Outer Wilds

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 782 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 650 out of 782
  2. Mixed: 55 out of 782
  3. Negative: 77 out of 782

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. BaldursThones
    Apr 13, 2022
    9
    This game revived space exploration as a concept for me. The story you uncover has plot twists and all that despite it not being a linear sort of progression like traditional story telling. Everyone will have a different experience as well with the story. It was annoying waiting for the the ash twin to loose sand each time though.
  2. Ezio4x
    Feb 24, 2022
    9
    Curiosity❗ that's the sole thing you need to finish this game. Yes! It has some flaws, but the game is so good that even telling those flaws will spoil the flaws! And you b like wtf is all this BUT such a great game. Because it don't follow anything or anyone. It's just PURE❤ OUTER WILDS❤
  3. cgrail
    Sep 14, 2022
    9
    A game about finding bits and pieces of the story of what happened in a solar system. But it's not that simple - you are going to have to become an expert ship pilot, learn the intricacies of exploring volatile planets, connecting scientific concepts, and truly get to know the entire solar system front to back before you can say you understand what you set out to find.
    To those that get    A game about finding bits and pieces of the story of what happened in a solar system. But it's not that simple - you are going to have to become an expert ship pilot, learn the intricacies of exploring volatile planets, connecting scientific concepts, and truly get to know the entire solar system front to back before you can say you understand what you set out to find.
    To those that get invested, prepare to spend hours poring over the small details and marvelling at the realistic and unique functions of each planet, and becoming absorbed in an ever expanding layer of history beneath your feet.    … Expand
  4. 3ls0ul
    Mar 6, 2023
    9
    Este juego aún no lo eh jugado o completado, así que pondré una reseña y nota diferentes cuando lo haga.
  5. pashockys
    Jan 21, 2023
    9
    it is a perfect example how real game should work. there is no cutscene or some sort of storyteller, but plot of the game is stunning and you can't stop playing this game and want to know everything about this world
  6. BartBuller
    Jan 1, 2023
    9
    Great exploration/puzzle game, with surprisingly deep plot and many fun mechanisms.
    Pros:
    + ton of mysteries to unvail
    + great world-building and attention to detail + different challenges on every planet + heart-stopping finale

    Cons:
    - annoying at moments - weird achievements
  7. chocolandtv
    Sep 2, 2023
    9
    BREATHTAKING AND CREEPY
    A masterpiece, a game in which you can only progress and finish through space and time with knowledge and thats in a never-ending terrible scenario.
    I was overwhelmed at first. After 100% archievments, i recommend buying this unique game. Pros: • ship log system • the ship controls very well • very exciting story(I haven't read anything in a game for a    BREATHTAKING AND CREEPY
    A masterpiece, a game in which you can only progress and finish through space and time with knowledge and thats in a never-ending terrible scenario.
    I was overwhelmed at first.

    After 100% archievments, i recommend buying this unique game.

    Pros:
    • ship log system
    • the ship controls very well
    • very exciting story(I haven't read anything in a game for a long time)
    • imaginative puzzles
    • perfectly assembled information pieces
    • no Railroading
    • unique protagonists
    • Achievements

    Cons:
    • no replayablity    … Expand
  8. ApolloWasTaken
    Sep 10, 2023
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game felt nearly perfect, the story keeps you engaged and you want to keep looping to find out what happened to the nomai.… Expand
  9. c3p
    Nov 28, 2021
    8
    Very innovative game with a facinating universe to eplore. What spoils my enthusiams (and 10/10) is the "die to learn" mechanic which sours the later game (also there is a almost game breaking bug in the level with the "fish" for jeyboard users).
    My advise would be to use a guide after the first ~10 hours when it starts to take a lot of time to progress.
    And Keyboard+Mouse players be    Very innovative game with a facinating universe to eplore. What spoils my enthusiams (and 10/10) is the "die to learn" mechanic which sours the later game (also there is a almost game breaking bug in the level with the "fish" for jeyboard users).
    My advise would be to use a guide after the first ~10 hours when it starts to take a lot of time to progress.
    And Keyboard+Mouse players be aware that the "fish level" (you know what i mean when you get there) is almost impossible to beat - my advise is to remove the fish via mods!    … Expand
  10. touchofheaven
    Jun 26, 2020
    8
    Я игру не осилил до конца, если честно, но по тому куску игры который я прошел, видно, что игра замечательная. Интересная задумка с временной петлей, занимательный эксплоринг, хороший саундтрек. Людям, которые любят космос и исследования игра зайдет на ура.Я игру не осилил до конца, если честно, но по тому куску игры который я прошел, видно, что игра замечательная. Интересная задумка с временной петлей, занимательный эксплоринг, хороший саундтрек. Людям, которые любят космос и исследования игра зайдет на ура.
  11. Leo_Manzano
    May 19, 2022
    8
    Working..................................................................................
  12. ADAs
    Sep 10, 2022
    8
    Its a very nice game. Ill recommending on someone who he want to play something atmospheric and relaxing
  13. philzlz
    May 29, 2022
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While I do understand the good reviews a few things made the game very frustrating. Be it accidentally crashing into the sun (manually or on autopilot), the anglerfish or the dark caverns with jumping puzzles. The 22 minute loop, while core part of the game, felt too short, sometimes when I made progress it was already time and the trek back (the hanging city for example) was annoying. I also had trouble entering the ATP and had to look up a guide on how to do it and problems with the anglerfish (I found all clues but somehow didn't think about the thrusters).

