Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds is an open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Welcome to the Space Program! You're the newest recruit of Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program searching for answers in a strange, constantly evolving solar system. Mysteries of the Solar System… What lurks in the heart of the ominous Dark Bramble? Who built the alien ruins on the Moon? Can the endless time loop be stopped? Answers await you in the most dangerous reaches of space. A World That Changes Over Time The planets of Outer Wilds are packed with hidden locations that change with the passage of time. Visit an underground city of before it's swallowed by sand, or explore the surface of a planet as it crumbles beneath your feet. Every secret is guarded by hazardous environments and natural catastrophes.
Steam User 907
You are a smart person. You read reviews for games before you buy them, just to make sure you know what you're spending your money on.
What you need to know about Outer Wilds that it is the worst game to get spoiled on, possibly ever. Anything and everything you learn before playing has the potential to harm your experience with it, and even the story's premise and basic gameplay mechanics are things that you do not want to get spoiled to.
Yes, this makes Outer Wilds a difficult game to sell, but, trust me, it's a good one. There are negative reviews out there, sure, but a surprising amount of people say that this game is the best they've ever played, unironically. I can't explain why you'll like it, but there is a pretty good chance that you will. If you don't, you will most likely figure that out before the refund deadline.
So, stop reading into it, and play this game. The risk of getting spoiled by other reviews is too high. If you aren't sold on it yet, then go ahead and keep reading — with caution.
Steam User 510
Outer Wilds is like opening a book to a random page and starting to read.
You get the gist of it but ultimately understand nothing. No context. No direction. No familiarity with the characters or the world. The information you gained by itself is essentially useless, so you move on.
You jump to another random page. You're given another piece to the puzzle, but you'd be insane if you expect it to fit together with what you learned before. No connections can be drawn, no epiphanies can be made. You have so little to work with, so, again, what you learn is useless.
At this point you have one of two choices.
You either concede to the absurd nonlinearity of the experience and forfeit any opportunity to discover what lies just beyond the horizon...
Or you keep turning those pages.
If you keep reading, you'll find yourself with piece after piece, all of which seem to have nothing to do with any of the others. You turn those pieces around in your head, spinning them and jamming them together and hoping that you found a clue, an answer, anything that makes sense.
You will fail. Gloriously, in some cases. Horribly, perhaps hauntingly, in others. But the more you read, the more pieces you have. And slowly, very slowly, a picture will inevitably form.
You have what it takes to see it in its entirety, but you have to earn it. Step by step. One page at a time.
Steam User 364
10/10 I hate that I will never be able to experience the first time playing this ever again.
Steam User 552
You read reviews of games before you buy them, to make sure you don't throw money away, you are a smart person. If you are reading this review, stop reading reviews, Outer Wilds is best experienced when you know nothing about it before jumping in. My opinion of the game is that unique, masterpiece. There are not many gems like this one.
Steam User 250
My only regret is not being able to play it for the first time again.
Steam User 260
I know what you're thinking.
You've probably heard about this game. You've probably heard that it's really, really good. You've probably also heard that even though it's so good, you cannot be told anything about it before playing it. You have to go in completely blind and just take everyone's word for it, and hope you enjoy it.
Maybe there's a little contrarian in the back of your head that's skeptical of all this hype and sheer adoration. Maybe there's a little cynic whispering pessimistic things into your ear. Or maybe you just don't know if this will be the kind of game you will enjoy playing, and everyone being so damn cryptic about it isn't making it easy to decide if you want to spend your money on this, or instead buy whatever else it is people are recommending for a lot clearer reasons. I know at least one of these things was going on in my own head before I played.
The reason it's so important to go into Outer Worlds blind is because it is a game, first and foremost, about exploration. You will enter a world that is completely open to you, with the only barriers holding you back within it being the knowledge you have about it. Theoretically, you could begin the game, immediately fly to where the ending is, missing out on *everything* this game has to offer in terms of how it builds mystery, how it fleshes out the world, how it builds an atmosphere. Any, even partial, bit of information given to you instead of found by you would significantly diminish the experience of this game. Telling you anything about this game, except for maybe what you will see immediately after starting it, would be like telling you the solution to every single puzzle in a puzzle game.
If you are anxious about if you'll like it and don't know if it's worth your money, do not worry. You will know if it's for you before the refund period runs out, and you certainly will not regret it if you nab it on a sale.
Steam User 353
Stop reading reviews and go into this game blind.
It's one of those experiences that stay with you.