games include Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, Hiveswap Friendsim, Witches x Warlocks, Trick and Treat - Visual Novel, Seduce Me the Otome and others.