    I loved the music and aesthetics and thought a lot about the game, even while I was not playing which rarely happens nowadays. Overall a nice experience but some clues just went over my head.    … Expand
  14. svonton
    May 25, 2022
    8
    Great story interest time travel mechanic and boring puzzles. If you time loop/space thing/mystery thing lover its excellent game to spend several evenings.
  15. Christen10
    Jun 6, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just found out that my name is Christen fjduhdjjdjdkdjdkfngnjfjdbhdhdjjdndjdjdjdjdjjfjfjdbfjfjndjfjfjfjfjfjfhfhdudhdhhfhdhudhdhdhdhfhfdhfhfjhehgujfufhdjjdhdhdhdjdjfhhdhhfhfhfhdhhf… Expand
  16. edxtan
    Aug 9, 2023
    8
    In Outer Wilds, your biggest obstacle is your own knowledge. This is mentally taxing, but makes solving the mystery genuinely meaningful.
  17. kyrylo
    Nov 19, 2019
    8
    Хорошая игра от Obsidian с неплохим сюжетом который действительно затянул.
    Здесь есть много юмора, неплохая графика и сам сюжет. Но есть несколько но, и это то что игра короткая, здесь мало выбора вооружения, куча бесполезных предметов, много скиллов которые тебе собственно и не понадобятся.
    В целом игра очень близка по духу к Fallout: New Vegas, большой потенциал но маленький мир.    Хорошая игра от Obsidian с неплохим сюжетом который действительно затянул.
    Здесь есть много юмора, неплохая графика и сам сюжет. Но есть несколько но, и это то что игра короткая, здесь мало выбора вооружения, куча бесполезных предметов, много скиллов которые тебе собственно и не понадобятся.
    В целом игра очень близка по духу к Fallout: New Vegas, большой потенциал но маленький мир.
  18. ppytry
    Mar 24, 2021
    8
    нормально, но у меня вчера отпала простата поэтому девять
  19. SPARTAN-010
    Jul 5, 2020
    8
    Great game, succeeds at what it tries to accomplish, I only wish it was a longer journey.
  20. xslick07
    Sep 3, 2023
    8
    Rated it by mistake -_- give me the choise to remove my rating! This is crazy
  21. TitaniumDragon
    Sep 29, 2021
    7
    Outer Wilds is a puzzle/adventure game. You play as an unnamed alien of the Hearthean race, a race of four-eyed, blue-skinned aliens who live on the Timber Hearth, a planet in a small little solar system full of strange planets. You are an astronaut – the fifth of your kind to go to space – and after speaking to a handful of your people on your home planet and doing some basic training toOuter Wilds is a puzzle/adventure game. You play as an unnamed alien of the Hearthean race, a race of four-eyed, blue-skinned aliens who live on the Timber Hearth, a planet in a small little solar system full of strange planets. You are an astronaut – the fifth of your kind to go to space – and after speaking to a handful of your people on your home planet and doing some basic training to get used to the controls, you get the launch codes to your spaceship and head off into space.

    Well, for twenty two minutes, anyway.

    As you quickly discover, this game is a time loop. Your goal – such as it is – is to figure out what is causing the time loop and how to fix the problem you’re facing at the end of it, if such a thing is even possible.

    While a game like this might seem like something where you’d find items and use them to solve problems, there’s surprisingly little of that – there are some carryable items, but they cannot be carried between loops at all, and are almost always simply used on something nearby to reveal some text or other puzzle clues. The only things you have are the tools you got at the start of the game – a device that shoots probes that can take pictures, and a signal detection device.

    It turns out, this is enough.

    Because literally everything resets every loop, the only thing you can actually bring back in time is information. Fortunately, not only does this work well with the game’s sort of cerebral nature, but the game itself gives you tools for tracking the information you have in the form of your ship’s log, which both stores information by location (planet or moon or what have you) but also by connection – various things you find connect to other things, and it shows you lines heading off to unknown things you haven’t discovered yet.

    Fortunately, it also lets you know whether or not you’ve missed anything in areas you have explored, which helps to avert frustration.

    Because of the game’s 22 minute time limit per loop, none of the puzzles can be overly difficult mechanically – almost all of them are things that can be done in under a minute, if you know what you’re actually *supposed* to do.

    However, figuring out the whole puzzle of the game might take you until the end – even though the entire game can technically be solved in about ten minutes if you know what you’re doing.

    The game does a pretty good job of chaining together a variety of things and giving you a bunch of hints that lead you on to new areas and new puzzles. The puzzles tend to be environmental in nature, and you get plenty of hints (and sometimes, outright statements about how to solve them), though some are a bit more obscure and require more thought on the player’s part.

    Because every time you die or reach the end of the time loop the world resets, many things in the game are based around timing – one planet gets covered with sand while another gets denuded of it, for instance, which creates puzzles based on when various things get uncovered/covered up. Another planet is gradually crumbling, which can either allow or deny access based on how much it has fallen apart.

