Outer Wilds

The quiet shade In the ancient glade Across old bark It's always dark —Quantum Grove Signpost

Outer Wilds is a space simulation game about adventuring through a mysterious solar system. Players take on the role of a hatchling, a member of a Hearthian humanoid alien race from the picturesque planet of Timber Hearth. There they learn the basics of being an Astronaut before taking to space. From there they are given free reign to travel their solar system as they see fit, meeting other astronauts, exploring their ancient ruins of the Nomai, and observing and exploiting the various phenomenon and technology in the game to progress further in the world.

It was developed by Mobius Digital, a studio founded by Masi Oka and based in Los Angeles, California as their third game. It was published by Annapurna Interactive. According to the Mobius Digital website, it was released on May 30, 2019. Users of Microsoft Windows can get it on Steam here, or on the Epic Games Store here. It can be purchased for the Nintendo Switch here, the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 here, and the Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S consoles here. Outer Wilds saw one downloadable content pack released for it in Echoes of the Eye.

• Abandoned Laboratory: Some of the abandoned Nomai structures are this.
• Ace Pilot: Despite their reckless reputation, Feldspar is the best Hearthian pilot at the start of the game.
• Adorkable: Many of the Hearthians are this, and the impression of this is given by some Nomai writings.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: The player can take this role if they choose to focus on Nomai artifacts.
  • Riebeck is a reluctant example, venturing to and exploring parts of the planet Brittle Hollow despite their fear of space.
• Alien Kudzu: Seeds from Dark Bramble can be found in various locations. Feldspar is particularly concerned about the one falling on the Hearthean homeworld of Timber Hearth.
• Aliens Never Invented the Wheel: The Nomai craft are capable of warp travel and have built shuttlecraft launched and landed seemingly through gravity manipulation. The concept of having a way to significantly or quickly adjust course after launch seems to have never been considered, making this a rare area where Hearthian technology is superior in practice, being more suited to nimbly navigate environments like Dark Bramble.
• Aliens Steal Cable: Inverted. Recordings and transmissions from the Nomai are quite useful to the player. If the Hatchling ventures into the Nomai vessel they can even use its equipment to read transmissions from contemporary Nomai.
• Alluring Anglerfish: Anglerfish provide a source of light in the dark, as the player can see in the museum. Within the foggy interior of Dark Bramble, it can be difficult to visually tell them apart from a desirable seed opening at a distance.
• Almost Out of Oxygen: The Hatchling needs oxygen to survive and can run out if they linger away from a source to replenish it for too long. Normally this isn’t a problem, but it comes into play and adds tension and urgency to quickly explore areas where it is not easily accessible.
• Alien Sky: Very prominent on Giant's Deep, with giant tornadoes dominating the green skies.
• Apocalypse Wow: The Hatchling, as well as Chert, get to witness a starry sky go dark as distant stars go supernova, before their own star finally gives up as well. A brilliant emission of light engulfs the solar system, quickly wiping out planets as it rapidly progresses through, with only extreme distance offering any sort of futile protection from the immediate effects.
• Apocalyptic Log: The Nomai survivors of Escape Pod 3 leave one. On the main ship, received communications from more recent Nomai can be read indicating their actions to congregate at a relatively safe space as the universe ends.
• Artificial Gravity: Nomai Technology is capable of producing this, as a museum exhibit demonstrates by allowing a player to walk on a wall.
• Artificial Limbs: The Hearthian Tektite has a prosthesis for a lower leg and foot.
• Bamboo Technology: The player's spacecraft is mostly made of material one would expect, but does use a noticeable amount of wood, including for at least one thruster nozzle.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: Played with. Hearthians can’t breath in space, but vegetation in space can seemingly produce breathable oxygen in its immediate vicinity.
• Bigger on the Inside: Once the Hatchling enters the seed at the core of Dark Bramble, it becomes clear that it is a bit bigger on the inside. As the player navigates deeper into Dark Bramble, they may find that it is far bigger on the inside, with some paths seemingly going on for an infinite length.
• Big Freaking Gun: The Hatchling sees one fire in distant space while waking up. It's a space station firing a probe, not an intentionally weaponized projectile. The Nomai gravity cannons may also count, though they are planet based large structures whose purpose is to launch ships.
• Cave Behind the Falls: The Hatchling must travel to a cave hidden behind a pillar of falling sand on their way to the Sunless City.
• Big Dumb Object: Many of the larger Nomai creations.
• Black Holes Suck: A black hole lies beneath the surface of Brittle Hollow. As the planet collapses, bits are pulled into it, emerging from the corresponding far off white hole.
