Delighful Indie Game Let's You Fight Space Cows

You’ve got to save your entire civilization, you’re trapped on an alien world with nothing but your piloting skills to save you. Sounds intense? Epic? This game is that, but it’s also dairy-licious. Moo Lander does sound like a great name for an all cow remake of 2001’s greatest movie Zoolander, but unfortunately it’s not. What is fortunate is how much fun this whimsical 2D adventure platformer is to play.

The game’s high quality feel and colorful design are the product of over a decade of work. Citing a lack of fun mobile game options back in the early 2010’s, a group of friends in Bulgaria decided to make a mobile game that they themselves could enjoy. The idea spiraled and grew until it couldn’t be confined to mobile alone. So now the freshman game from indie developer The Sixth Hammer has come to us fresh from the farm. 

The player starts out having crash landed on a surprisingly lush and life sustaining Mars and you, the Lander, have only a thirst for milk and your navigational skills. Then it’s up to you to explore the strange alien world of Moo Lander and find a source of milk for your people. Delicious. There’s a campaign mode and 4 person multiplayer, so round up some (herd) mates and get gaming. It’s described as a “Mootroidvania” (a play on Metroidvania) which means it’s a sidescroller with some exploration elements and sidescrollers and combat. But with cows. 

The soundtrack is a creamy dream and the interfaces are elegant. Mix that in with the game’s charming sense of humor and you’ve got an indie darling on your hands. For example they call the hardest difficulty setting “Legendairy”, which charmed my dang pants off. The physics feel good in the game, squishy parts feel squishy and crunchy parts feel crunchy. For all you vegans out there, as you encounter alien cows, you’ll defeat them with non-lethal means, so hopefully PETA won’t come after you. There’s a free demo available on Steam to play and download right now that is a tidy little bite of gameplay so you can dip your toe into the milk bucket. But if cheeky, cow themed humor and colorful, side-scrolling combat are your things, you can just go ahead and buy the whole farm.