When I first jumped into Moonlight Peaks, I expected another cozy farming game with a spooky skin. Instead, I found myself completely hooked by its vampire theme, magical farming, quirky characters, and surprisingly fun progression. It still has all the relaxing farming sim elements, but everything has a supernatural twist that makes it feel fresh.
If you’re just starting your journey, don’t worry if everything feels a little overwhelming during the first few nights. The game introduces a lot of mechanics—from magical crops and spellcasting to animal raising and romance—and it doesn’t explain every little detail.
This beginner’s guide covers everything I wish I had known before playing. Whether you’re trying to build the perfect vampire farm, unlock magic faster, or simply avoid wasting your early-game resources, these tips will save you plenty of time.
Character Creation
One of the first things you’ll do is create your vampire.
Besides naming yourself, you’ll also choose names for your farm and your adorable Hellkitten companion. Character customization is surprisingly detailed, letting you change skin tones, hairstyles, eye colors (even giving each eye a different color), facial features, and clothing.
The best part is that nothing here affects gameplay.
There are no gender restrictions, no stat bonuses, and no romance limitations based on your appearance. It’s purely about creating a character you’ll enjoy seeing throughout your adventure.
Even better, if you eventually decide your vampire deserves a makeover, you aren’t locked into your original choice. Later in the game you can buy an Alter Ego Elixir from Sabrina’s shop to completely change your appearance.
So don’t stress too much—you can always reinvent yourself later.
Farm Starts in Terrible Shape
Like every good farming game, your new home isn’t exactly ready for farming.
You’ll arrive with nothing more than an old farmhouse, your trusty coffin, and your Hellkitten by your side. Your first night mainly introduces you to the basics before throwing you into the real adventure.
One thing that’s easy to miss:
The game only saves when you sleep.
If you’ve had an especially productive night or gathered valuable resources, always make sure you sleep before closing the game.
Orlock and Start Your First Quests
The first major NPC you’ll meet is Orlock.
Let’s just say he isn’t exactly welcoming.
Instead of greeting you warmly, he immediately wants you to grow Blood Grapes and eventually make Blood Wine for him. Fortunately, he also gives you your first crop seeds, so this becomes your introduction to farming.
You’ll also be asked to:
- Register at Town Hall
- Meet the residents
- Learn the basics of farming
- Begin rebuilding your supernatural life
Although these first quests seem simple, they’re designed to unlock nearly every important gameplay mechanic later on.
Learn Every Tool Early
Unlike many farming games where you slowly unlock equipment, Moonlight Peaks gives you almost everything immediately.
Your starting tools include:
- Shovel
- Watering Can
- Axe
- Pickaxe
- Broken Wand
Everything sits on your quick-access wheel, making it easy to swap between tools.
Each one serves an important purpose, so it’s worth getting comfortable switching quickly instead of opening menus constantly.
Farming Works Differently Than You Might Expect
If you’ve played games like Stardew Valley, you’ll feel at home—but there are some unique twists.
Instead of using a hoe, you’ll use your Shovel to prepare farmland.
Once planted, crops need watering every single night until they’re ready. A yellow indicator appears when crops can be harvested.
Early on you’ll refill your watering can directly from rivers since wells aren’t available immediately.
My advice?
Don’t plant dozens of crops right away.
Watering by hand consumes both time and energy, so starting with a smaller field makes your early nights much easier to manage.
Magical Crops Need Magical Water
Eventually you’ll unlock magical farming.
This is where many new players get confused.
Regular watering—even rain—doesn’t work.
Magical crops only grow when watered using the Aquaflux spell.
The spell automatically waters crops around you, but there’s one downside:
It doesn’t know which crops actually need magical water.
That means it’ll happily waste water on ordinary plants too, which isn’t ideal when your mana pool is still tiny.
Before casting Aquaflux, always make sure your watering can is completely full.
Fishing Comes Later Than You’d Expect
Don’t spend your first few nights searching for a fishing rod.
You won’t unlock fishing immediately.
Instead, you’ll receive your rod after competing against Noel in a friendly fishing challenge.
Your goal is simple:
Catch three different fish before he does.
Once unlocked, fishing is very relaxing and straightforward.
Early rods can’t handle the largest fish swimming around, so don’t worry if those impressive catches escape. Better fishing equipment comes later.
Fishing can even reward collectible Nokturna cards, giving you another reason to keep casting your line.
Catch Soul Blobs Whenever You See Them
One of my favorite surprises was meeting Death.
Yes—Death himself.
Fortunately, he’s much friendlier than expected.
After unlocking Misty Shores, you’ll receive the Bug Net and start catching floating Soul Blobs.
These tiny ghostly skulls each have their own humorous backstory explaining how they met their unfortunate end.
There are 100 Soul Blobs to collect, and every milestone earns rewards.
The very first major reward is incredibly useful:
The Antique Clock.
Unlock Longer Nights Early
The Antique Clock might sound decorative.
It isn’t.
After receiving it, you’ll unlock a new option in the settings menu that lets you increase night duration.
This is honestly one of the best upgrades in the game.
Longer nights mean:
- More farming
- More mining
- More fishing
- More quests
- Less rushing before sunrise
If you’re someone who likes taking your time instead of constantly watching the clock, increase the night length as soon as possible.
