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

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  1. Codex
    Oct 17, 2021
    10
    You need to play this game. Do not look up anything before hand. This masterpiece is best when you go in blind. Cherish this experience. This is a MUST PLAY
  2. OliverVil
    Oct 10, 2021
    10
    Simplesmente fantástico, maravilhoso, emocionante, etc. Sinceramente achei que estaria com uma nota muito maior
  3. Jaynat
    Oct 1, 2021
    10
    The game puts you in a giant puzzle made out of many, many smaller riddles shaped as a close approximation of a solar system and gives you the keys to a ship to travel said solar system in a spaceship fueled solely by your curiosity (and a jet pack fueled by actual fuel).

    There is no progression in this game other than gaining of new knowledge which gives you a better understanding of    The game puts you in a giant puzzle made out of many, many smaller riddles shaped as a close approximation of a solar system and gives you the keys to a ship to travel said solar system in a spaceship fueled solely by your curiosity (and a jet pack fueled by actual fuel).

    There is no progression in this game other than gaining of new knowledge which gives you a better understanding of the rules of these worlds and how to solve their riddles. It's like getting a key item at the end of a maze, except there is no item but a few new neural connections in your brain which are just as good at getting you through your next challenge, and it works great.

    The controls are not intuitive to most people at first but you get used to them very quickly (what do you know, flying a spaceship can be hard, who would have thought), the puzzles are all challenging without being unfair (ok, maybe some of them were a bit too hard for my liking but not enough to make me mad about them) and the game does a good job helping you manage the information you gather via your ship's log, which is a great boon in my opinion.

    Other than that the art style is simplistic but effective, the soundtrack is top-notch and I can seriously not think of a single moment throughout my play through where I felt like I wanted to put down the controller and leave the game. Overall it has to be one of the greatest games I ever had the pleasure of playing through.    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. Monus
    Sep 27, 2021
    10
    Для меня это лучшая игра 2019 года. В ней удачно подан нарратив через визуал, тебя там никто не ведет за руку и если что-то нашел или решил загадку, это прям Вау. Супер тема для тех кто любит исследовать и складывать пазлы из обрывков информации в одну картину. Музыка идеально погружает в мир игры.Для меня это лучшая игра 2019 года. В ней удачно подан нарратив через визуал, тебя там никто не ведет за руку и если что-то нашел или решил загадку, это прям Вау. Супер тема для тех кто любит исследовать и складывать пазлы из обрывков информации в одну картину. Музыка идеально погружает в мир игры.
  6. 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
  7. A-Crow
    Sep 24, 2021
    10
    Does anyone give negative reviews on this game? Really impatient
    If you watch the trailer and think it’s good, just play it. The less you know about this game, the better it will be.
    In terms of music, the soundtrack has chosen a rustic style, and the calm and tranquil melody complements the mystery and vastness of the universe, giving the game a quiet and romantic core under the grand    Does anyone give negative reviews on this game? Really impatient
    If you watch the trailer and think it’s good, just play it. The less you know about this game, the better it will be.
    In terms of music, the soundtrack has chosen a rustic style, and the calm and tranquil melody complements the mystery and vastness of the universe, giving the game a quiet and romantic core under the grand appearance.
    This game is an excellent way to show the immersive experience of "human fear comes from the unknown", and players will continue to explore under the drive of curiosity. At the same time, there is no lack of scientific combination and fantasy of the universe, which greatly stimulates Interest in play.
    Everyone comes to the world with fear and curiosity about the unknown, and does not know what the world will be like after death. However, this game is allowing players to experience countless cycles of life and death. The final ending is not to avoid death, but to allow players to see the rebirth of the universe, the beginning of a new story in the new universe, so that players can go from being unwilling to death to accepting and looking forward to the new At the beginning of the game, the theme of the game is carried out with optimistic thinking about the meaning of life, which makes people feel a sense of sudden enlightenment.
    I think this is the best science fiction game in history. God made.
    It is not only a perfect combination of game mechanics and storytelling, it also establishes the standard for science fiction exploration and decryption games.
    It is excellent because it is a mixture of quantum theory, time traversal, stars and seas, and foreign exploration, and it achieves logical self-consistent in both the plot and setting levels?
    Nope.
    Because of romance, the final and ultimate romance that only science fiction can present.    … Expand
  8. 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.
  9. Fliff
    Dec 14, 2019
    10
    This is the type of game that is much better going in blind. It's an incredible exploration game, layered with intricate puzzles, fun movement, beautiful art design, and at times genuinely unsettling settings.

