Indie developer Oleg Fedorov has announced the PC simulation game MOONWRIGHT. The Steam store page is now live, with a planned release in Q4 2026 and Japanese language support. Players will remotely manage a lunar mining company from their Earth-based residence, controlling rovers to extract and sell resources.
The core mechanic is the 1.3-second one-way delay in Earth-Moon communication. Commands sent by the player take 1.3 seconds to reach the rover, and screen imagery is similarly delayed by 1.3 seconds. Driving, braking, and drilling all require anticipation. Players must finely adjust steering and braking timing to position the rover accurately over mineral deposits.
The game features eight resources, ranging from low-value regolith to ice and helium-3 found in craters, with prices changing daily. Mining income can be used to upgrade drills, cargo holds, power systems, and mobility, while also repaying a weekly debt of $1,350. After three consecutive missed payments, the bank will seize all of the player's assets.
The mining area is located in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, the Apollo 17 landing site, covering approximately two square kilometers. Lunar day and night each last about two weeks: daytime temperatures can reach around 111°C, potentially causing drill overheating; nighttime temperatures drop to around -180°C, reducing battery capacity and increasing power consumption. Players must plan mining operations and energy usage according to these environmental changes.
About This Game
Get ready to explore the Moon and mine its resources.
You are a one-person mining company. You've bought a base, rented a used mining lunar rover, and paid to have it deployed to the Moon. It's there. You're here, sitting in a chair on Earth, facing three monitors and a repayment schedule.
The rover does nothing on its own. Every meter it drives and every hole it drills requires your manual control via a radio link that's always a beat slow. Find valuable materials, extract them, transport them back to base, sell them, and make your payments on time. Then make your rover less clumsy and venture further out, where the good stuff is.
Game Features
Real-time driving with a one-way signal delay of 1.3 seconds
A 2 km mining area in the Valley of Taurus-Littrow, mapped by your own radar
3 bonus missions to earn in-game: photograph the Apollo 15 landing site, mine ice within Shackleton Crater, and rescue a missing lunar rover
8 lunar resources with prices that change daily
Authentic lunar temperatures: from +111 °C at noon to −180 °C before dawn, through two weeks of daylight and two weeks of night
5 upgrade trees, plus 7 lunar rover components that wear out, malfunction, and require maintenance
Three-screen operator console: rover view, finances, repairs, and upgrades
Time acceleration, from x1 to x1800
38 achievements to display on your walls, shelves, and desktops, which will also appear in your Steam profile
Latency Is the Game
Every command reaches your lunar rover 1.3 seconds after you send it, and every frame you see is from 1.3 seconds ago. Brake early. Tap the steering gently. Stopping precisely over a mineral bed is a skill you'll master over time.
Prospect, Drill, Transport
Send out radar pulses to clear the fog of war on the map. Drive to each signal point, and it will automatically perform an assay. Stop over a mineral bed and start drilling: eight authentic lunar resources, from worthless regolith to ice and helium-3 in shadowed craters.
Every Trip Is a Gamble
Power, cargo capacity, and wear are all limited, yet the next vein of ore is always tempting. Run out of power far from base, and the corporation will tow you home—for a fee. The clock never stops, and charging takes hours.
Debt is a countdown
Repay $1,350 weekly, plus the lunar rover rental fee. Ore isn't cash: it piles up in inventory until you pay for a shuttle to transport it, and prices change daily. When to sell is just as important as what to mine. Miss three payments, and the bank takes Everythinggj.
The True Face of the Moon
Your mining zone is a two-kilometer stretch in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, where Apollo 17 landed. The Sun and Earth are positioned exactly as they should be in this sky, and a day on the Moon lasts a month. Can your rover survive two weeks of darkness? Temperature affects every plan: drills overheat in sunlight, batteries lose capacity and get cold in the dark, and you must spend power meant for driving just to keep yourself warm. You can only hear sounds transmitted through the rover itself.
Make Your Rover Less Clumsy
Five upgrade trees: Mobility & Power, Drills & Cargo, Sensors, Automation, and Base Logistics. Components wear out and need repair.
Once you've earned enough money, you can automate parts of the operation, or simply continue driving and drilling yourself.
