Outer Wilds: Day 1

Warning!

This is a journal I kept while playing this game. This journal contains spoilers. It’s nothing but spoilers really. Do not read this if you plan on playing this game. Only read this if you’ve already played this game, or if you have decided that you will NEVER play this game. Like your ex works for the company that made it and you hate this game and you wouldn’t play it even if it was the only game.

Outer Wilds Note

This is organized by play sessions. Each day is a play session. Each play session is broken up into individual time loops. Each new paragraph or page break is a new time loop unless otherwise indicated.

Day 1

I’m ready to leave I think. I’ve talked to everyone in the village. Learned how to do space repairs. Played a little hide and seek with my signal scope. Hell I even visited the observatory. That was amazing! I learned about the Nomai and their crazy gravity rocks. I’ve got a translator so if I run into any Nomai language on my travels I’ll be able to read it! I hope I find lots. I got the launch codes so I guess I’m ready to go. Why am I so nervous? Everyone is just joking about the ship being dangerous, right? I shouldn’t be nervous, but I’m so excited. I can’t tell the difference. I want to go but I’m sad to be leaving my friends. I feel like I grew up here. I hope I make it back so I can tell everyone in the village about my adventures. Wish me luck!

Woo I just had the craziest dream! I dreamt I flew the ship to the moon and walked around a bit. I found what I think is an old Nomai artifact and some writing that talked about building a device to find the Eye of the Universe. Man, wouldn’t that be cool to find. Maybe I can finish their device and find it myself. After that I walked around until I found Tels on the Moon Outpost. He wasn’t wearing a space suit which I thought was a little odd. It made me feel overdressed. He was whistling a sweet tune and he told me a little bit of the history of the Moon Outpost. I went back to the ship and took off my suit. If he doesn’t need one, why do I? I stepped out of the ship without a suit just to make sure and then I suffocated! Or so I thought. I woke up back in the village. I guess it’s launch day! I’m so excited! Wish me luck!

I was in my ship drifting in what I THOUGHT was deep space, looking at my map when I accidentally crashed down on some rock. I had to get out to make repairs. I have no idea where I am. Following a strange signal.
Found a huge dome on the south pole. No idea what it is. Doesn’t seem to be a way in. Thought I saw a ship a little ways off. Going got check it out.
Definitely Hearthian in origin but no one around. Found a tape recording of someone saying they couldn’t find a way into the dome either. Now I don’t feel as bad. This person went to the ruins on the equator. Guess that’s where I’m headed.
Holy shit. This whole planet fell apart. First I discovered what I thought was a huge cave but calling it a cave is really not doing it justice. It was the whole inside of the planet. I mean I was looking right through it. There seemed to be some kind of singularity in the middle. It seemed too dangerous to try to jet pack into so I kept making my way to the equator. I was looking at what looked like a dead tree off in the distance when the ground under my feet gave way and I went tumbling into the interior of the planet. I was able to hard land on a rocky outcropping but I was looking up, way up, at my ship. I hopped along some ledges trying to make my way over to where my ship was but I had no idea how I was going to get back to the surface of the thing. I got under my ship and was contemplating this very problem when all of a sudden the piece of ground my ship was sitting on started to tumble down. Perfect, I thought as it fell past me. I stepped off my ledge and went down after it. Sadly my ship was sucked into the singularity before I could reach it and very shortly thereafter I was sucked in as well. It seems we – me and the ship – were transported back out into space. I didn’t waste any time climbing back in the ship. Enough fucking around. Let’s go find this guy on Helm’s Deep or whatever it’s called. I found it on the star chart and plotted a course. Tried out the auto pilot which works nice for lining you up with a planet but you still have to land the damn thing manually. This planet is all water so when I attempted my first landing I got freaked out because it seemed like I went straight underwater. It was GD terrifying. I took off again and regrouped from orbit. There really wasn’t anywhere else to land so I shut my eyes and went for it.
This is a confusing place. There’s a different planet surface under the outer surface? I think? I tried to make my way to Gabboro using the signalscope but I stepped into a maelstrom and it launched me back out into space without my ship! As I came back down, I stopped on the outer surface and swam/jetpacked to an island. I don’t think my jetpack works here. I don’t know. Oh it’s got crazy gravity. 2x. I finally found Gabboro so let’s see what this weirdo has to say. My ship appears to be bouncing around all over the place. Hope it’s ok.
Ok SOOOOOOO, I’m stuck in a time loop. I keep waking up back in the village but no one else knows what’s going on. I just finally spoke to Gabboro. He’s the only one that seems to realize what’s happening. His planet SUCKS, by the way. Everything is constantly getting thrown around by the waves. The islands are flying around, it’s impossible to get anywhere. Deep below the surface there’s a giant pink squid or something. It doesn’t seem to move but I’m sure it’s up to no good. I learned more about this probe launcher that the Nomai built. It wasn’t working for some reason. AND they lost one of the parts down deep in the planet where you’re not supposed to be able to get. I have to go somewhere else to learn how that happened.

I just realized what I’m looking at when I open my eyes at the beginning of a loop! It’s the probe launcher on Helm’s Deep! It destroys itself when it launches the probe! That’s gotta be significant.
I went to Brittle Hollow. Well, first I went to see I could find Feldspar. It’s just a giant plant. Ugly one too. I launched a probe into it’s mouth and it goes WAY back in there. The plant is a portal to the Bramble planet? That must be where feldspar is because you sure can hear his harmonica. THEN I went to Brittle Hollow but the surface integrity was already at 57%. I went crashing into the singularity again, this time without my ship. It puts you WAY on the other side of the solar system. At first I was like, “Yeah I’ll just putter on back to my ship! It’s only 13km!” Then I realized I was trying to catch a planet with positional thrusters. I had a good laugh at myself. When I was done laughing I realized I was going to die in deep space. I let that sink in and then something incredible happened. I crashed into the sun instead! At least I didn’t suffocate! Gotta head straight to Brittle Hollow this time.

Jesus! I launched and set the autopilot for Brittle Hollow but someone forgot to tell the autopilot to avoid crashing into the planet we just left! I had to get out and waste precious time on repairs. I got to Brittle Hollow. Oh I got there. More crazy alien artifacts. A replica of the probe launcher is sitting in a hole on Brittle Hollow. I managed to launch something out of it. No idea what. Some other writing about a shuttle. No clue what that meant. I saw a sign for the southern observatory which is where I’m supposed to learn how to go deep on the water planet. I was about to head that way when I looked back at the probe launcher. There was a platform in the middle of it. That looks interesting, I thought. I’ll just have a little stand on the platform and see if I can SHIIIIIIIIIIIT! Fucker launched me into space! Not as far as the singularity does but goddamn if Brittle Hollow doesn’t love sending you into space. I was close enough this time to try to land back on the planet with just my jetpack. That did not go so well. It may not be possible. No doubt I’ll be forced to try again at some point. Back at it.

Made it to Brittle Hollow. Got launched into space.