• Break the Cutie: Chert starts out the game as a friendly egg shaped astronomer based out of the hourglass twins close to the sun. As he observes the distant supernovas and changes in the local sun, he comes to realize that the universe is older than predicted and that The Stars Are Going Out, leading to a progressing breakdown on the realization that he has front row seats to the supernova of the local sun. Chert is particularly tragic in that he is the only character who becomes aware of their impending doom who does not retain their memories following a loop, and the revelation comes from his own labors, resulting in this self imposed breakdown happening every loop like clockwork.
• Cassandra Truth: The player can tell Slate about the ways they died, which Slate doesn’t take seriously.
• Convection, Schmonvection: Standing directly in a campfire will quickly cook the Hatchling, but they can survive floating in orbit next to the sun with little issue as long as they don’t actually touch it.
• Conveniently-Close Planet: The solar system is extremely compact, enabling the player to do most interplanetary travel in a matter of minutes.
  • Aside from the Sun and Giant’s Deep, most bodies in space have relatively limited gravity and atmosphere, making leaving them from the surface fairly easy with just the space suit, and trivially easy with the spacecraft.
• Cranium Ride: Players must enter the cap of a jellyfish and ride down with it to safely enter the core of Giant's Deep.
• Critical Annoyance: The master alarm on the space craft. The player typically doesn't hear it for long, as this is a sign to immediately bail to fix or flee the craft.
• Death World: Every celestial body has hazards, but some are more severe than others.
  • The Hourglass Twins feature a giant pillar of material transferring between the two which is described by Chert as dangerous. As the material piles up, many of the underground caves become death traps.
  • Giant's Deep is a stormy watery planet, what few islands there are can sometimes be briefly tossed into space by the storms before they come crashing down.
  • Hollows Lantern is a volcanic moon with eruptions that pelt the surface of Brittle Hollow.
  • The interior of Brittle Hollow is as the name suggests, hollow. A black hole lies in the center, and falling in would be a death sentence if not for Nomai technology on the other end.
  • Dark Bramble is filled with ship devouring Anglerfish.
  • The Interloper is filled with deadly Ghost Matter on the inside, and was responsible for killing at least some of the Nomai.
• Derelict Graveyard: The interior of Dark Bramble contains at least one abandoned Nomai vessel and it's escape pod, and one damaged Hearthian vessel. The White Hole is surrounded by debris from Brtitle Hollow.
• Diegetic Interface: The player gets a Heads-Up Display when the Hatchling put on their space suit, and many of the instruments on the space craft are plainly visible from the seat.
• Distant Reaction Shot: The Hatchling witnesses a far away structure break apart spectacularly above a far off planet after waking up. The Hatchling typically gets a good view of the sun going supernova if they are in open space or in a planetary surface.
• Distress Call: The Nomai send out distress beacons from their escape pods and attempt to send out a distress message from their main ship, but it is unheard. Their ship is capable of receiving communication though, and some more current Nomai discuss the loss of that ship as a cautionary tale, mentioning how there were rescue attempts made in spite of a loss of communication.
• Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: The tornados in the atmosphere of Giant's Deep only really affect what they touch.
• Doomed Hometown: The solar system, and by extension the Hearthian home world of Timber Hearth, are doomed to be consumed by the sun going supernova as the player progresses through the game.
• Dramatic Space Drifting: Very prominent for the survivors of Escape Pod 3.
• Early Installment Weirdness: On the Mobious Digital website a page is maintained for Outer Wilds: A Thrilling Graphical Text Adventure, a much simpler playable prototype developed in the summer of 2014.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: The Sun goes supernova after a bit in each play-through, eliminating all the planets.
• Ejection Seat: The Hatchling can manually eject the cockpit from the rest of their spacecraft, propelling them forward and leaving the rest behind. Rarely useful since the player is then left without a functional spacecraft.
• Elaborate Underground Base:The Nomai Sunless City and the Hanging City are both constructed beneath the surface of planets to provide some level of protection against the harsh environment.
• Escape Pod: Several old Nomai escape pods can be found.
• Extra Eyes: The Hearthians have four eyes on their face, one set above the other.
• First Contact: The player can initiate first contact between a Nomai and contemporary Hearthians on the Quantum Moon. The contact is complicated in that while the Hearthians have devised a tool to translate written Nomai script, the Nomai have no such tool of their own, requiring the player to use understood symbols to communicate.
• First Town: The town on the Hearthian Homeworld of Timber Hearth.
• Floral Theme Naming: Nomai tend to be named after plants.
• Gameplay Automation: The player's ship has an autopilot that matches velocity with a target, then accelerates towards it and about midway decelerates to stop just short of it. It also features Artificial Stupidity that is acknowledged In-Universe, as the autopilot is ignorant of anything between the ship and the target, and will thus commonly crash into things like the sun if the player isn't careful when enabling it.
