PC (Microsoft Windows)Xbox OneNintendo Switch2021

The Dark Side of the Moon

When his 2 young children vanish mysteriously throughout the night, it's up to single-dad Dean Hamilton to do what any good dad would do: Go to the end of the universe and bring them back home in this thrilling FMV/Interactive Movie.

Storyline

When his two children randomly vanish throughout the night, it's up to you to help Dean Hamilton bring them back home. As the mystery deepens decisions will need to be made and it's down to you to make the right ones. Who can you trust? Who's doing this? What's the significance of the impending solar eclipse? And what are those strange glowing lights in the sky? Explore the quaint little village of Marywine, solve puzzles, make some startling discoveries and help unravel what's really going on in this sci-fi thriller.

Trailers

Screenshots

Mixed

6 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

6 total

≥h

Steam User 7623STEAMRecommended

NEGATIVE🟥 🟧 🟨 🟩 🟦 🟪POSITIVE
[h1]#tinygamereview[/h1]
[code]like an episode of The X-Files, but for kids who won't get caught up in the lack of detail or its inconsistencies[/code]
🟨 [b]CAMPY OKAYNESS[/b] 🟨
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🎮 🟧[b]Gameplay:[/b] definitely a weak spot; simple, occasionally-buggy, and annoyingly-repetitive.
📖 🟨[b]Narrative:[/b] campy fun, but full of holes that cross over into the actual gameplay.
🔊 🟨[b]Audio:[/b] some of the music is good, except when it isn't; the sound quality is generally poor and the lack of settings to manipulate (for example) music vs. voice audio makes some dialogue hard to hear.
🖼️ 🟩[b]Visuals:[/b]
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[h1]#readme[/h1]
I laughed for three hours straight - but sometimes for the wrong reasons. [i]The Dark Side of the Moon[/i] doesn't shy away from dumb jokes (which I love) and low-budget camp, but the inconsistencies in performance and tone are occasionally offputting. I [i]love[/i] that half the cast is the developer and his family, and they really [i]do[/i] seem to have fun and put their hearts into it, but the differences between their performances and the other actors is jarring. Which sucks, because you're left with two competing levels of camp: non-actors having fun nevertheless, and professionals really hamming it up. Combined, it really just made me laugh through pretty much the whole thing. It undermined the narrative and instead of feeling for any of the characters, I waited for their next odd performance tic.

Still entertaining.

There's not really much to the gameplay. Having grown up with adventure games where you can pick up whatever you might need for purposes you don't yet know, I approach things like this with a similar mindset and found myself annoyed several times that you can't see or pick up items that were there the first time you were in a place, until something triggers your ability to do so, so that you go back the way you came for five minutes and then return with the thing you could've picked up before. There's one part of the game that has you report that you found something, then return to the thing you found, then go back to find a thing to bring back to the person to show them, only to have them tell you "good job, go back and look harder!" - which doubles the timesink for that little "quest." It's not the only time this happens (it might be the longest, though), and for a game that's already stretching itself to the 3-hour mark, going back and forth for five or ten minutes, [i]multiple times[/i] is pretty significant.

While early FMV games notoriously had unnecessarily-long or oddly-placed clips (like this one's mouse-clicking while exploring the laptop), this game doesn't improve on those annoyances at all by "cutting the fat"; it pads a feature-length-hopeful runtime by having you go back and forth (sometimes immediately) to and from the same places.

Despite my gripes, I still had fun. This could have made a great episode of Mystery Science Theater.
[h1]#memorycard[/h1]
[b]What stood out:[/b]
📌THE TRUUUUUUUTH
[b]Who it's for:[/b]
🎁FMV game nostalgists
🎁Bad movie enthusiasts
🎁X-Files fans who want to have a long sit-down with their kids (and don't mind a couple f-bombs) playing an FMV adventure game that [i]almost[/i] brings back the medium's 1990s soul
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[h1][b]Curator: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46000099/] Brickroad Amusements[/url][/b][/h1]

Feb 7, 2026·3h·Verified

Steam User 6590STEAMRecommended

Campy writing and over-the-top acting that had me laughing all the way through, exactly what you expect and want from a game inspired by Contradiction! Spot The Liar. Will come back and 100% the achievements, but absolutely love the cast, love the writing, and love how it was shot too. Great way to spend an evening and share over discord with a few friends.

Feb 7, 2026·3h·Verified

Steam User 7395STEAMRecommended

well what can i say here, its certainly a different type of game i would normally play . I wouldn't normally play this type of game, there's not much out there at this time of year, so when I came accross this one I thought why not give it ago. i'm pleased i did ,I did find it hard to work out at times but fumbled along , I ended up enjoying it .
The story to it was great it certainly had me thinking ,which is good for this old 76 year old lol,Its a great game with a fantastic story to it, I didnt want it to end .Thanks for making it and hope you make more like it .

Jan 7, 2026·7h·Verified

Steam User 8604STEAMNot recommended

The Room of FMV games.
Sometimes unintentionally hilarious, but mostly just bad.

Dec 31, 2025·3h·2·Verified

Steam User 7375STEAMRecommended

Strange happenings and mysterious entities intrude the life of a grieving Dean Hamilton, turning it upside down, when his two children suddenly disappear. Hammy acting makes this seem like a student art project or a "so bad its good" low budget short film. Preposterous plots and incongruent character reactions persist throughout the experience, but to me it adds a certain charm to this FMV mystery story. The game uses the very small area of Marywine well to advance puzzles. Unfortunately the plot advances in a fast and furious pace with a lot of exposition happening quite early on, not really allowing you to enjoy its development. All in all a fun interactive experience with a few branching options to explore in replay.

Dec 28, 2025·4h·Verified

Steam User 7622STEAMRecommended

Dec 21, 2025·3h·Verified