    Unfortunately, these puzzles, while cool in some ways, are also some of the most frustrating – because if you screw them up, you have no choice but to reset the loop, and if it is a puzzle that occurs near the end of the loop, you’re going to have to wait for the whole loop to go by to retry it. There are also some large underground areas which can be something of a pain to properly explore. There were several occasions where I ran out of time before I could finish exploring an area or solving a puzzle, necessitating significant backtracking, sometimes repeatedly.

    This created an odd issue – experimenting was sometimes a bad thing, because if I screwed up, I’d have to start the loop over and backtrack all the way back over to where I’d died. This created a weird situation where the time loop made me NOT want to take risks, as resetting the loop would necessitate me spend time jumping through the same hoops over again to get back.

    Indeed, for all that the game was a “puzzle game”, I honestly didn’t find myself enjoying the actual puzzles all that much. What really drew me in was the whole exploration and discovery aspect of the game - going around, seeing new places, and figuring out the plot and what was going on. The actual puzzles often were just flat-out explained to you by other hints, and some of the ones that weren't felt like they went a bit too far in the opposite direction.

    Overall, I thought this was a pretty neat game – trying to figure out what was going on was neat, and the game left some fun red herrings to mislead me into thinking that the end of the game was going to be very different from what it actually was.

    One bit of advice - avoid spoilers.    … Expand
  22. setuis
    Nov 2, 2019
    7
    firstly this review is for ps4 version.

    1 there is no way to lock spinning making flying stuff annoying when fixing pipe in mine/flying ship. 2 there is no way to gauge speed (releasing scouts and using scanner prevents you flying main ship from what i can tell. 3 no warning about random tornado engulfing me on landing destroying all progress except for keeping launch code. 4    firstly this review is for ps4 version.

    1 there is no way to lock spinning making flying stuff annoying when fixing pipe in mine/flying ship.
    2 there is no way to gauge speed (releasing scouts and using scanner prevents you flying main ship from what i can tell.
    3 no warning about random tornado engulfing me on landing destroying all progress except for keeping launch code.
    4 no fast travel that i have seen.

    This review may change.    … Expand
  23. auditbadger
    Jun 2, 2020
    7
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  24. Welkinz
    Jun 4, 2021
    7
    To be fair, it is an interesting game, and really great to see cosmic visual spectacles. I am just personally not very into this style of exploring+puzzle solving gameplaying style without clear storyline guidance.
  25. lur_
    Jul 14, 2020
    7
    A very strong 7/10.

    An unusual game, tricky to categorize. A roguelike walking simulator space adventure game with light puzzle elements? A clockwork-like? Central to the design is that there is nearly no progression besides your own increasing knowledge of the game. There are no items to collect and no shortcuts to unlock. This works well as long as your fascination of new    A very strong 7/10.

    An unusual game, tricky to categorize. A roguelike walking simulator space adventure game with light puzzle elements? A clockwork-like?

    Central to the design is that there is nearly no progression besides your own increasing knowledge of the game. There are no items to collect and no shortcuts to unlock. This works well as long as your fascination of new discoveries outweighs any desire to feel like you're making progress towards some specific goal. For me the early 5-8 hours worked best in this regard, with an increasing sense of frustration over a lack of progress creeping in during mid to late game.

    It also seems fair to say the design relies partially on players exploring just for the sake of exploration and for players to try interacting with certain environmental artifacts simply because they're there, with several key steps to the full solution seemingly lacking direct hints. It's tricky to say if this is a good or bad choice, but it's easy to see how it can lead to frustrating instances of getting stuck.

    A final tricky part to evaluate is the time mechanic, which on the one hand allows for some really interesting environmental puzzles, but on the other hand leads to some frustrating instances of waiting around for time to pass.

    The easiest part to evaluate is the story. The story, once you get to see the whole picture, is incredibly well-crafted and could easily work as a standalone sci-fi novella. This alone made all the gameplay frustrations worth the effort for me.

