Ritual of the Moon

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Ritual of the Moon is a 28 day long multi-narrative game exploring loneliness, power, and healing. Once discovering her powers, The Earth’s Council exiles the witch to the moon to live out the rest of her life looking at the earth - and the woman she loves - that she can never go back to. The player spends 5 minutes each day over the 28 days reflecting on her experiences on Earth, meditating at her altar, and making a life or death choice.

The game is a daily meditational activity composed of a memory game, drawing symbols, receiving a mantra, and making a decision about the future of the earth. The game tracks the decisions the player makes, becoming a sort of mood tracker. Depending on their feelings over the lunar cycle, the player will experience one of the six unique endings.

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Ritual of the Moon was written and designed by Kara Stone, programmed by Chris Kerich, Matthew R.F. Balousek, Kevin Stone and Hope Erin Phillips, with art and sound by Rekha Ramachandran and Julia Gingrich, with music composition by Halina Heron and Maggie McLean.

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Purchase the full original soundtrack by Halina Heron and Maggie McLean

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Reviews:

“Playing the game feels like engaging a celestial, soulful advent calendar, a reflection of mood and mindfulness.” - Polygon

"...I wonder if, at the end of the month, I will miss taking The Ritual Of The Moon and have to start it all over again." - Rock Paper Shotgun

"It’s an incredible experience – one well worth taking a few minutes each day." - Indie Games Plus

"RotM is certainly a meditative experience as well, but it’s more than that. It’s as much a journey as it is a game, and I almost feel like it’s reductive to categorize it. This whole game is a ritual... RotM easily slipped into my personal daily ritual for the past fourteen days, and I’m looking forward to continuing that ritual for the next fourteen (and most likely beyond). I’ll miss this experience too much when it’s over to not replay it." - Phoenix Simms

" It is all quite simple, but with how it fits into my own life, it’s comfortable. The witch’s routines are mine, we do the little things we want to do before we rest...  Ritual of the Moon demands the daily ritual, demanding that you take a stance yourself, lest it makes the decisions for you." - PhenixxGaming

"The structure of this game, giving you very deliberate choices with indeterminate consequences that stretch out over time, is an interesting use of the niche contemporary videogames now have in many people’s lives." - Emily M. Reed

More writing on Ritual of the Moon: 

PC Gamer

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