Moonfall is set on the moon Frontier Alfa which was once colonized by human settlers. Unfortunately they were enslaved by an alien race later. After even more time passes, the player arrives on this moon. He does not become a slave, however, but receives a trading license. The big goal of the game is to earn enough money to buy every base, factory, station and plant in order to free humanity.

Similar to Elite, this is a mix between a trading and an action game. The player travels over the moon, visits the settlements and buys/sells one of the 18 different goods. Of course it is important to know where which product is needed in order to receive a good profit. This should not just be saved but also reinvested into weapon upgrades (additionally to the starting laser shot, homing missiles and mines) to survive space pirate attacks. The player may also choose to go into the pirate business and attack freighters. The ship has a high-speed travel motor to speed up the traveling time between settlements after choosing them on the navigation computer. There are also some missions to do.