    Also flying the ship is fun and the planets are really cool. Graphics are OK and performance is alright.    … Expand
  26. AxeWould
    Jun 20, 2021
    7
    Вот рили, игра очень не плохая, хотя на первом часу я от игры плевался и кричал, но потом часов 10 я получал удовольствие и считал эту игру шедевром (так как уже приловчился к управлению и механике игры), но потом просто уже доипали эти случайные смерти из-за все таки немного плохого управленя, и повторы на одну и ту самую планету прыгать и проебывать, уже настолько достало, что я дажеВот рили, игра очень не плохая, хотя на первом часу я от игры плевался и кричал, но потом часов 10 я получал удовольствие и считал эту игру шедевром (так как уже приловчился к управлению и механике игры), но потом просто уже доипали эти случайные смерти из-за все таки немного плохого управленя, и повторы на одну и ту самую планету прыгать и проебывать, уже настолько достало, что я даже игру не прошел. Сюжет он есть, и даже интересный, но механика просто надоела, просто бегаешь по одним и тем-же локациям и читаешь одно и тоже, музыка классная, игровой геймплей завораживает первые 10 часов, но сука рестарты достали, игра не плохая и я ее советую, но местами просто бесит.… Expand
  27. Zski
    Apr 30, 2023
    7
    This really is a beautifully crafted game, but unfortunately doesn’t connect with everyone - I was one of them. However, it’s impossible to give this game a fair shot and not respect the brilliant design. It’s a blend of the world building and blind exploration of Myst/Riven, the time loop of Majora’s Mask, and the spirit of space exploration of No Man’s Sky. I enjoyed all three of theseThis really is a beautifully crafted game, but unfortunately doesn’t connect with everyone - I was one of them. However, it’s impossible to give this game a fair shot and not respect the brilliant design. It’s a blend of the world building and blind exploration of Myst/Riven, the time loop of Majora’s Mask, and the spirit of space exploration of No Man’s Sky. I enjoyed all three of these games in the past, but this one was a lot to digest, possibly too much to digest for some. The little solar system they created is really cool, it steps outside of a conventional solar system that we expect based on what we know. The planets seem pretty small and linear at first - it’s not like a Fallout or Skyrim game where you have a labyrinth or sprawling world underneath, but more so a carefully crafted zone that is intended to be followed a specific way. The lore is hit or miss, at least to me. Sometimes the backstory is kind of interesting, but most times it’s very surface level and just uninteresting. The story/lore is sometimes just following the explorer who was there just before you - not a bad plot, but very unimaginative. Sometimes the plot will cover something a little more interesting, but generally most of the plot lines are bland until a bit later in the game. I do like the exploration and learning to the game, nothing is force fed, there are no checkpoints, you just slowly become more engaged in the world. The graphics are pretty forgettable but that isn’t much of an issue because the visuals of the solar system living are sometimes very cool to see. The controls are tough at first, but once you figure it out, it gives a nice consistent challenge that adds to the gameplay. Overall I appreciate this game and respect it for what it is. It’s a very very very slow burn that won’t work for everyone, but there is a great game waiting for those who can get into it.… Expand
  28. sh4dow
    May 31, 2019
    6
    What a shame. I find the idea of those small planets that kind of work like Russian dolls incredibly charming. As well as the overall whimsical presentation. Music, although rare, is great too (Some bits sound like folksy post rock. Very interesting and enjoyable...).
    But the mechanic of a time limit of 22 minutes per run has lead to a lot of frustration for me. One too many times, I    What a shame. I find the idea of those small planets that kind of work like Russian dolls incredibly charming. As well as the overall whimsical presentation. Music, although rare, is great too (Some bits sound like folksy post rock. Very interesting and enjoyable...).
    But the mechanic of a time limit of 22 minutes per run has lead to a lot of frustration for me. One too many times, I FINALLY managed to get to a place that I wanted to go to, only to be caught by the time limit and ending up with yet another "There is more to explore here" note in my ship's log. (Everything you discover is stored in your ship's log permanently).
    And so I've decided that I won't put up with it any more. Especially since at least personally, I didn't find the story too engaging. It takes itself way too seriously compared to the otherwise cartoony nature of everything. And I don't really care about that mysterious alien race that died out and some weird "Eye of the Universe". What did speak to me was uncovering new areas and things (which are all really well designed) on the various planets. But as already mentioned - the time limit ruined that experience for me.    … Expand
  29. DJKrimson
    Aug 8, 2021
    6
    Bought this game blind because of friends recommendations. It has good music and an interesting story. However, if you're not paying absolutely 100% attention to everything you won't understand what to do and the quest/objective log sucks. In my opinion this game is overrated.
  30. LukeSmart98
    Jan 14, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't think my enjoyment of a game has ever changed so dramatically as it has with Outer Wilds. I started this last week, full of admiration for a game that seemed to be breaking boundaries. A fluid galaxy to explore that didn't wait for you, complete with sun and orbiting planets. For the first ten hours, I was thoroughly enjoying myself, exploring and familiarising myself with the various planets and moons and etc.

    It wasn't until I reached that ten-hour mark that I finally began to struggle with what to do and where to go. No matter though. I'd read a lot of reviews for this game so I knew that it was likely I would hit a wall sooner or later. Usually, I'm not the sort of person who has much issue with pulling up a walkthrough if I feel I've been stuck on something too long - but I wanted it to be different with Outer Wilds. It's been named by multiple publications as 2019's Game of the Year and its objective is to figure out what is going on, so I didn't want to ruin what could be a rare experience.

    But five hours later, I really hadn't made much progress. Every new discovery didn't seem to be leading me anywhere and now, fifteen hours in, I felt I was pretty much in the same spot as I had been at the ten-hour mark. Grudgingly, I googled the answer to four questions that were puzzling me:

    1. How to get to the core of Giant's Deep?
    2. Where to go in Dark Bramble?
    3. How to get to Ash Twin project?
    4. How to avoid anglerfish?

    The first two of these questions I should have been able to figure out if I had paid more attention. The third, I'm still unclear how one was supposed to work that out. The fourth, it turns out I already knew the answer, I had just been second-guessing myself because it seemed too hard.

    With this new knowledge, I returned to the game able to actually make some progress, but I was in no doubt that it had a left a sour taste in my mouth. Even if I finished it now, I hadn't been able to work it out myself and that had taken something away from the experience.

    To make matters worse, the five hours I had spent retreading the same ground - combing areas I had explored twenty times before for some clue I had missed - had made me tired of dying. From the occasional slip-ups, like forgetting to check my oxygen, overshooting a jump and crashing into the ground, or not paying attention to the fact my ship was autopiloting me into the sun; to the supernova itself, which had gone from cool mechanic to irritating hindrance as it just seemed to be getting in the way as I desparately sought some new lead.

