Moonlighter 2 is an indie roguelite that lets you wield the most dangerous magic known to mankind: capitalism. You dive into monster-infested ruins not to save the world, but to grab every shiny object that isn’t nailed down so you can resell it at your cozy little shop.

The big twist is that Moonlighter 2 is actually three games stapled together. It's a fast-paced action-roguelite, an inventory management puzzle game, and a shop sim where you have to convince people to buy burnt sticks and old wires for absurd prices.

It’s a ridiculous setup, but as I've found out over the past week, it’s also one that's a lot of fun. So let me show you how Moonlighter 2 juggles all of this at once... and what happens when a ball inevitably hits the floor.

 Video version of this review (~12 minutes)

Respect the broom

I never played the original Moonlighter, so I can't do any comparisons, but what I can say is that Moonlighter 2 stands perfectly fine on its own. Aside from a brief moment of confusion over a man permanently fused to a chair, I had no trouble getting into it.

So, how does the actual gameplay work? Well, before you can start turning violence into profit, you'll need to pick one of four weapon types: a shortsword that lets you spin-2-win, a Monster Hunter-styled longsword that needs constant sharpening, a spear that fires magical shrapnel, or if you want to go full primal, punching gloves that make you really, really angry. And yes, that is their actual ability.

And if you're a connoisseur of pain and want a true challenge, you can go for the broom - a joke weapon whose only power is that you can use it to sweep the floor of your shop after you get your teeth kicked in from trying to fight robots with a broom.

Regardless of what you pick, the combat is fast-paced and chaotic. You’re usually surrounded by groups of enemies with very different attack patterns, and getting through a room without getting singed, slammed, or sent flying is trickier than it looks. But, and I have to emphasize this, it's never unfair. The attacks have long, obvious telegraphs, so when you get hit you’ll need to perform some serious mental gymnastics to pretend it wasn’t your fault.

It also helps that your dodge is ridiculous. There’s no cooldown, so if you want, you can roll around like you're Sonic and do circles around enemies while they desperately sprint after you, slam into walls or fall into pits from sheer confusion. And because the game knows you’re this mobile, a lot of attacks are designed to make you panic and chain dodges just to survive.

Put all of this together and you get the kind of game where, early on, you’ll spend a lot of time eating dirt and falling off the map. But once you get into the rhythm and actually learn the enemy patterns, you'll be able to practically dance around them. And that’s the sort of thing I love. Not the dancing, but the very noticeable "oh wow, I'm actually improving" sort of difficulty curve.

The combat is simple, but it's still quite fun

Fightin' around the world

Right now there are three different worlds you can explore: a robotic gallery full of strange artifacts, a searing wasteland inhabited by hostile shrubbery, and a magical realm seemingly frozen in time. All three zones have two variants, each of which comes with slightly different enemies, reshuffled visuals, and most importantly, new bosses.

The bosses are easily my favorite part of the combat as they are the epitome of the 'challenging but fair' philosophy. If you try to button-mash your way through them, you’ll get punted back to town before you even realize what happened. But if you're patient and actually learn their moves, you can get through the entire fight without taking a single hit.

And it was during one of these fights that I ran into my only real issue with combat: the lock-on range is just a bit too short, especially for fist builds. I frequently found myself shadowboxing the air in front of enemies, and even after adjusting to it, the targeting never felt completely trustworthy. Moonlighter 2 is still in Early Access, so this isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s definitely something I hope gets tweaked soon because it undercuts that whole "get angry, get punching" flow the fists are built around.

The boss fights are hectic, yet never overwhelming

A chill adventure

And speaking of flow, Moonlighter 2 is just very, very pleasant. It’s one of those games that feels cozy even while you’re ripping and tearing your way through the levels. The enemies are adorable, the environments are bright and colorful, and the whole adventure can be best described as charming.

The soundtrack nails that vibe too. Most tracks are atmospheric and upbeat. Even the boss themes, which are more orchestral, still skew towards being whimsical rather than dramatic. They’re not "prepare for your doom" types of songs, but rather chill background music for exploring, selling, or in my case, writing a script.

The path to power

Besides jamming out to music once you've cleared out an area, you'll also be able to pick your next stop on a Slay the Spire style map. Each branch throws something different at you: more loot to sell back in town, a miniboss that wants to show you his ball collection, or even a handful of temporary upgrades so you can really put out the hurt.

These upgrades range from simple damage increases to fancy effects that let you ignite enemies or cover them in explosive gloop. Now, Moonlighter 2 doesn't have deep build-crafting. You're not going to be assembling a Rube Goldberg machine that will eventually oneshot the final boss. You only get a handful upgrades per run, but that's usually enough to make each attempt feel a little different... especially once you start swapping between weapon variants.

