Moon Rover: Anaxagoras, 3D Lunar Rover Game

Moon Rover: Anaxagoras is Toolstack Lab's hosted, renamed copy of an open-source 3D lunar rover game by winch, used under the MIT licence.

Genre: 3D lunar rover survey (exploration)
Platforms: Web browser – best on a desktop or laptop with a keyboard
Needs: WebGL2
Price: Free
Account needed: No
Save data: Stays in your browser (localStorage)
Made by: winch (original) · hosted by Toolstack Lab
Released: 2026-10-30
Updated: 2026-10-30
Controls: W A S D or arrows drive, mouse looks; T array, G radar, R arm + click drill; Esc pauses
Licence: MIT

How to play Moon Rover: Anaxagoras

Each mission card lists a few objectives in the top-left. Mission 1 (Cold Start): press T to deploy the solar array, drive 120 m from the sled, then press G for a radar sweep. Later missions have you park on radar echoes, deploy the arm (R), aim it with W A S D and click to drill, carry samples back to the sled, lay relay beacons (B) to keep contact, and hold E at the old station to recover its logs. Watch power and hull: shadowed ground does not charge the array, and the sled recharges you and takes your samples. There is no score and no game over: if the hull gives out, the rover is winched back to the sled. Tab opens the field codex; Esc pauses.

Controls

Keyboard

W/S or ↑/↓ throttle and reverse · A/D or ←/→ steer · Space brake · mouse look (click the game to lock the pointer), wheel zoom · T solar array · G radar sweep · R arm (then W A S D aims, click drills) · B relay beacon · E hold to interact · F lamps · C camera · P photo mode (Q/Z up/down, Shift fast) · H hide HUD · Tab codex · Esc pause and release the pointer · X right the chassis after a rollover. K (save the frame as a PNG) does nothing inside our frame, because the frame blocks downloads.

Touch

Twin sticks: DRIVE (left) and LOOK (right). Buttons: CAM, LAMP, ARRAY, HUD, SHOT, BRAKE on the left; SCAN, ARM, DRILL, RELAY on the right. SHOT (save a screenshot) does nothing inside our frame. We have not tested the touch controls on a real phone.

Tips for Moon Rover: Anaxagoras

Deploy the solar array (T) first: it is the first objective and keeps your power up.
Park before drilling: deploying the arm (R) holds the chassis still while you aim.
Head back to the sled to recharge and unload samples. The Sample Bay holds 6.
Turn the lamps on (F) in shadowed craters, and check the field codex (Tab) after each discovery.
If it stutters, lower RENDER QUALITY under SYSTEMS on the main menu. It starts at a level guessed for your device.

Screenshots

The Moon Rover: Anaxagoras title screen and main menu

Mission 1: driving out from the sled with the objectives in the top-left

A ground-penetrating radar sweep with the full instrument HUD

What we measured

We did not make this game. These are the checks we ran on the copy we host, and the gaps we have not measured yet.

Game files on first load: 404,266 bytes transferred (27 files, 1.68 MB unpacked)
Requests to other web addresses: None
Cookies: None
Saved in your browser: localStorage keys regolith.anaxagoras.v1 (progress) and regolith.anaxagoras.v1.set (settings), nothing else
Mouse pointer lock in our frame: Works: clicking the game locks the pointer, Esc pauses and releases it
Tested in: Headless Chromium with software WebGL (SwiftShader) only; its frame rate says nothing about real devices
Frame rate on a real graphics card: No data yet
Load time on a real phone: No data yet
Touch controls on a real phone: No data yet
Behaviour without WebGL2: No data yet
Gamepad: No data yet
Sound: No data yet
Time to finish all five missions: No data yet

We only list numbers we have measured ourselves; the empty rows get filled in once we have real ones.

FAQ

What is Moon Rover: Anaxagoras?

Our hosted, renamed copy of an open-source 3D lunar rover survey game by winch: it is based on REGOLITH (MIT) by winch. It is used under the MIT licence and credited on this page; it is not an official version and is not endorsed by the author.

Why is it called Moon Rover: Anaxagoras?

We renamed our copy so that we do not use the original game's name as our own; the MIT licence allows changes like this. The title, title screen and other text in the game now say Moon Rover: Anaxagoras, and the main menu and this page say it is based on REGOLITH (MIT) by winch. Nothing else about the game changed.

Does it work on a phone?

It has twin-stick touch controls, but it is a heavy 3D game and we have not tested it on real phones, so we cannot say how well it runs there. It is best on a desktop or laptop with a keyboard.

What do I need to run it?

A browser with WebGL2. The game has no fallback: without WebGL2 it may not start at all.

Is my progress saved?

Yes. Progress and settings are kept in localStorage on the game's own web address (regolith.anaxagoras.v1 and regolith.anaxagoras.v1.set), in your browser only. There are no cookies and no account.

Can I lose?

No. There is no score and no game over. If the hull gives out, the rover is winched back to the sled and you carry on. Five missions lead to an ending.

Who made it and what is the licence?

winch made the original, released under the MIT licence (Copyright (c) 2026 winch). It runs on three.js r160, also MIT. The licence box on this page links the licence text at the exact source commit we use.