    But nothing, but nothing, irritated me more than the anglerfish. For some reason, the devs clearly thought it necessary to the anglerfish's design that it possess hearing so acute that if you were to lean a millimetre too heavily on the jets in its general vicinity, it would immediately locate you and eat you. The anglerfish didn't need to be this much of a pain as far as I'm concerned. They could still have been blind but with good hearing and it still would have been tense to fly around Dark Bramble without making it borderline unfair. It made flying, or should I say floating, through Dark Bramble an agonisingly slow experience, especially when one still wasn't sure where they were going.

    As it was, I was trying to transport the warp core to The Vessel. My first attempt, I had been eaten by an anglerfish I wasn't expecting almost as soon as I got in. The second time, I made it to The Vessel and was just about to put in the coordinates when I was blown up by the supernova. On my third attempt, I entered the red zone and gently attempted to edge myself sideways so I didn't bash into one of the three fish. I'm convinced I was no louder than I had been on my second attempt, but they heard me this time and they subsequently ate me.

    And I had had enough.

    I realised, as I watched the fish's jaws close around my ship for the umpteenth time, that I was bored. My curiosity and interest had been sapped, and not even the possible regret that might come from failing to finish one of the most talked-about games of last year, could get me to carry on. It's a shame, considering how long I waited to play the game, but the game receives far more praise that it does criticism, so I guess it just goes to show that no matter how critically-acclaimed a game is or how interesting it looks, you can't ever know whether or not you'll like it until you get your hands on it.    … Expand
  31. Hugeasswhale
    Jan 24, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game deserves its praise for its creativity, story, and world building but it’s impossible with out a guide and not because its a hard puzzle game. For a game that relies solely on telling you what to do it tries way to hard to be cryptic. Also, it’s not exactly consistent in regards to ghost matter. In the game you have to avoid ghost matter or it will kill you but on the interloper there are several times when you walk right over it and it doesn’t effect you but go the way the game doesn’t want you to and it kills you despite not touching the matter at all. It’s not a particularly clever game and it’s use of quantum mechanics is extremely surface level to the point that it could have not used the word quantum and it would have been about as accurate. It wants so hard to be cryptic and not hold your hand but at the same time if you miss even one wall message you’re basically screwed. Also the dead ends are driving me crazy. The ruptured core tells you nothing you don’t know, the sunstation is a red hearing as well as the “quantum” moon and despite having almost completed the game completely, I still have no idea how to get to ash core and I’m not sure I care at this point. The game is remarkably hypocritical in how it holds your hand yet refuses to do so in ways that would make it much less frustrating. The only reason I think it gets so much praise is because everyone uses guides and are afraid to criticize it due to its pretentious nature. “If you didn’t like it your just not smart enough to get it” type of thing. The story is clever I will say but to call this game a puzzle game is laughable. It’s an interactive mystery narrative that is unplayable with out a walkthrough. With out all the red hearings and obstacles it puts in front of you that require very specific information to get past this game would be very short and perhaps better. The game has serious flaws and as someone who hates to cheat I have to say this game is tedious and frustrating while admittedly brilliant in some ways.… Expand
  32. CodaHensley
    Jan 3, 2023
    6
    I have tried to get into this game so many times, and I just can't, I really can't. I have gotten feeling of discomfort and anxiety while playing this I don't think I will ever get from another video game ever, but I just can't invest myself in the story enough to care enough to keep playing.
  33. Aatef
    Aug 4, 2019
    5
    Graphics and art style are very good
    but the controls, frustrating puzzles and dump saving system makes it below average for me
  34. JohnMalcolm
    Jun 25, 2019
    5
    The Good: You don't have to kill people. A lot of the story and art work are imaginative. Open world format.

    The Bad: You die a lot, and that always takes you to the same boring location, from which you have to repeat a lot of boring tasks very quickly to exploit your 30-minute shot at finding something new. It plays a lot like a 3D platformer with no chance to save your progress after    The Good: You don't have to kill people. A lot of the story and art work are imaginative. Open world format.

    The Bad: You die a lot, and that always takes you to the same boring location, from which you have to repeat a lot of boring tasks very quickly to exploit your 30-minute shot at finding something new. It plays a lot like a 3D platformer with no chance to save your progress after successfully completing a difficult sequence.

    The Ugly: The system of planetoids seems relentlessly grotesque, without much uplifting in the first week of play... which is as long as I could stand it.    … Expand
  35. Holmstrom
    Dec 30, 2019
    5
    I really wish I enjoyed this game. There's definitely something there, but everything just feels so static and dead to me. The main menu music had me drawn in from the very first few bars, but aside from that I just didn't enjoy the ship controls, the uninspiring looking planets/moons, and how the game tells it's story.
  36. Youroichima
    May 18, 2020
    5
    Ce jeux est une pépite. Tout est réfléchit, de la bande son au gameplay. L'histoire se dévoile au fur et à mesure que l'on joue, la découverte et le sentiment de voyage sont magnifiquement retranscrits. Je conseil.
  37. tibzoid
    Jun 1, 2019
    4
    Ugh the controls are terrible and the kiddie style is so off-putting. Got a refund.
  38. TenchuuKhan
    Jul 17, 2020
    4
    Here's what you should do:
    Go explore for an hour - if you find it boring by then, wait for the next cycle, get in your ship, accelerate it into the sun and get yourself a refund.
    Because it doesn't get any better. I for myself couldn't let got and kept exploring just to find the same clues to the same phenomenons over and over and over. Then, to actually beat the game, things get    Here's what you should do:
    Go explore for an hour - if you find it boring by then, wait for the next cycle, get in your ship, accelerate it into the sun and get yourself a refund.
    Because it doesn't get any better.

