Moon Child: The Lost Dutch Platformer That’s Now Viral Thanks to Its Iconic Theme

If you’ve never played Moon Child, you’re not alone. This obscure Dutch platformer, developed by Team Hoi, began as an Amiga title in 1993 before undergoing a troubled development cycle that ultimately led to a limited Windows release. Yet, decades later, the game has found a new audience—thanks to a viral resurgence driven by its iconic theme.

An in-depth feature by the blog Games That Weren’t on the unfinished Amiga version, combined with a social media post featuring the game’s main theme, has reignited interest in Moon Child. The Amiga version’s soundtrack, particularly its lyrics, has captivated listeners, with the line “you’ve got the power to be his friend” becoming a rallying cry.

The theme, composed by Ramon Braumuller, was recorded on an ADAT multitrack and sampled using Amiga hardware. Its structure is a mix of vocal hooks and interspersed samples, including the opening:

It’s Moon Child.
Wah-ah-wo-ho.
You’ve got the power to be his friend.
It’s Moon Child.
Wah-ah-wo-ho.

A sample from The Adventures of Superman radio series—“It’s the beginning of a new and excitingly different story!”—is also featured. The theme repeats the iconic line four times before concluding with another sample, this one from Dragnet (1987), as used in The Art of Noise’s 1988 remix.

“The story… is true.”

Moon Child’s sudden moment in the spotlight is a far cry from its rocky development history.

From Hoi to Moon Child: A Troubled Development

Team Hoi, the Dutch studio behind Moon Child, first gained attention with their 1992 platformer Hoi, which starred a little green protagonist of the same name. However, their experience with publishers proved disastrous.

“When Hoi was about 60 percent finished, Innerprise Software asked us to send them the latest version of the game for internal evaluation and testing,” developer Metin Seven explained in an email. “About three weeks later, the version we sent to Innerprise had been leaked to the Amiga hacker group Fairlight and was rapidly being copied by users worldwide.”

This breach forced Team Hoi to terminate their contract with Innerprise and seek a new publisher, Hollyware. Yet their troubles persisted. “Following the release of Hoi, Hollyware never paid us any royalties apart from a $200 check ‘for the release celebration party,’” Metin recalled. Unable to pursue legal action, the team absorbed the loss—only for history to repeat itself with their next game, Clockwiser, and UK publisher Rasputin Software.

Despite critical acclaim from the international gaming press, Team Hoi’s financial and creative struggles overshadowed their success. Moon Child, their ambitious follow-up, became another casualty of unreliable publishing deals and creative setbacks.