The ending shows a similar solar system with new life forms 14.3 billion years after its creation. Upon entering the Eye, the player encounters quantum versions of the various characters they had befriended in their travels, and working together, they create a Big Bang, giving rise to a new universe. All the stars in the sky have reached the end of their lifespans and the universe is about to end. They discover that their star is not the only one going supernova. The resulting supernova feeds power into the Ash Twin Project, conveying the player's memories back in time to their previous self and resetting the cannon for another scan.Īrmed with this knowledge, the player is eventually able to recover the coordinates of the Eye and input them into a derelict Nomai interstellar vessel, warping to the Eye's location. The system is now operating because the sun has naturally reached the end of its life cycle. The Nomai were wiped out by an extinction-level event after completing construction of these projects but before setting the time-loop process into motion. The amount of power required to go back in time was so high that the only viable way of obtaining it would be from a supernova, so they attempted to artificially induce the sun to explode, but were unsuccessful. The chance of visually finding the object with a random shot into space was infinitesimally small, so they also developed a device, the Ash Twin Project, to send the results of the probe's scan 22 minutes back in time, so that the cannon could be 'reused' an infinite number of times. Curious to find out what was held within the Eye, but having lost its signal, the Nomai built an orbital cannon to launch probes to visually find the Eye. The player learns that the Nomai were obsessed with finding the 'Eye of the Universe', a massive anomaly using macroscopic quantum mechanics that is older than the universe itself. Every loop resets when the sun goes supernova after 22 minutes, or when the player-character otherwise dies. After being involuntarily paired with a statue on their home planet made by the Nomai, an ancient and mysterious race that had once colonized the system, the player discovers they are trapped in a time loop. The player takes the role of an unnamed space explorer preparing for their first solo flight. drowning, falling, exposure to space vacuum - the player respawns and awakens back on their home planet at the start of the time loop. There are no equipment upgrades during the game.Īfter each death, whether the cause is the sun going supernova, or through misadventure - e.g. The player has several tools, including a camera probe which can be launched long distances and a signalscope for locating broadcast signals. The player character has health, fuel, and oxygen meters, which are replenished when the character returns to the ship or by finding trees or refills. This process gradually reveals the secrets buried on Ash Twin while simultaneously making the Ember Twin cave system inaccessible later on in the time loop. One example is the paired Ash Twin and Ember Twin planets orbiting so close to each other that sand from Ash Twin is funneled over to cover Ember Twin during the loop. Some events and locations change during the course of the time loop, which means that areas and puzzles are often only accessible at certain times. All areas of the game are technically immediately accessible to the player upon acquiring the ship launch codes, however many areas are protected by logic puzzles which can often only be solved through learning more of the Nomai and speaking to fellow space explorers. The central premise of the game is exploration, with the player compelled to uncover the remains of the Nomai civilization to find the cause of the time loop and complete the game. These codes, and the knowledge of them, are the same across subsequent loops, allowing the player to immediately launch the ship without first visiting the observatory. For example, in order to use the ship, the player must get the launch codes from colleagues at the local observatory.

In the first part of the game, the player links with an ancient Nomai statue which ensures that the player retains information discovered in each time loop when it restarts. Thus, the player is encouraged to learn why by exploring and uncovering secrets of an extinct race known as the Nomai, who previously colonized the solar system hundreds of thousands of years ago. Outer Wilds features an unnamed player character exploring a solar system that is stuck in a time loop, going back 22 minutes after its star goes supernova.

Tabletop simulator port