The elevator pitch for Moonlight Peaks simply has to be “Stardew Valley, but vampires”. And honestly? That’s more than enough to sell it for me. In fact, it’s the whole reason I jumped into a preview build earlier this year, and it won me over. Having spent more time with it, I now realise it’s much more than a spooky farming sim.
But Stardew Valley with vampires is a good starting point, and it’s the best way to look at Moonlight Peaks when you first jump in. As a young vampire, you’ve left your parents behind to return to their old hometown of Moonlight Peaks, moving onto their old farm. It’s overgrown and run-down, and so you’ve got your work cut out for you. But isn’t that always the case?
You’re given a rudimentary set of tools and so, if you want to, you can get to work straight away chopping grass, cutting down trees, mining rocks and getting your farmland into a workable condition. You don’t need to though; what sets Moonlight Peaks apart from Stardew Valley et al is the fact that it’s much more heavily mission-based. You’ll meet other locals – many of them spooky characters who come to life in the cover of darkness – and as you get to know them, you’ll also gain various missions and quests for them.
Image: Little Chicken/XSEED Games
It might start off fairly simply, like growing grapes then turning them into a bottle of wine for Orlock, the resident alcoholic vampire. Other quests may be more involved, requiring you to search for a missing seal and putting it back into place. You’re rarely left without anything to do, particularly in the game’s early hours. It can be a little slow to get going, admittedly; waiting for grapes to grow so I could make wine took several days, so for a few of them I was putting myself to bed very early. But once you’ve got a few systems set up, Moonlight Peaks rarely feels like a chore.
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There’s a bigger emphasis on narrative and adventure here rather than being left to your own devices. Follow through the quests given to you and you’ll learn about the townsfolk, undertake new missions and more; it feels more like an adventure RPG than other life sim games – minus the combat, of course. That’s not to say you have to focus on the mission elements. You can absolutely focus on expanding your farm, growing crops, selling them and making money if you like.
That’s the joy of Moonlight Peaks, really; like the best games in the genre, it can be approached however you want to play it, at whatever pace works for you. Having the option to play story missions, however, gives it some very welcome structure for players who struggle under their own steam. Focusing on the missions will open up the game more too, giving you access to new areas, new gameplay elements and a whole lot more. So it’s not wise to ignore them altogether, but if you want to focus on something else for a while? That’s completely fine.
Image: Little Chicken/XSEED Games
It’s an odd life sim to play, however, for one simple reason: the action in Moonlight Peaks happens at night, rather than the daytime. In Stardew Valley, you’ll be getting ready for bed as the clock hits 9pm. Here? Your ‘day’ is only just beginning. If you’ve played a lot of this type of game, it takes some getting used to, and seeing the clock hit midnight might make you a bit panicky, like your character is going to crash out and fall asleep at any given moment. But no; the nocturnal nature here means you’re good until the sun’s ready to come up.
Cute, moreish and rather different from other games in the genre, Moonlight Peaks is well worth your time, especially if you do like the sound of a Stardew Valley-style game with a spooky twist. Its emphasis on storytelling makes it better suited to cosy adventure game fans, and with so much to discover, once you get started, you’ll be living your best vampire life for weeks – even months – to come.
Moonlight Peaks is available now on Switch, Switch 2 and PC.