• Ghibli Hills: The planet of Timber Hearth is relatively unspoiled, with artificial structures being largely confined to specific areas.
• Ghost Ship: Some of the Nomai craft are littered with the skeletons of their crew.
• Gravity Barrier: Played with. Generally the player can go where they please, but attempting to reach some places can be mechanically challenging due to this trope. For example, the Sun Station is incredibly difficult to match velocity with and land on due to the high gravity of the sun it orbits, effectively making it a natural obstacle.
• Gravity Screw: Some Nomai tech can allow the Hatchling to walk on a surface other than what gravity would typically allow, as can be seen in the museum.
• Heads-Up Display: The player gets one when the Hatchling puts on a space suit.
• Heal Thyself: The Hatchling can heal themselves by visiting the space suit station on the spacecraft.
• The Hedge of Thorns: Dark Bramble and its seeds extend thorny vines into the nearby areas. The interior of Dark Bramble is very dense with thorns, among other hazards.
• Hollow World: Brittle Hollow is a hollow planet with a black hole in the center.
• Hyperactive Metabolism: Eating A properly cooked marshmallow is seemingly all that is needed to heal the Hatchling.
• Improvised Microgravity Maneuvering: The player can do this by firing their scout into space, getting them a few free meters per second without fuel expenditure.
• Infinite Flashlight: The player can use their flashlight indefinitely.
• Infinite Supplies: The space suit has limited supplies, but this is played straight elsewhere. The spaceship always has more fuel for the space suit, as do the various canisters that can be found throughout the solar system. The spaceship itself cannot run out of fuel or oxygen if it is intact. Given the brief timescale the player has to use it, they may simply be incapable of using it all within the allotted time.
• Interface Screw: Taking enough damage to the spacesuit or spacecraft can cause this, forcing the player to deal with an associated disruption.
• Interplanetary Voyage: Alluded to in the discussions with Esker, who indicates that earlier space travel was more of an ordeal than what is seen in game.
• Imported Alien Phlebotinum: The Hearthians incorporate some Nomai creations into their technology to improve their capabilities, such as by adding a recall function to the scouts.
• Intergenerational Friendship: An extreme case between the Nomai Solanum and the Hatchling. Solanum is hundreds of thousands of years old, and stories of the lost Nomai Solanum belonged to are essentially legends among the remaining Nomai by the time of the game. By comparison, the Hatchling is a relatively green pilot by Hearthian standards, and is far younger. Solanum tells the Hatchling they consider them to be friends.
• Justified Extra Lives: The Hatchling is able to return to the start of the game on death thanks to exposure to the Nomai Statue and the Ash Twin Project.
• Kill It with Water: Ghost Matter is normally a killing force that must be worked around. However is the area is submerged in water, it becomes neutralized until it is once again exposed to air.
• Lethal Lava Land: The moon Hollow's Lantern is one, with a surface covered in lava and volcanos.
• Lost Colony: The Nomai cities found by the player were once this, being set up in an emergency.
• The Lost Woods: The interior of Dark Bramble is a thorny maze.
• Lost World: The Quantum Moon is difficult to land on without correct knowledge. It’s strange properties allowed it to harbor a Nomai, who is alive when observed under the right circumstances.
• Lost Technology: The artifacts of the Nomai, such as the crystal seen in the museum, are quite advanced compared to the Hearthians.
• Menu Time Lockout: The game typically pauses while reading translated Nomai writing.
• Named After Their Planet: The Hearthians are named after their home planet of Timber Hearth.
• Noob Cave: The Zero-G cave on Tiber Hearth allows the Hatchling to practice maneuvering in zero and low gravity environments in relative safety.
• No OSHA Compliance: Hearthian Technology has a reputation for being unsafe. Trusting the autopilot too much or standing under the lift can kill the Hatchling.
• Obstacle Ski Course: The interior of the Interloper comet is an odd example, where the Hatchling must descend down a number of tunnels filled with deadly invisible Ghost Matter.
• Our Time Travel Is Different: Nomai warps seem to result in arrival occurring almost imperceptibly before departure.
• Our Wormholes Are Different: Entering a black hole results in exiting a corresponding white hole.
• Outside Context Villain: Chert identifies the supernova and the death of the stars as one long after it is possible for him to mitigate it or stop it. This also mostly ended the local Nomai survivors thanks to the arrival of the interloper.
• Oxygen Meter: The player has one visible in their space suit. It's typically good for many minutes of exploration before needing refilled.
