Moonring is a top-down, turn-based, retro, fantasy role playing game (RPG) developed by Fluttermind Games. It is the work of a small indy team led by one of the designers of the first Fable game. It is also free.

In Moonring, you play an unnamed protagonist in the eternally shadowy world of Caldera with little early guidance or direction.

Mechanically, you move your character around the world using up, down, left, or right. Moving onto items picks them up. Bumping into enemies attacks them. Bumping into doors opens them. Bumping into allies starts a conversation. Moonring highlights keywords or phrases when you speak to NPCs. You type them in to converse further.

Using these, you piece together what to do. Your deceased father left instructions to continue unravelling a mystery. These involve a tutorialised exploration of your small farming community and then leaving to explore further.

As implied above, playing Moonring needs effort. No quest log or marker is pointing you in the right direction. No dialog tree reminds you what to say. The game helps a little. It captures notes with pertinent information and sometimes puts locations on the map. However, the player deduces what to do.

As you explore and converse, you learn that Caldera plunged into darkness centuries ago. Five moons appeared, each associated with a god. Unlike most, you have not had a god-enthralling dream. As one of the dreamless, is your destiny to become the new Archon and rule Caldera?

You also discover Moonring‘s mechanics are more complex than they appear. The game has a complex stealth system. You can make ranged attacks. Status effects overlap in interesting ways, such as water dousing fire. Ability’s energy costs change as different moons wax and wane.

Moonring has rogue-like elements. Saves are automatic, and there is a single save slot. You cannot save scum. The game generates dungeons when first entered. Dying punts you back to the dungeon’s start, losing your progress. The game randomises potion ingredients in each playthrough.

Moonring can be frustrating. I often felt stuck and had to review old notes or wander until I stumbled into something useful. I died to the end boss of a seven-level dungeon multiple times, having to repeat the whole thing each time.

However, the eureka moments when things clicked, or I finally beat a boss, were exhilarating. Sometimes, it is as simple as finding the one villager with a vital clue or bumping the right wall to open that secret door. Sometimes, it was new tactics and gear inspired by earlier failures.

These highs and lows are like those in the late 1980s RPGs that inspired Moonring. Moonring’s pixel graphics even use the old 16-colour EGA palette; the audio is reminiscent of the old IBM PC speaker, and the music is MIDI-like. There is even an optional blur mode to make the graphics look like an old, interlaced, cathode ray tube monitor.

However, there are conveniences and improvements found in modern games. As mentioned, Moonring takes notes for you. While Moonring intentionally does not explain its mechanics, the game has basic help. When crafting potions, Moonring tells you the potion that ingredients will create. The game explains new status effects each time.

Moonring treats advancement differently from most RPGs. Moonring does not reward killing creatures, discovering new areas, or completing quests. Instead, you earn devotion to one of the five gods. You spend it to gain god-themed abilities and raise that god’s attribute, which makes new items usable.

You earn devotion by using a rare item or fulfilling deity-specific tasks. These tasks can be as simple as a pilgrimage to their holy city or as complex as recovering a sacred relic. The tasks tie into each god’s themes. A god of strength may reward killing many enemies. A god of knowledge may reward discovering ancient artifacts.

This advancement system encourages exploration and discovery, which is the heart of Moonring. This is not just of the map but of mechanics, conversations, crafting, equipment types and even status effects. The game encourages stealth or working around problems. Grinding or clearing out every creature on the level is rarely rewarding.

How else will you discover whether becoming the new Archon is the only way to complete the game? How do I afford a ship deed at that price? Is there more to the fog-like amber? There is no magic system, right?

Moonring will appeal to those who played early RPGs or want a quirky, sometimes frustrating game. You can finish the game in about 10 hours, but most playthroughs will take much longer. It will not appeal to many. However, Moonring shows love and nostalgia for an RPG style long surpassed. Being free is just icing on the cake.