# The Outer Wilds - my thoughts, speculations, and wonderings while I play. (spoilers as far as I am, no more)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** video-games-e-games\
**Created:** [November 3, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619 "2024-11-03T17:24:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/1 "2024-11-03T17:24:40Z")

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NO SPOILERS OR NUDGES PAST MY POINT

I know, finally! I’ve meandered around not playing the game and now I have begun. I went in knowing only:

- time loop \<–even reviews said this part
- unfold the mysteries as you go type game

I will share my thoughts after about 2.5 hours of play. I have flown around in space some, landed on some stuff and found a deep satellite.

My thoughts and wonderings, etc.:

- Maybe the sun isn’t supernova-ing, but is having its energy absorbed/used to drive ships. The foreign, ancient alien race has notes about crashing here(escape pods). Perhaps they used the sun to warp out, but it is creating a time loops due to hitting light speed. That would make us the ancient aliens, though…and they had 3 eyes instead of 4.

- Maybe it isn’t even a time loop? Sometimes I die and go back in time…even if the sun didn’t blow up. Maybe I’m dreaming? Every cycle starts with “wake up”. Uh, and my ship maintains its logs between cycles…which it should not be able to do.

Flying is a bit of a pain, but I get it. Match velocity, slow down way early instead of waiting.

I’m 100% blind as to where this will all go. I am looking for any swirling/spiral language from the alien race and just updating my ship logs, which again I notice do not reset…

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/2 "2024-11-03T17:44:57Z")

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Ash and Ember(?) twins is my focus now. One gains sand, one loses sand.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/3 "2024-11-04T15:01:57Z")

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This game is what I hoped Subnautica would be. I enjoyed Subnautica up until the late game, but this game is even better and I am still in the early game.

It also reminds me of a great game called Antchamber. In that game, things changed depending on whether or not you are looking at them and in Outer Wilds, I have learned that Quantum Objects change or move when I look away.

Very interesting.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/4 "2024-11-06T20:52:54Z")

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I’ve played a lot.

I’m putting a wild theory out there.

I wonder if I am one of the ancient creatures or at least their consciousness. I wonder if they found a way to send their own brains/minds to a living creature and I am one of them, but my memory is lost.

I’m enjoying it, but there is definitely some frustration along the way. Autopilot helps.

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/5 "2024-11-06T20:55:49Z")

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Outer Wilds is probably in my top 5 “games I wish I could play over again knowing nothing”. You’re in for a wonderful ride.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/6 "2024-11-06T21:17:51Z")

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I’m deep in at this point, at least as I see it. I have found:

- the warp core
- the pattern to go on the ship that needs a warp core

I don’t know how I will get the warp core part to the ship I found that needs it within the 22 minute time.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/7 "2024-11-06T22:09:09Z")

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I’m ready to try what I think is the ending. Get the core, go to the ship, input the codes, and…blast off.

I don’t know if it is doable for me in 22 minutes and having to avoid angler fish, etc.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/8 "2024-11-06T22:26:18Z")

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Do folks recommend the DLC? I have it.

By the way, I am pro-autopilot. I see no reason to avoid it, though it would never get me to land on the comet no matter what. I spent the first few hours zipping around and struggling to match velocity, etc. I’m a good pilot, but I do suggest anyone play with autopilot.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/9 "2024-11-06T22:34:39Z")

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Not a spoiler given what you’ve seen so far, but a friend showed me the game and I played a bit. On my _very first run_–just exploring around and doing stuff–I managed to literally destroy the universe. Not a normal repeat–I got a “game over” screen and it kicked me back to the title (it did allow me to reload the game, though).

Just total dumb beginner’s “luck”. I played the game for real later on and wasn’t able to repeat what I did (or even understand it) until several hours in (at which point it clicked).

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/10 "2024-11-06T22:57:30Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> Not a spoiler given what you’ve seen so far, but a friend showed me the game and I played a bit. On my _very first run_–just exploring around and doing stuff–I managed to literally destroy the universe. Not a normal repeat–I got a “game over” screen and it kicked me back to the title (it did allow me to reload the game, though).

I don’t remember destroying the universe, but I did literally die in my first attempt. I fell down a hole or something.

This was before the 22-minute loop had actually occurred, so it just rolled credits.

Has anyone just aimed their ship to space and tried to fly away for 22+ minutes?

Edit: Go ahead and tell me. How did you destroy the universe?

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/11 "2024-11-06T23:06:15Z")

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> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> How did you destroy the universe?

By sheer luck, I managed to teleport to the Ash Twin Project. I unlocked and grabbed the advanced warp core… but had no idea what to do with it. So the timer ran out and the loop ended. But that core was what was powering the loop in the first place! So I ended the loop without having solved the main puzzle (which, as you say, involves bringing it to the crashed ship).

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/12 "2024-11-06T23:16:41Z")

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Wow, I didn’t do that for along time. How did you warp there so early?

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/13 "2024-11-06T23:23:40Z")

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You just have to stand in the right spot at the right moment. The sand level lowers, and around 2 minutes in the room is uncovered enough to teleport. Normally you’d have to unlock a bunch of clues to know what to do! But like everything else in the game, it’s not actually locked behind anything; you just have to know what to do. Or totally stumble into it, as I did. I literally just pointed my ship toward the most interesting looking place and then wandered around. I didn’t know about teleportation at all.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/14 "2024-11-07T00:18:28Z")

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For sure.

I have solved puzzles, or guessed through them, only to read the solution in swirly-text later.

Thanks, game, I knew that!

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/15 "2024-11-07T03:44:33Z")

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Finished it.

Hmmm…I guess that’s an ending. I actually kept waiting for a massive twist, but really there wasn’t unless you count the 22 minute cycle thing.

I mean, is there much to even take away from the ending? I guess we made it to the Eye. And stuff.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/16 "2024-11-07T04:04:46Z")

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Well, it was certainly a bittersweet ending. At least we find out that life, uh… finds a way.

It is apparently possible to grab the warp core, then speed far enough away from the sun to avoid the supernova. But then you’re stuck in darkness forever until your supplies run out.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/17 "2024-11-07T11:49:52Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> It is apparently possible to grab the warp core, then speed far enough away from the sun to avoid the supernova. But then you’re stuck in darkness forever until your supplies run out.

I did see some alternate endings. You can even return the warp core to the ancient-guy you meet on the quantum moon.

I’m just a bit into the DLC right now. I’m not entirely sure what they are asking me to do here, but I assume there are clues that will send me on my way. I am certainly expecting/hoping for a new area, like getting warped into a new content zone.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/18 "2024-11-09T21:49:04Z")

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I think I’m done with everything now, at least everything I’m going to do.

I actually think the DLC had more twists than the main game.

Has this team made anything else?

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/19 "2024-11-09T21:56:47Z")

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I still need to pick up the DLC. No spoilers!

I dunno about the specific team, but the producer is Annapurna Interactive, which is now defunct. They made _Lorelei and the Laser Eyes_, which I know you played. I enjoyed most of _Kentucky Route Zero_, and _Stray_ as well. But they’re very different games.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-outer-wilds-my-thoughts-speculations-and-wonderings-while-i-play-spoilers-as-far-as-i-am-no-more/1009619/20 "2024-11-09T22:06:46Z")

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Thanks, I’ve played all of those.

Oh, grab the DLC. It’s really different!

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