In a sea of daily Steam releases, Japanese indie games from smaller developers often get overshadowed, yet they consistently offer unique titles brimming with original concepts and distinct identities. To address this, we’re launching “Steam gems from Japan you might be missing out on,” a new series designed to spotlight these overlooked indie treasures by featuring one game per article and highlighting its appeal.
Cross-Cultural Sci-fi-Meets-Suspense Adventure
To begin this series, let me present My Planet MOON CHILD, a visual novel crafted by doujin circle D.U.F.F. Initially released on DLsite and Booth in September 2025, the game arrived on Steam on July 1st, 2026. While the game carries an age restriction, this is solely due to violent content, and it contains no sexual material, so users concerned about NSFW content can proceed with confidence.
Following Earth’s environmental devastation, humanity has relocated to the moon’s surface and initiated a national project called “The Ark” to find a new home. The protagonist, Jinan, a student at the moon base’s Academy, finds himself entangled in a series of events that lead him and Hitoriko, his fellow expedition member from the moon’s slums, to crash-land on an unknown planet. There, they encounter aliens who resemble humans, along with mysterious monsters.
At first glance, My Planet MOON CHILD seems like a typical first-contact sci-fi narrative, but its central focus isn’t on encountering alien life. Instead, the game uses interactions with aliens as a backdrop to re-examine human existence and explore our struggles to understand one another.
The narrative alternates between present-day scenes of planetary exploration and alien interactions, and flashbacks that depict the protagonists’ daily lives in the lunar base. The present-day segments emphasize exploring the unknown world and engaging with a foreign culture, while the past scenes gradually uncover the nature of Jinan and Hitoriko’s bond and the state of lunar society. Initially distinct, these two timelines gradually intertwine as the story progresses.
What made this game particularly captivating was the sense of distance between the characters and the aliens—a feeling that you could almost grasp their thoughts but not quite. Like humans, the aliens communicate and coexist in a society, yet their value systems differ fundamentally. This discrepancy lends the Sci-fi-meets-Suspense Adventure a quiet tension. As the two species believe they’ve bridged their understanding, unexpected misunderstandings arise, adding layers of excitement from exploring an alien world while addressing themes of cross-cultural encounters.
The characters are another highlight, with the playful banter between Jinan and Hitoriko offering a refreshing contrast to the more serious plot elements. Nora, one of the aliens, rarely shows emotional shifts, making her subtle reactions especially impactful. Hirata, the artist from D.U.F.F. who also works in manga, delivers character portraits and CG scenes that skillfully capture nuanced emotions, enhancing the drama. At just 7-10 hours of playtime for $4, this game is perfect for a leisurely weekend session.
My Planet MOON CHILD is now available on PC via Steam. Please note that, at the time of writing, My Planet MOON CHILD only supports Japanese language options.
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