Lunar Lander



Concept and Storyline
Flight simulator for a lunar landing craft. Land on the moon with out crashing.

Spatial Arena
Black meaningless space and the foreboding an ominous terrain of the moon. Simple yet effective.

Goal
Navigate the terrain and land on the landing pad with a safe velocity before you run out of fuel.

Core Game Mechanic
Use the space bar to fire your rocket and generate thrust. Use the left and right arrow keys to rotate your ship and hence control the direction of your thrust and hence the position of your spacecraft.

Challenge
As game progresses it gets harder to land on the next pad before your fuel is expended and you consequently crash. This version also allows you to select higher gravity environments which increases the challenge also.

Overall Impression
This is a good simulation albeit simple and 2D. The sound effects worked fairly well and this adds to the immersion in the game.  The explosions when you crash are good too. I have a recollection that some of the earlier versions had some feedback in terms of the ships velocity and altitude in the game interface. The physics in the game are fairly realistic and that makes the game, for me at least, enjoyable and challenging with zero frustration levels. In summary after all these years I still like this game.

My Rating
5 out of 10 stars.