    This game is the antithesis of handholding, you essentially go into this solar system blind, and as you discover things you gain new ways of exploring the world. In that way, it's    This is the type of game that is much better going in blind. It's an incredible exploration game, layered with intricate puzzles, fun movement, beautiful art design, and at times genuinely unsettling settings.

    This game is the antithesis of handholding, you essentially go into this solar system blind, and as you discover things you gain new ways of exploring the world. In that way, it's like a metroidvania where progression isn't gated by an item, but by the player's knowledge.

    Everything in this game just meshes togetger into such a magical experience.    … Expand
  10. Okooks
    Jul 28, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Awesome just awesome. I haven't written a review for a game before but after finishing this game, I had to do it. Just going to keep it short though.

    The soundtrack is amazing. It creates perfect atmospheres for the different locations and situations that you find yourself in the game.

    The gameplay is awesome. This game has some of the best physics in any game. Flying around and exploring a fully working solar system is crazy. There's this sense of urgency in almost every planet. It feels like you have to be fast or you might get crushed by sand or maybe fall into a black hole after the crust of the planet crumbles down.

    The story is great. First I thought it was rather boring but after i discovered more and more in the solar system i started to really enjoy the story and the mysteries of the game. The final trip you make from the Ash twin project to the vessel is nothing but epic. After learning everything you can and gathering all the knowledge, you make the epic final journey. It also feels like there's actual stakes at play because after taking out the warp drive, the loop technically ends. And if you die, it's all over.

    Truly awesome game.    … Expand
  11. 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
  12. szarywilq
    Jun 15, 2021
    9
    This is really impressive that it took me 20 hours to solve a game that can be beaten in 20 minutes. No cheats, no level progression - just knowledge and understanding you learn as a player.

    I completed the game.

    Gameplay: B+
    Story: A
    Graphic: C
    Audio: B+
    Lenght: 20h
  13. Fobi
    Mar 6, 2021
    10
    The best game i have ever played, is different from every other game. I have never liked exploration games but this one is a must play!
  14. 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.
  15. PositronFlux
    May 27, 2021
    10
    I can't top the reviews from Kotaku or others... Glowing praise cannot capture the range of emotion this story instilled in me. Simply magnificent, in every way possible. Only drawback is that the game is unique in it's splendor and the player has no welcoming sequel to cradle them when the tale is finally over. Play this before you die.
  16. 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.
  17. kezzyhko
    May 18, 2021
    10
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  18. thatpower
    Apr 13, 2021
    9
    A beautiful exploration game with great story and soundtrack. Scarier than most horror games.
  19. bmcfluff
    Apr 12, 2021
    10
    More than in any other game I've played, information is truly everything, so I can't figure out what I can safely say except that it is beautiful and unique and has my highest recommendation, and that if exploring mysteries in space sounds even slightly appealing then you should read nothing else and start playing.
  20. Zolika
    Mar 28, 2021
    10
    Above my expectations, the game is one of the most memorable pieces I have ever played. The story is very interesting and really long. The game is not easy, I had to try again a lot of times different parts, but I never got annoyed (the autopilot helps a lot :) ) I recommend to max out the game. Not every extra information is required to reach the ending, but discovering all the secrets onAbove my expectations, the game is one of the most memorable pieces I have ever played. The story is very interesting and really long. The game is not easy, I had to try again a lot of times different parts, but I never got annoyed (the autopilot helps a lot :) ) I recommend to max out the game. Not every extra information is required to reach the ending, but discovering all the secrets on every planet is the best in the game :)… Expand
  21. Hibber
    Mar 26, 2021
    10
    This game is a masterpiece. Its hard to talk about this game without spoiling stuff but is one my top 10 games of all time. Great atmosphere, interesting planets, and great lore and storyline.
  22. ppytry
    Mar 24, 2021
    8
    нормально, но у меня вчера отпала простата поэтому девять
  23. BenLea
    Mar 21, 2021
    9
    This game is a difficult one for me to review. At times this game is amazing, with an immersive story that just makes you want to desperately beat the game. But at other times, the game is tedious and frustrating when either you run out of time before you can do what you want, or when you just can't work out a puzzle.

