Perhaps you’ve seen ads for the cheerfully touted “high-density zero-gravity beanbag” on YouTube or streaming services such as PlutoTV. I’ll fully admit that those ads got my curiosity up as I was looking for something that’s a little softer and more relaxing to chill out in when I don’t feel like sitting in my gaming chair at my desk and just wanna watch TV or play a console game.

Previously I had just positioned myself to nestle up against the front of the couch, since my wife and puppies often commandeer the whole thing, so when the folks at Moon Pod reached out to us, I jumped all over it because I wanted to see if their marketing was too good to be true or not. Video games? Yeah, I know – but treat your ass to something comfortable while gaming. Here’s our Super Moon Pod review:

Super Moon Pod
Manufacturer: Moon Pod
MSRP: $499.99 USD

When I first received the Moon Pod, I was initially extremely excited. I looked outside to see two giant boxes on my front porch, and I was as giddy as a kid at Christmas. Two massive Moon Pod boxes, did they accidentally send me two? I had no idea what to expect, so I grabbed both boxes and quickly dove into them.

As I opened the boxes, I had so many questions in my head. The biggest question being what sort of filling they used as they use the taglines of having a zero-gravity feeling, so I figured for sure they had to be using some sort of revolutionary beanbag technology. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed when I realized they were just using a slightly condensed foam pellet.

The reason I received two boxes is because the Super Moon Pod is actually just two individual Moon Pods housed inside of the same cover. I was at least hoping that the beanbag itself would be one complete unit, so I originally figured one box was the cover and one box was the filling.

That’s not the case, it’s two pieces shoved in one bag. This creates an issue when sitting on the Moon Pod solo – as more often than not I found myself falling between the two bags as they slid out from under me while sitting in the center.

Honestly, with the cover on, they look like a giant nutsack (or an Among Us character if you added a visor window) but they are surprisingly comfortable to hang out on. There’s a bit of an unexpected learning curve when it comes to figuring out the best way to sit on the Moon Pod.

If two people are sitting on it, you’re going to want to make sure that each person is on one of the two inserts because overlap will cause them to slide apart on a wood floor. This might not be as much of an issue (or even an issue at all) on carpet, but since I don’t have any carpeted rooms in my house I was unable to test that theory.

If you’re looking at the Moon Pod, you can see the outline of where each of the two individual pods are. For the best result while laying on it solo, you’re going to want to either turn the Moon Pod sideways so you’re laying across the two pods or prop it up against a wall or something that folds the insert into a pseudo-couch.

This allowed my butt to slide back between the two inserts, but allowed for full support underneath me as well as across my back. Once you find an amicable position, the Moon Pod is actually pretty comfortable, though the more you move around the more you sink down into it making it much harder to get up. As you know none of these things ever stay firm enough to simply lean forward and stand up out of unless you’ve got basically no body weight.

As a big fat fuck dude who weighs about 290 lbs, finding a comfortable position on the Moon Pod is initially challenging but quickly becomes a skill you can master without much effort. The only problem is once again with the separate pods shifting apart on the wood floor.

I managed to pull a full night’s sleep on the Super Moon Pod and woke up decently refreshed – but stiff. This thing is definitely better off for naps or used while watching a movie or playing a game. I often will position the second pod with enough filling at the bottom to serve as an elevated mouse pad while doing some work, but it’s not a long term solution.

The only other downside to the Super Moon Pod is that it’s a pain in the ass to get clean. The liner can easily be unzipped and machine washed without any issue (since as you can see from the picture that it’s a bit of a dog hair magnet) but the actual inserts themselves are a nightmare to clean if liquid absorbs through the liner.

My two five month old puppies absolutely love playing on the Super Moon Pod, as it’s become their favorite new wrestling ring/sleep spot, but they’re still so young they get excited and have accidents and that’s how I discovered the Moon Pod itself doesn’t quite clean up as easily I would have hoped. Bonus playtime pic of both of them for reading this far:

All and all, I think the Moon Pod is a pretty nice beanbag but it certainly doesn’t live up to the marketing hype the commercials promise. While there might be some good relaxation tech involved in the engineering, I just can’t recommend paying $500 for a bean bag no matter how comfortable it is. If you find the Super Moon on sale for $300, it’d be a much easier recommendation. Here’s to hoping future iterations improve the spacing which is what truly holds this thing back from being a superior beanbag.

The Super Moon Pod was provided for review by Moon Pod. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.