Bring Every Vampster Home
You’ll occasionally spot tiny black creatures wearing little hats.
These are Vampsters.
Unlike normal collectibles, they don’t go into your inventory.
Instead, you’ll physically carry them in vampire form back to their cave near Orlock’s mansion.
It’s a little awkward at first, but every rescued Vampster contributes toward additional rewards.
Whenever you spot one, it’s usually worth making the trip.
Buy Animals as Soon as You Can Afford Them
Animals aren’t available immediately.
First you’ll need Ridge to build a Barn.
Once that’s finished, Luna begins selling various creatures.
Some early favorites include:
- Cheeken – constantly followed by fluffy little chicks.
- Cowcula – basically a flying vampire cow that never quite gets airborne.
- Draculamb – one of the later livestock options.
Don’t forget to pet your animals every day.
They also appreciate cosmetic hats, which somehow makes these already adorable creatures even better.
Unlock Hellkitten Form Quickly
One feature I absolutely loved was transforming into your Hellkitten.
This isn’t available immediately.
You’ll need to progress through several early story quests before morphing becomes available.
Once unlocked, though, you’ll probably spend half your time as a cat.
Why?
Because Hellkitten form:
- Moves much faster
- Uses less energy
- Creates farmland without using the shovel
Being able to quickly sprint around your farm makes everyday tasks much more enjoyable.
Repair Your Wand to Begin Using Magic
Your starting wand is broken.
Eventually Luna notices this and sends you to Sabrina.
Noel temporarily repairs it, allowing you to finally cast spells.
Your first spell is Aquaflux—the automatic watering spell mentioned earlier.
From then on you’ll also unlock the game’s mana system.
Mana appears beneath your energy bar and slowly regenerates.
Unlike stamina, mana is harder to recover early in the game, so don’t waste it unnecessarily.
If you’re wondering how to cast spells, simply equip your wand and trace each spell’s symbol using the on-screen pattern.
Whenever you forget a spell, you can check your spellbook from the menu.
Cooking Is More Than Just Throwing Ingredients Together
Cooking isn’t automatic.
Higher-quality recipes require timing your button presses correctly while a circle spins around the screen.
Better timing equals better meals.
Since food restores both stamina and eventually mana, cooking becomes increasingly important the longer you play.
Meanwhile, crafting is much simpler.
As long as you have materials, simply keep crafting items until you’ve made everything you need.
Build Processing Machines Early
Your farm quickly becomes much more efficient after unlocking crafting machines.
Some of the earliest and most useful include:
Keg
Produces wine, juices, and other beverages.
You’ll need this almost immediately for Orlock’s Blood Wine request.
Refiner
Turns basic resources into processed materials like:
- Wooden Planks
- Refined Stone
- Animal Fodder
Furnace
Essential for:
- Charcoal
- Glass
- Metal Bars
These processed materials become required for many future buildings.
Don’t Ignore Later Machines
As Luna continues teaching you, she’ll introduce several incredibly useful blueprints.
Some of the most valuable are:
- Beehive
- Herb Garden
- Drying Rack
- Enchanted Mortar
- Mana Extractor
The Mana Extractor deserves special attention because it helps solve one of the game’s biggest early frustrations—limited mana.
When placing Herb Gardens, leave enough walking space around them.
It’s surprisingly easy to accidentally block access to some planting spots.
Build a Scarecrow Before Ravens Become a Problem
Eventually Viktor warns you about ravens.
They’re more than background decoration.
Without protection, they’ll destroy nearby crops.
Scarecrows only protect a limited area, so place them near the center of your fields instead of randomly dropping one somewhere on your farm.
Sell Early Resources Without Feeling Guilty
Many players instinctively hoard everything.
I made that mistake too.
In reality, your early priority should simply be earning Gold.
Flowers, shells, and other forageables respawn regularly and sell for decent money.
That extra income helps purchase blueprints, seeds, upgrades, and animals much sooner.
The only resources I’d avoid selling carelessly are wood and stone since you’ll constantly need both for construction.
Chester Is the Cutest Shipping Bin You’ll Ever Use
Instead of an ordinary shipping box, Moonlight Peaks gives you Chester.
He’s basically a living chest with plenty of personality.
Drop items inside before sleeping and they’ll automatically sell overnight.
And yes…
You can pet him.
It’s completely unnecessary.
You’ll probably do it anyway.
Use the World Map Constantly
The game doesn’t include a convenient mini-map, so the full map becomes your best friend.
Fortunately it’s excellent.
You’ll see:
- Character locations
- Shop icons
- Opening hours
- Quest destinations
One helpful trick I discovered is simply walking into unexplored regions.
Many story events trigger automatically when entering certain areas, so if progress seems stalled, exploring usually fixes it.
Relationships Are Worth Investing In
Romance isn’t just an optional side activity.
Building friendships unlocks:
- Heart Events
- Exclusive blueprints
- Special crafting materials
- Additional story scenes
Talking to people every night helps, but handmade gifts improve relationships much faster.
You aren’t forced to choose a partner immediately either.
Feel free to get to know multiple characters before deciding who your vampire ultimately wants to spend eternity with.
Eventually you can marry one partner, and if they’re not already a vampire, the game even lets you transform them so they can share your immortal life.