That's no planet: Lifeless Moon lands on Kickstarter

Lifeless Moon [official site], the follow-up to exploration game Lifeless Planet, has launched a crowdfunding campaign. Where the first game was set in the far future 15 light years from Earth, Lifeless Moon sees two astronauts stomping around our own moon, exploring a town that resembles one back on Earth.

The original saw you walk and jetpack around in a space suit in third person, jumping between platforms and progressing the linear story. Lifeless Moon will be similar except there's a "deeper focus on puzzles", many of which take place in first person. It's looking for $17,000 (£13k) on Kickstarter, the same as developers Stage 2 raised for the first game.

The team hope a playable beta will be out this year, with full release of the game next year. Here's a trailer that was shown at PAX West this week:

It certainly looks pretty, which is no surprise given how beautiful the first game was. I didn't get hold of it myself but Ben Barrett's Lifeless Planet review thought it was well-written, atmospheric, and subtly pushed the player towards the main story without punishing a stroll off the beaten path.

Lifeless Moon will be playable in VR, and there will be motion controller support for those first-person puzzling segments.

Overall, it's one to look forward to I reckon. A $10 (£7.50) pledge will get you a digital pre-order, while $20 (£15) will net you beta access.