Each of the four weapon classes comes with four sub-weapons, and they're actually distinct. The spear, for example, can fire shrapnel that you can recall to impale enemies from behind, or you can use the version where the shards orbit you like a deadly hula-hoop made out of surprisingly tasty-looking shrapnel candy!

It's not the deepest roguelite system out there, but it's punchy, fast and entertaining - and honestly, that’s all it needs to be when it’s only one-third of the game.

Not every upgrade is a hit, but some really do shake up your playstyle

Inventory tetris

The second third is the inventory puzzle game which, funnily enough, is the one that grabbed my attention the hardest. Every time you clear a treasure room, an elite, or a boss you’re handed a chest or two filled with two common items and one rare. Each item has a random level that determines its value, and your job is to merge, fuse, burn, zap, or otherwise finagle these objects into becoming the most disgustingly overpriced junk imaginable.

But there's a catch. There's a lot of items out there, and even after upgrading, your inventory is rather tiny. On top of that, many items only function when pointed in a specific direction, so you’re constantly juggling what to keep, what to ditch, and where to cram it so it doesn’t explode or just make everything worse. This starts off easy, but by the time you have 15 trinkets that each require their own special trigger, you end up with a shockingly dynamic and really addictive game of inventory Tetris.

I'm not joking about that either. I've spent an embarrassing amount of time rearranging little baubles and burnt branches because the thought of leaving a dungeon without squeezing out the biggest possible number physically hurt my soul. And I think that's Moonlighter 2's greatest achievement. It takes loot - the most taken-for-granted part of almost every game ever - and it turns it into an actual puzzle, but without making it so complicated it overshadows the action.

This stuff is way more addicting than I ever could've expected

Can I interest you in a burnt stick?

Once you’ve hoarded enough treasure to make a dragon feel financially insecure, it’s time to head back to town and unload it all in your cozy little shop. This is the simplest, and if I'm being honest, the weakest third of Moonlighter 2. There just isn't much strategy to it. Once you know the going rates of items, it's just an endless cycle of: sell the cheap stuff first to unlock temporary bonuses, then cash out your high-value items. Decorations that come with their own perks do add some extra spice, but the core loop never evolves beyond: put item down, set price, and then give the customer the death-stare until they pay up.

That’s not to say it isn’t satisfying. Pulling off big combos and closing up for the night with 100,000 gold in your pocket feels fantastic. It’s just that the act of selling lacks a bit of oomph. There's no haggling, no tricks, or even the risk of someone trying to snag your goods and sprint out the door.

But again, Early Access, so there’s plenty of room for this system to grow and expand. I’d love to see future updates turn this part of the game into its own little economy with its own ups and downs.

The shop part is fun for a bit, but it's very samey right now

Permanent progression

But what do you actually do with all that money? The answer is permanent upgrades, and a lot of them. Out of all the roguelites I’ve played this year, Moonlighter 2 has the widest spread of upgrades by far. There are eight different shops offering all sorts of stat boosts, perks, and weapon improvements - many of which are genuinely powerful. So if you’re the type of player who loves watching numbers go up, be careful as Moonlighter 2 might give you an overdose.

And to be clear, I do like what the game is doing. From a purely gameplay perspective, the upgrades are fun to chase and satisfying to stack, and it's also nice to have an actual use for all that gold. The problem is what they do to the difficulty curve. My first few runs were a real struggle - the kind where I was sweating bullets and praying the next room doesn't end up being my last. But after 15 hours of upgrades? The challenge just... evaporated. At this point, I don’t think I can lose unless I decide to play with my monitor turned off.

This might sound like a huge issue, but honestly it’s one of the easiest problems in the world to fix: just add another difficulty level. And honestly, that’s kind of the story of Moonlighter 2 right now: a great core gameplay loop that just needs a few loose bolts tightened.

You can upgrade just about anything

Is Moonlighter 2 worth it?

So with all that said... would I recommend Moonlighter 2? If you're a fan of casual roguelites, absolutely. Right now it's still in Early Access, so it’s not the deepest or most complex thing out there, but it’s chill, charming, and entertaining all the way through.

It took me around 15 hours to run out of things to do, and for the very first version, I think that’s a perfectly respectable amount of content. So if the updates keep building on what’s already here and really polish things up, Moonlighter 2 might end up sweeping way more than just the shop floor.

[Note]: If you want to make your first runs through Moonlighter 2 to be smooth, pleasant and profitable, I've made a beginner's guide covering some of the key things I wish I knew when I first started. My intent is not to tell you how exactly to play, but rather to teach you key concepts that'll help you learn (and enjoy) the game at your own pace.