“Mission Moon” at “IGROPROM”: How Games Lead to Space and a Future Career

From September 18 to 20, the All-Russian Video Game Exhibition and Festival «IGROPROM» took place at Skolkovo. The NTI Circle Movement presented its developments there, with the first public announcement of the game «Mission Moon» and the discussion «Space Starts with a Game» among the key events.

In addition to new games, «IGROPROM» featured flagship projects from the «Berloga» platform, the results of the Useful Games Accelerator, and the «Ursula» Game Workshop.

What is «Mission Moon»

«Mission Moon» is part of the NTI Circle Movement’s systematic effort to popularize space. It is a cooperative multiplayer game about exploring the Moon. Players become the crew of a lunar base: they explore the satellite’s surface, operate vehicles and drones, develop infrastructure, and solve engineering challenges together.

«Mission Moon» is designed for a broad audience and does not require extensive knowledge of space. According to Dmitry Zemtsov, leader of the NTI «Circle Movement» working group, the project’s goal is to introduce young people to current fields of astronautics and engineering and motivate them to pursue further development in the space industry.

«You can tell a player about how a lunar base works, you can show them a spacecraft, or you can put them in a situation where they have to make an engineering decision themselves — that is a completely different educational experience», said Alexey Fedoseev, president of the Association of Technology Circle Participants and leader of the «Berloga» platform.

Exploring Space Industry Careers Through Games

The question of whether games can guide people toward space careers was discussed on September 20 during the panel discussion «Space Starts with a Game: How the Gaming Industry Is Becoming a New Language for Training Engineers».

The discussion was moderated by Alexey Fedoseev, and one of the speakers was Alexander Zezyulin, lead producer at «Tachanka Tech» and developer of «Mission Moon».

The discussion participants reached a common conclusion: games are no longer simply entertainment. They are now a full-fledged educational tool that helps people choose and understand their future profession.

Alexander Zezyulin noted that games can popularize space on a scale and with an effectiveness comparable to iconic film franchises such as «Star Trek» and «Star Wars».

«Space is a unique setting for a game. It offers enormous room for imagination, while also involving real physics, engineering, and science. And if we want a game to foster interest in technology as well, it is important to find the right balance», Alexey Fedoseev emphasized.

We thank «IGROPROM» for the invitation, the opportunity to present our projects, and the chance to discuss the role of games in popularizing space.

^{*The development of «Mission Moon» is being carried out as part of the federal project «Personnel for Space». The project is coordinated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation with the support of the Roscosmos State Corporation and the Foundation for Support of National Technology Initiative Projects (NTI Foundation).*}