Moonbase Alpha casts players as astronauts at a small NASA outpost on the Moon’s south pole. After a meteorite strike damages the settlement’s life-support capability, the team must restore oxygen production before time runs out. The emergency gives the game a clear focus: coordinating a repair effort, rather than simply exploring the lunar setting.
Players can use rovers to move people and supplies around the colony, and build and pilot repair robots to fix critical systems. Repair tools and other available resources also factor into the response. Several paths can lead to success, while completion time affects the score, encouraging teams to make effective decisions and learn from earlier sessions. The lunar environment and its physics provide the setting for those practical tasks.
The game supports cooperative play for up to six people over LAN or the internet, with voice communication for coordinating work. Its single-player option offers a different way to approach the same crisis, while multiple maps let teams choose an environment suited to their group.
