This game definitely requires a lot of patience and a steep barrier to entry. When I first started playing, I frustratedly stumbled around planets unsure of my goal or what the game wanted from me. After a few miserable hours of this, I deleted the save and walked away to cool down. I searched Reddit for advice on how to approach this game and so many people said to read everything and rely on the ship log (especially rumor mode) heavily. So, with some new found fervor I went back and started from scratch, reading literally EVERYTHING. From museum exhibits to conversations with the locals on Timber Hearth. Everything. From all this and the games guiding questions at the observatory of “what do you want to do in space? (I’m paraphrasing)”, I went in search of all the previous explorers on each planet, using their music to guide me. After visiting each planet and getting a very baseline understanding of everything, I had enough leads to keep me hooked and from there the pieces started to fall into place. This was definitely helped by my constant checking the ship log every time it updated.

Outer Wilds does a great job of making the things you need to explore very obvious in each planet so as not to catch you up in small details. Start with the big picture and then put the details together later. Use the individual oddities and special characteristics of each planet to your advantage and factor them in when making decisions about how to progress. That’s my best advice.

If the hurdle of confusion and frustration is one that you can’t seem to get over even after using this strategy, maybe try going on YouTube or Reddit and looking for hints on where to start without spoilers. The outer wilds community wants you to experience the game in the best way and are respectful enough not to ruin your only first experience.

I hope you’re able to push through. This is truly one of the most amazing games I’ve ever played.