Outer Wilds

Explore a tiny solar system again and again.

- Phil Savage

You’re a Hearthian, a curious, four-eyed amphibious being from a small planet in a weird solar system full of mystery. Not so much a civilisation as a single village, the Hearthians inhabit a crater on their planet’s surface, using wooden walkways and shacks to build up and around the limited space. They also build rockets. And you’re their latest astronaut.

My first experience of Outer Wilds was with the free alpha build that would go on to win the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2015 IGF Awards. While the final version boasts a new art style and other improvements, the core idea is still the same. You travel this strange solar system, exploring its idiosyncratic planets and uncovering its many secrets. And then you die, and do it all over again.