• Planet Killer: The Sun Station is a failed Nomai project meant to trigger a supernova in the local sun, which would thus eliminate all nearby planets. A rare example with a degree of benevolence, as some Nomai raised ethical concerns and the end intention was not to leave the universe destroyed.
• Planet Looters: The stranded Nomai are a relatively benevolent example. While they extracted resources on the Hourglass Twins and on Timber Hearth, they did so in a way that would leave enough material on Timber Hearth for technological development in the event life evolved to be capable of it. Even efforts were made to preserve the ecology of the Hourglass Twins.
• Portal Network: The Nomai have portals on the Ash Twin linking to many other points in the solar system.
• Power At a Price: If the Hatchling runs out of fuel while maneuvering their space suit, they aren't entirely out of luck. The space suit can expel oxygen as a propellant to move, albeit at a much weaker scale if operating in gravity, and with the caveat that the Hatchling needs that limited oxygen supply to live.
• Precursors: The Nomai are an ancient race who's ruins and technology are encountered by and leveraged by the Hearthians.
• Quantum Mechanics Can Do Anything: Some objects have quantum behavior on a macro scale, as can be seen in the Museum.
• Ragnarok Proofing: The Nomai technology survived long after their decline, as can be seen in the Museum with working artificial gravity technology. Their hastily built architecture often did not fare as well, though it mostly holds up till the very end of the game. From the writings left by the Nomai on Hollow's Lantern, they explicitly designed the Ash Twin project to survive, at least briefly, through a supernova.
• Rock Theme Naming: Hearthians are named after geological topics.
• Scripted Event: Several, including the firing of the probe from Giant's Deep, the Sun Station and the Interloper being consumed by the sun, Chert's breakdown, and the supernova at the end of the loop.
• Sickly Green Glow: Ghost Matter is typically invisible, but if it is distributed it will give off this effect. Hearthian photographs of ghost matter also show ghost matter as this, which stands out against the otherwise monochrome photos.
• Shattered World: The player can spot several from the map in the museum.
  • The barely remaining exterior of Dark Bramble is held together by roots emanating from a seed.
  • The surface of Brittle Hollow can be observed to be plate-like, with holes visible.
  • The Hourglass Twins are an odd example, as material is constantly sent between the two.
• Shows Damage: If the player's spacecraft takes damage, the damaged subsystem will be visibly damaged.
• Single-Biome Planet: Apart the polar ice caps on Brittle Hollow, planets are this.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The player finds one by entering the interior of the Interloper comet.
• Soft Water: Giant's Deep is relatively safe to land on at speed due to this, assuming the Hatchling doesn’t strike a rare island.
• Sole Survivor: Solanum is an odd example, as they appear to be both alive and dead at the same time. Still, they are the last Nomai in the solar system alive enough for the Hatchling to communicate with. That said, they may be outlived by other Nomai elsewhere.
• Space Suits Are Scuba Gear: Feldspar's helmet has two hoses coming out of it near the mouthpiece.
• Space Station: One can be observed orbiting around the Sun, another around Giant's Deep.
• Star-Killing: The failed Nomai Sun Station was supposed to make the sun go supernova.
• Start Screen: The game starts out with one.
• The Stars Are Going Out: Chert notices a rapid increase in supernovas as the game progresses.
• Surveillance Drone: The player can launch a scout to take photos and identify hazards.
• Techno Wreckage: Many of the Nomai structures are this, such as the Sun Station, which is partially compromised at the start of the game and plunges into the Sun during the course of the game.
• Third Eye: Nomai depictions of themselves include one, such as the statue in the museum.
• Tractor Beam: The player's ship has one, making boarding a cinch.
• Trademark Favorite Food: The Hearthean Astronauts seem to universally enjoy consuming marshmallows roasted over an open fire.
• Translator Microbes: Early in the game, the player is given a device that can automatically decipher Nomai writing. It doesn't work in reverse, meaning the player has to be more indirect in communicating with the Nomai they do encounter.
• Under the Sea: The player can travel deep beneath the surface of Giant's Deep and interact with the wildlife and Nomai wreckage there.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Riebeck is an Archaeologist Astronaut who is afraid of space. They voyage to perhaps one of the worst planets possible for this, given the looming black hole beneath their camp. They are quite scared during their voyage.
• Wide Open Sandbox: After getting the launch codes, the player is free to do whatever they like.
• Wine Is Classy: Inverted with Hearthian Sap Wine, which is seemingly a rustic and hardy drink.
• World Map: The player can view a map of the solar system in the Museum or in their ship.
• You Can See the Explosion from Orbit: The Hatchling wakes up on Timber Hearth to witness one happening above Giant's Deep at the start. The player can observe distant supernova, and will have a hard time missing the local supernova at the end of the loop.