I'm sure some of you have already seen posts about the game but just to parrot the words for people who might have not:

Multiplayer Orbiting Optimization Network ([MOON](https://moon.hive.pizza/)) is a free to play multiplayer resource management game where you build an empire then conquer the galaxy. The game will be launching on 19th of April, 4PM UTC. 

If you want to read about the specific mechanics of the game, here's a [post](https://peakd.com/hive-185582/@logen9f/moon-a-new-game-on) that further explains what was revealed so far. You can find more about it on the Hive Pizza discord. This post is more on my thoughts on the game prior to launch. 

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The concept of the game is nothing new but what strikes me the most was how the mechanics explained are pretty similar to an old game called [Next Colony](https://peakd.com/nextcolony/@nextcolony/roadmap-and-screenshots) previously launched on Steemit and ended. The game (Next Colony) is no longer available but the devs have made the files to run the game open source so I wouldn't be surprised if MOON took inspiration from that. 

There's another game that I used to play introduced on Steemit which has nothing to do with the blockchain but had the same space fighting mechanics like raids and fleet saves so I'm thinking if MOON does follow on the path of those games, I'm probably going to sit this one out. 

The game's strength right now is that it's free to play and there's no emphasis about being a play to earn. That would of course change if there were some prize pools or people had to pay something to get in on the train which is pretty much what other NFT games are doing that makes them less fun since  you're attracting a player base that wants to profit than actually play.

Like most empire building games, once there's a big fish that started early, it's difficult to progress as small fishes get bullied off the game cause fun. Then there's alliance gang banging on players than have none or have a small pool of members on their alliance. If this is the route MOON will move to, it's best for my mental health not to engage much like how I made a pass on Crownrend. The only viable strategy in pay to win games is to pay more. 

While MOON doesn't seem to show it's going to be a pay to win game, the empire building aspect will show that older players will have an overbearing advantage against new players starting out. 

UNLESS, the game adapts a direction where everything resets after a season. If anyone has heard of the game called [Subterfuge](http://subterfuge-game.com/), MOON can probably go better at this route. It's a battle royale empire building game where you compete for resources and the games can last for weeks per season until the last player survives. I favor this route because everyone is placed on an even playing field and it's all individual strategy. No resource advantage because your empire is bigger than the enemy and everyone has an equal chance to grow big.

I'm happy that there are more games on Hive.

See more details about the launch and the Pizza community at [Hive Pizza Discord](https://discord.gg/GrJhESAa8r). 

Thanks for your time.