    I for myself couldn't let got and kept exploring just to find the same clues to the same phenomenons over and over and over.
    Then, to actually beat the game, things get really ridiculous - at some point I couldn't be bothered anymore and just grabbed a walkthrough and how people are supposed to figure that out is beyond me. Maybe I'm stupid, and if it weren't for that, I wasn't motivated enough.

    Either way - the big mystery you are supposed to solve isn't so big. It's regular space stuff.
    And the ending is also just your run of the mill "Uhhh look it's like Space Odyssey or Interstellar, totally hasn't been done before, it's oh so clever"

    So, what's good about the game:
    It tricks you into going back to it to try new things you haven't tried before.
    Soundtrack

    Here's what's bad about the game:
    Controls
    Storytelling
    Narrative
    Actually being interesting
    Having to suicide over and over
    Autopilot will kill you
    The ending
    What you have to do to get to the ending
    Everything between start and the ending
    Jumping is stupid    … Expand
  39. NicoNofx
    Jan 10, 2022
    4
    Game is fun as hell, but be aware it has a resetting loop every 22 minutes and when that happens, you have to start all again, travel to the planets again etc, of course that you remember all the discovered things but still is a mechanic so stupid!
  40. Hurrikhan
    Jun 7, 2019
    4
    There are several issues in the game but the one that killed it for me is the awful fish-eye perspective.
    That and I never had a reply from support about the issue.
  41. SplitMind
    Feb 12, 2022
    4
    Yet another disappointing and over-rated indie- darling to add to my list.

    The graphics in OW can be impressive such as when on the Giant's Deep, but overall are very simplistic and childish. This is not a problem in itself but it does make for a very one-dimensional feel for a game that touts itself as thinking outside the box. The gameplay of OW is downright awful for me. First    Yet another disappointing and over-rated indie- darling to add to my list.

    The graphics in OW can be impressive such as when on the Giant's Deep, but overall are very simplistic and childish. This is not a problem in itself but it does make for a very one-dimensional feel for a game that touts itself as thinking outside the box.

    The gameplay of OW is downright awful for me. First off, we have the time loop mechanic. Thank God it doesn't take long to discover this as it was the final nail in the coffin for me. I'm not sure if they were aiming for replayability here, but it just created an awful amount of tedium and repetition for me to do the same things over again.

    Speaking of tedium, the game seems to pride itself on not telling you where to go or what to do. There is a difference between open-ended exploring and just plain obtuseness and pretentiousness, the latter of which this game unfortunately falls under. I suspect the rave reviewers are a bit like Dark Souls reviewers - they use guides. I found no intuition in my 30+ years of gaming experience to be of use here.

    To add to this, the physics and controls are awful too. Early in the game you control a little drone-like device that's basically harbinger of what's to come as it handles terribly and flops about before smashing into the ground.

    When I visited each of the planets, I didn't find much of interest. Then I learned the game is a bit like piecing together a most annoying and tedious jigsaw where you have to hunt down the pieces.

    As for the story, well I'd need to actually make progress in the game to learn the story or what the point is. I am clearly biased as I absolutely loathe the laziness of time-loop mechanics, so perhaps I was never going to enjoy this game.

    Overall, I hate Outer Wilds. It's a pretentious indie game that tries too hard to be different and forgets to be enjoyable. It wasted too much of my time but I'm grateful I gave up when I did before wasting even more time.    … Expand
  42. xperson1
    Mar 2, 2023
    4
    Honestly, just very slow-paced and boring. No discovery amazed me at all. Every character encounter had a lot of build-up, and the conversations were always vague, uninteresting and never revealed anything you already knew.

    Just a lot of trial-and-error without anything entertaining in between.
  43. Gurp18
    Feb 14, 2021
    4
    The main mechanic with time loop is interesting but after some time too frustrating. You need to repeat some basic tasks every time and very fast, if you want to have a time to explore something. Also the game sometimes kill you for trying something and you just need to repeat 5-10 minute way to the problematic place and try something else. It is just boring after few hours.
    On the other    The main mechanic with time loop is interesting but after some time too frustrating. You need to repeat some basic tasks every time and very fast, if you want to have a time to explore something. Also the game sometimes kill you for trying something and you just need to repeat 5-10 minute way to the problematic place and try something else. It is just boring after few hours.
    On the other hand, the visual of the game is very nice. Small planets looks great, although they could be little more various, considering, they were prepared manually.
    The story itself is not bad, but it has some plot holes.    … Expand
  44. Vasot
    Jun 3, 2019
    3
    Awful cartoony graphics, bad controls, missing dialogues the planets are tiny and the physics are a joke the game is just a mess t it should cost around $10 it's overpriced for a 2019 title even No Man's Sky is a better game from this. This is like a game made for 10 year old kids and it's a very poor attempt i refunded
  45. sliderh2o
    Jun 24, 2019
    3
    The whole rinse and repeat thing is horrible for a video game. Doing the same thing over and over trying to figure out whats going on got really old, really fast! Horrible idea, would have been great if not for this game breaking mechanic.
  46. greenstar
    Sep 21, 2019
    3
    Another critically hyped but boring to play game. If you don't like the first hour, get a refund because its just more of the slow-paced, control fiddly frustrating interface and rambling story that you might as well be playing a text adventure.
  47. gordon27
    Jun 15, 2019
    3
    I was interested in this game, but it wasn't what I expected at all
    It's fun for about an hour and then it loses steam and becomes a nuisance