    For me at least, i found the story enthralling and beautifully    This game is a difficult one for me to review. At times this game is amazing, with an immersive story that just makes you want to desperately beat the game. But at other times, the game is tedious and frustrating when either you run out of time before you can do what you want, or when you just can't work out a puzzle.

    For me at least, i found the story enthralling and beautifully crafted with cheerful and funny characters that i absolutely loved, even though they never spoke.

    However, at a couple of places i just could not work out what to do, which forced me to look up a guide on youtube. Now for me, this made the game a lot less appealing to me, as it completely ruined the immersion and made me quite frustrated because of it. I actually quit the game for a week , and only came back to it because a friend begged me to finish it because the ending is amazing.

    So I played it again, and i beat the game. And he was right, the ending of the game is absolutely magnificent, scary and thought provoking. Now i won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the end ing, but trust me, play it through to the end, it's worth it.

    Great game - 9/10    … Expand
  24. Alexqf22
    Mar 2, 2021
    9
    Fantastico este jogo, um jogo unico e incrivel, jogo de exploração um dos melhoes
  25. Rotrigo
    Feb 20, 2021
    10
    I've never written a review here but this game deserves it. This might be the best game that I've ever played. The adventure and how the game works it's just out of this world, I can't recommend this enough.
  26. SnowmanMD
    Feb 15, 2021
    10
    One of the best experiences, not game's, experiences I've ever had. Playing this for the first time is like dreaming. the sensation of wonder combined with exploration and a scoop of all unique and awesome planets make Outer Wilds a 10/10 for me. Gimme more!
  27. 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
  28. nathanos
    Feb 14, 2021
    9
    This game does loads of things correctly:

    Gameplay/Mechanics: 10/10 Spaceflight/jetpack using Newtonian physics. It can be a little awkward at first (I accidentally flew straight to the edge of the solar system the first time) but once you get the hang of it it's easy and very fun to move around. The real selling point of this game is the way you discover more and more about the    This game does loads of things correctly:

    Gameplay/Mechanics: 10/10
    Spaceflight/jetpack using Newtonian physics. It can be a little awkward at first (I accidentally flew straight to the edge of the solar system the first time) but once you get the hang of it it's easy and very fun to move around.
    The real selling point of this game is the way you discover more and more about the system you're in. Following clue after clue to progress the narrative is extremely rewarding and it's so well done you are very rarely, if ever, stuck wondering where you should go next (check your ship log!).

    Music: 9/10
    It's all very good...when it's there. Music is not playing during most of the game and only starts during important moments/sequences.

    Story/Writing: 9/10
    As mentioned above, the way the story is told is clever and very engaging. The story itself, however, is just alright. There isn't anything wrong with it, but I disagree with all the claims of it being emotionally impactful or leaving a lasting impression. Before you roast me, yes I am sure I did everything in the game. I still give it a 9/10 because the environmental storytelling and discovery elements are just that good.

    Setting/Art/Aesthetic etc: 10/10
    It's a more cartoon-y visual style but it just... fits. Not really sure how to explain this one but I love how this game looks.

    This game is so close to being a perfect 10, but in the end the just ok story causes it to fall short. I know this is a hot take, but that's the impression the narrative left on me. That being said, I would still highly recommend playing this game. It is exceptionally unique and stands out far above most games released in 2019. I enjoyed it so much I can wholeheartedly recommend paying full price for it. This is one you definitely do not want to miss.

    PS. The PC version of the game is limited to 60fps. This did not dull my enjoyment of the game at all.    … Expand
  29. R502
    Feb 10, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Atmosphere and mystery kept interest in the game. Hard puzzles for me. Nice game.… Expand
  30. yertre
    Feb 3, 2021
    10
    This review isn't really intended to give potential buyers advice, instead I'll say the following:
    This game isn't for everyone, but if you do play, PLEASE avoid any spoilers to this game. The game only works if you play it blind. If you do like it, it may end up one of your all time favourites.
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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
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