Fear the Moon is an upcoming horror game created by Jonny's Games (also known for Slide in the Woods and Night Stop). The first chapter, "Reunion", was released as a demo in April 2024, with a full release planned for a later date.
The player controls Jane, a young woman who goes camping deep in the woods of Ohio with her old friends, Melissa, Jack and James. According to a local legend, the camping ground is the territory of a sinister Wolfman, who is responsible for several mysterious disappearances. While most of the friends dismiss the legend as nothing but superstition, as the night goes on Jane can’t shake the feeling they’re being watched, among other strange occurrences. And tonight is a full moon, after all…
The itch.io and Steam pages can be viewed here
and here, respectively.
Tropes found here include:
- Childhood Friend: James, Jack, Melissa and Jane have all been friends for a long time, as it's mentioned they all used to go camping together when they were teens. Melissa and Jane, at the very least, have been friends since they were children, as Melissa brings up how they used to talk about Jane attending Melissa's future wedding as kids.
- Cliffhanger: The first chapter, doubling as a demo, ends on a cliffhanger: Jane has been captured by the Wolfman, Melissa and Jack have been attacked and possibly killed, and James is missing.
- Distressed Dude: For all his bravado about protecting the others from any danger, Jack is the first to be attacked and dragged off by the Wolfman, getting seriously injured in the process. Melissa and Jane both desperately want to rescue him, but they realise they'd be better off getting help first as Jack probably needs medical attention and their only weapon is a baseball bat.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The heavily wooded area where the friends set up their camp is rumoured to be the territory of a monster called the Wolfman. While this is dismissed as a just a spooky story, the woods are undoubtedly eerie, with lots of fog, a dilapidated shack with creepy messages graffitied on the walls and a dead bird in the shed, an abandoned house with a dark past and several missing person cases associated with the area. As the night goes on, the friends also start to realise there may be some truth to the Wolfman legend.
- From Bad to Worse: When Jack mentions that the man who used to live in the abandoned house vanished without a trace (with some believing he turned into a werewolf), James adds that the real story gets even worse. The man used his house as a sanctuary for stray or abandoned animals and because he was a loner who lived in the woods, no one realised he was missing for a long time; when someone finally came to check on him, they found all the animals had starved to death, with there also being evidence some of the animals had started to eat each other from desperation.
- Gamer Chick: Implied with Jane; she has a PS1 set up in her room with video games scattered around and is particularly a fan of older games, remarking "They don't make them like they used to" if you inspect the console.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: The four main characters consist of two women (Jane and Melissa) and two men (Jack and James).
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: As Jane is walking back to the campsite with firewood, you can spot a large animal with glowing eyes watching her from the trees.
- Hope Spot: Chapter 1 ends on a Hope Spot: after Jack and Melissa are attacked by the Wolfman, Jane is able to make it to the van with the car keys, and prepares to drive out of the woods to get help. Just as she's starting to reverse out of the campsite, the Wolfman jumps on the van's roof, smashes through the windshield and yanks Jane out.
- Jump Scare: There are a handful of jump scares; some of them are mild Cat Scares involving birds flying out of trees or James popping up behind you, but near the end of the first chapter there are two big ones involving the Wolfman pulling Melissa through the shack's back window and the Wolfman smashing the van's windshield to grab Jane.
- Monster Delay: Although you can hear it howling and moving around in the woods, you don’t get to properly see the Wolfman until the end of the first chapter (which is roughly 25 minutes long). At most, you can briefly see the Wolfman standing in the trees from a distance (mostly its glowing eyes) about ten minutes in; you get a much closer look when it smashes through the shack’s window to grab Melissa, though it happens so quickly it’s hard to see much. It's only at the very end of the chapter that you get a clear, detailed look at the Wolfman.
- Ominous Fog: The woods are shrouded in fog that adds to the eeriness of the location; it gets thicker after dark, making it even harder to see what might be lurking out there.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: From what we can tell based on the trailer and demo chapter, the Wolfman is a bipedal werewolf with a humanoid body and wolfish head, with incredible speed and strength; it also comes out when there's a full moon but possibly isn't beholden to it (as it's depicted watching the friends arrive at the campground, before the sun sets).
- P.O.V. Cam: During gameplay and a few cutscenes, the camera is fixed from the POV of Jane, the Player Character. However, in some cutscenes the camera is positioned so that you can see Jane as well.
- Sex Signals Death: After the others have gone to bed, Jack and Melissa sneak off to a nearby shack for some private fun. Jane is later woken by Melissa's screams. Upon investigating, she discovers a creature attacked Jack, dragging him off; although he's not dead yet as Melissa and Jane hear him scream, he's obviously injured and in mortal danger. And then the Wolfman smashes through the window and snatches up Melissa, too.
- So Happy Together: Melissa and Jack reveal one of the reasons they invited their best friends on a camping trip is so they can announce their engagement. They're both clearly excited to be getting married and are canoodling in each others arms when the others head off to bed; Jane and James also express that they're happy for the couple and glad they can all catch up. Jack and Melissa end up being the first to be attacked by the Wolfman, with everything quickly going to hell afterwards.
- Spooky Animal Sounds: Jane is unsettled when she hears something howling in the woods, telling her friends it sounded like a wolf. James tries to reassure her that wolves haven't been common to the area for around 200 years and that it was probably a bobcat, adding that they sometimes sound like a screaming person. Then Jack chips in that it could've been the Wolfman.
- Urban Legends: While gathered around the campfire, Jack and James bring up the local urban legend of the Wolfman; the man who used to own the property the campground sits on – including a nearby house used as an animal sanctuary – mysteriously vanished many years back. According to the legend, he turned into a Wolfman and still lurks in the woods, preying on animals and occasionally people unfortunate enough to cross his path. There have been a few sightings of a large furry creature with glowing eyes and some missing person cases attributed to the Wolfman, though Jack is the only one who takes the legend seriously. The friends soon learn the hard way there's some truth in the story.
- Video Game Caring Potential: You're given the option of feeding a friendly raccoon a hot dog.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Downplayed; it’s clearly stated that the game is set in "Somewhere, Ohio", without being more specific.
- You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost: James remarks "You look like you've seen a ghost" to Jane when she returns from getting firewood. Jane admits she heard something howling nearby that creeped her out, though she doesn't mention potentially seeing a large creature watching her from a distance.