    And for a game that looks no better than most 360/PS3 games, it sure is demanding I'd suggest you avoid this game or get it when it's available for $5, no more than that
    No man's sky is
  48. TheLinkgirl
    Feb 4, 2023
    3
    Outer Wilds is simply a game I didn't enjoy to the same extent as everyone else. I wasn't gripped by the mystery. Many of the mechanics felt messy to me. The 22 minute timer was nothing but annoying to me. While I think that some of the discoveries and puzzles were quite fun, I found that a larger majority of this game's content demanded I cared more than I felt any necessity to. I can atOuter Wilds is simply a game I didn't enjoy to the same extent as everyone else. I wasn't gripped by the mystery. Many of the mechanics felt messy to me. The 22 minute timer was nothing but annoying to me. While I think that some of the discoveries and puzzles were quite fun, I found that a larger majority of this game's content demanded I cared more than I felt any necessity to. I can at least praise the fantastic visual design and soundtrack, but beyond that it all feels like it was just slapped together to me.… Expand
  49. Spyan
    Sep 10, 2023
    2
    extremely boring walking simulator that just doesn't work for me. If I want profound lore, background and storytelling, I read a book. If I feel like going on a contemplative, passive state, I go out and take a walk. The time limit only shortened my patience towards this very over-rated pseudo piece of "genius writing" and "subtlety" (subtlety is not a synonym for "boring, lazy vagueextremely boring walking simulator that just doesn't work for me. If I want profound lore, background and storytelling, I read a book. If I feel like going on a contemplative, passive state, I go out and take a walk. The time limit only shortened my patience towards this very over-rated pseudo piece of "genius writing" and "subtlety" (subtlety is not a synonym for "boring, lazy vague nonsense").

    One of these games I hate, because 1/ they're a bore to play through and 2/ it gives a chance at pretty mediocre people to think they're smart, subtle and deep, although being fed by a steady diet of pokemons, transformers and junk food. It's your basic sci-fi loop story, mediocre, done a thousand times...honestly I had more fun on myst, and that was 25 years ago.
    Overrated crap for pathetic snobs.    … Expand
  50. BFM
    May 2, 2020
    2
    Well that was some overrated garbage.
    The game is ugly, technical incompetent, unchallenging and filled with cringe and eye rolls.
    If you want to challenge your mind, finish Grim Fandango or Myst without looking up any solution. If you want to be a mindless errant-boy, with frustrating long roads to walk, just to apply solutions that you figures out immediately, then this is your    Well that was some overrated garbage.
    The game is ugly, technical incompetent, unchallenging and filled with cringe and eye rolls.
    If you want to challenge your mind, finish Grim Fandango or Myst without looking up any solution.

    If you want to be a mindless errant-boy, with frustrating long roads to walk, just to apply solutions that you figures out immediately, then this is your "content".

    Definitely learned the lesson to not trust Hinck.    … Expand
  51. HisDivineShadow
    Jun 19, 2019
    2
    It begins quite novel, atmospheric, and interesting but eventually frustration from its signature feature, which is the lack of saving, starts settling in. There aren't *many* sequences that require precise execution, but you can often die or be set back permanently by a single wrong move. Controls are more unresponsive and annoying in some sections than in others. It's also pretty easy toIt begins quite novel, atmospheric, and interesting but eventually frustration from its signature feature, which is the lack of saving, starts settling in. There aren't *many* sequences that require precise execution, but you can often die or be set back permanently by a single wrong move. Controls are more unresponsive and annoying in some sections than in others. It's also pretty easy to miss something in the environment, or worse yet, in the UI (which is rather underexplained), and be stuck for a long time later. And among sequences that do require precision, the last one is especially offensive. It basically forces you to wait for nearly ten minutes doing literally nothing (with no option to speed it up), and then precisely execute a certain action. Mistime it a little - you you have to repeat it. And that's just 30% of that sequence, as it follows up with another section where a tiny mistake will reset everything. Moreover, that action you start the sequence with has a precondition that is so illogical and arbitrary that it threw everything good the game had out of the window. Its only justification could be "this is the final puzzle, so it must be annoying and hard". I don't think it's possible to figure it out without a guide, unless you are very lucky and decide to try it randomly or out of desperation, and it just happens to work the first time. I was so pissed off that i didn't even bother doing myself it and just just watched a youtube walkthrough. Which I'm actually glad I did, since it kept dragging on completely meaninglessly even after the final-final puzzle. So overall at its best moments the game felt like an 8 or maybe even a 9, but the frustration kept piling up, culminating in an atrociously bad ending section, leaving with a distinctly negative final impression.… Expand
  52. xcylo
    Nov 16, 2020
    2
    mechanically, the game is a disaster. Physics are broken, and controls are extremely finicky, which doesn't help the already arduous platforming sections of the game. The writing style really takes you out of the experience, as various texts and lore you come across in the game feel like they were written for an 11th grade writers craft class. Dialogue is clunky and extremely unnatural,mechanically, the game is a disaster. Physics are broken, and controls are extremely finicky, which doesn't help the already arduous platforming sections of the game. The writing style really takes you out of the experience, as various texts and lore you come across in the game feel like they were written for an 11th grade writers craft class. Dialogue is clunky and extremely unnatural, and the three or four songs that make up the soundtrack, while good when you first start the game become incredibly grating very quickly. The whole project reeks of an over-ambitious small indie team biting off way more than they can chew, putting it more in the "no man's sky" school of indie games, rather than the likes of "Firewatch" or "What Remains of Edith Finch" The game has a number of unique ideas, but no focus. In pursuing all of these ideas at once, each of them become mediocre at best. (I mean really, one can only be randomly flung from a planets surface or have the world suddenly move beneath you when you jump so many times before you start to wonder if this is all really worth it)… Expand
  53. Dikano
    Jun 14, 2019
    1
    The mouse sensitivity on PC is absolutely fukked. The input options have minimal effect, so for those of us who don't like high sensitivity aiming, controlling the camera is absurdly difficult.

