Outer Wilds’ multiple paths of exploration prevent major game stopping chokepoints, though late-game puzzles do get increasingly complex. Often, these other areas contain hints that help me solve puzzles I’d been struggling with for hours. After repeatedly busting my body trying to fling myself into Brittle Hollow’s brittle hollow, I can take a breather by visiting the Ember Twin, where I’m sure to find other clues. Because the avenues for problem solving are so plentiful, and each planet is stuffed with archeological artifacts, you’ll be sure to bump into something no matter where you land. There’s just enough time to dig deep into that one cave or that one puzzle set. Playing Deathloop helped me finally take Outer Wilds players’ advice to heart: Focus on one task per loop, and make each loop work for you. In short: You have to make the time loops work for you. The loop is a constraint, but it forces the player to be flexible with tactical approaches, and to use their recon wisely. They can also only keep a limited amount of gear and buffs between runs. After selecting a location and time of day, a player can spend as much time as they want there. Games like Deathloop also helped inform my approach this time around, though in Arkane’s immersive sim the time loop doesn’t play out in real time. I grew comfortable with pursuing a run knowing I’d be walloped by Megaera - and later, by Theseus and Asterius - but mostly hoping to learn attack patterns so as to equip the right weapon and select the right god boons next time. My paltry skill level as a new player in that game, mixed with Zagreus’ lack of upgrades, meant failure was baked into the formula. This is especially true of titles where the player is seriously underleveled in earlier runs, like Supergiant Games’ Hades. Playing more roguelites - a genre I’d previously struggled to sink into - helped me embrace so much failure and player death as signposts toward progress. Image: Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive It was easier to recklessly wander into the depths of a mine, knowing I couldn’t get lost there forever. I knew I’d be restored to the starting spot by the end of the loop, so the threat of failure lost some of its weight - it was easier to swim into the heart of a cyclone knowing the end of the loop was approaching regardless.

I began throwing myself into planetary nooks and crannies. Because the player will always be restored to the starting gate after 22 minutes, there’s more flexibility to be daring in exploration. Where Outer Wilds’ limited timeframe used to feel like a punishment, I now see it as an opportunity. The same elements which had initially felt too alienating, driving me away in 2019, have now become the backbone for my appreciation of the game. Two years of playing other time loop or run-based games modified my approach to this space-exploration puzzler. The modern classic’s “first and only expansion,” according to developer Mobius Digital, weaves “directly into the existing world and narrative.” And this time, as I played, I got sucked in. Two years later, with the release of Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, an expansion, I’ve revisited the game - and my perspective has totally shifted. I could hardly even get to the places I wanted to explore, much less solve any puzzles. The game’s time loop proved to be the ultimate challenge, throwing me back into my starting place every 22 minutes - or sooner if I died via crash damage or lack of oxygen. Navigating the ship required controlling six thrusters, and charting a course that would let me land on orbiting celestial bodies. The game was, put simply, stunning.īut Outer Wilds was also incredibly difficult. The trip would take me away from my home of Timber Hearth and across the cosmos, exploring archaeological ruins, and sussing out the civilization that left them behind. I marveled at the galaxy’s beautiful planets, playing as a Hearthian alien on my first space expedition. I first played Outer Wilds in 2019, when the game was initially released.

Outer wilds echoes