A Brief Introduction to Outer Wilds

Welcome to Outer Wilds Ventures! You're the newest recruit to the fledgling space program and have been tasked with exploring and uncovering the many secrets of The Outer Wilds, your solar system.

You play as an Hearthian, a marshmallow-loving alien species that is quite advanced in space exploration. Your mission is to learn more about your solar system and the ancient race, the Nomai, who inhabited it.

But what do you do when something goes wrong and you find yourself stuck in a seemingly endless time loop?

Outer Wilds is an award-winning action-adventure game from 2019. It was developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive, who also published Stray (2022).

It is essentially the “Groundhog Day” of space travel. This may sound annoying and repetitive, but it actually avoids this perfectly.

The game has a storyline, but the player chooses how to progress through it. So, instead of feeling like you’re constantly reliving the same day, each time loop brings something new.

This is because it’s an open world game, so the possibilities are endless. There are very few limitations, so players can pretty much do whatever they want from day one.

It doesn’t even have a traditional tutorial where you would have to learn the mechanics to progress. Instead, the information is given if you choose to take it, which is highly recommended, especially because so many players go in blind.

Outer Wilds can be very confusing, which is the point. It doesn’t hold your hand and guide you through the story. Instead, it is a puzzle you are meant to solve.

In their mission statement, Mobius Digital says, “We view games as portals into new worlds that challenge what the player knows. We want our games to scratch that itch of venturing off into the unknown, of finding out what the darkness has to offer.”

Outer Wilds is a player's opportunity to explore the unknown. Whether it be the whirling cyclones of Giant’s Deep or the foggy caverns of the Dark Bramble. It is up to you to pave your own way through the story.

https://www.mobiusdigitalgames.com/press.html