    The game looks nice, but this is the first time - ever, I think - that I simply cannot play a game that I bought because the control scheme is busted. It's a real shame.
  54. winj3r
    Jun 19, 2020
    1
    Broken save game system and mouse control problems.
    Could have been a decent game, but these problems make it a pain to play.
  55. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    1
    Terrible controls, stupid visuals, simple story and characters, no point to the game
  56. Grobeu
    Sep 26, 2021
    1
    Imagine trying to read a really boring and badly written children's book, except every paragraph is printed on pages that are scattered all over the place and its up to you to find them and put them back in order. That's outer wilds.
    Sounds great doesn't it ?
    One of the most boring, pretentious and uningaging game I've ever played. I can't wait for the day when developpers will finally    Imagine trying to read a really boring and badly written children's book, except every paragraph is printed on pages that are scattered all over the place and its up to you to find them and put them back in order. That's outer wilds.
    Sounds great doesn't it ?
    One of the most boring, pretentious and uningaging game I've ever played.
    I can't wait for the day when developpers will finally understand that they are terrible at story writing, they're not writers, and they should stick to what they're good at.
    If I want a good story, I read a book or I watch a movie.
    If you don't care about what's happening in the first two minutes, might as well switch it off and uninstal. Because it doesn't get any better.
    Overrated and hugely boring game people say they enjoyed to pass off as sosphisticated.    … Expand
  57. notbrianblessed
    Feb 22, 2020
    1
    Doesn't work properly unless you cap your framerate to 60 in the driver settings. Fix your game.
  58. carnivorCactae
    Jun 24, 2022
    0
    Refunded the game because of horrible, horrible controls.

    The sensitivity is all over the place, even when fiddling with sensitivity-controls.

    All controls seem totally counter-intuitive.

    The "controller recommended" prompt at the start-screen should've been a dead-giveaway...
    but who would've thought that you could f**k up simple FPS-controls so much?!
  59. Idiota150
    Jun 13, 2019
    0
    You can't quit when you want and continue at another time. In other words, really stupid save system. I don't have time for that kind of BS.
  60. SamuraiEdgeplay
    May 21, 2021
    0
    A tour de force of poor game design with a banjo strapped to your helmet. I was thrilled to finally get to this game given the hype, but instead I got two non-stop hours of "wander the universe and figure out these milquetoast puzzles or something" while piloting the world's most inconvenient spacecraft.
  61. anonytatoplayz
    Apr 4, 2023
    0
    I wanted to save the universe

    why cant I save the universe

    I know why

    The greedy developers didn't want to code that part into the game so they took the lazy way out and forced you to make the game end

    I hate the developers of this game
next
Page:

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best PC Game of 2019
18
#18 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. GameCritics
    Aug 20, 2019
    65
    Outer Wilds is rife with breathtaking sights and sounds, and at the very least, no one could accuse it of being unambitious. Mobius Digital may be a small team but, almost paradoxically, they achieve a remarkable sense of scope by keeping things modest. However, their work suffers from the glacial pace of progress and a hands-off approach to storytelling. My biggest issues – a lack of combat, direction, or material rewards – are obviously deliberate, bold choices on the part of the devs, and I commend Mobius for them while also chiding the cold, inscrutable product that resulted. I admire Outer Wilds, but I don’t love it.
    Read full review
  2. Games.cz
    Aug 19, 2019
    90
    This temporally unique game adds something new with your every death and moves the story forward beautifully. The environments are breathtaking, the music will soothe you. This is the perfect game for those of you who are, above all, curious.
    Read full review
  3. Adventure Gamers
    Jul 26, 2019
    80
    For those who won’t be deterred by the endless deaths and time-looped backtracking in Outer Wilds, its intriguing mystery and non-linear exploration of an entire solar system will be a novel and deeply engaging experience.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »