I’m a sucker for a good explore. I’m not sure quite when I learned that exploration in video games was a big draw for me, but it must have actually been somewhat recently when I was able to concretely determine that in my mind. I think it’s something to do with the fact that I like pushing against the boundaries of the game world and seeing what breaks, as well as being rewarded for trying out different things and solving environmental puzzles. The problem with a lot of games is that a) there is no narrative reward for doing such things and b) nothing of any real substance tucked away. Hidden things in a game with engaging explorative and movement mechanics create a real sense of kinship with the game, an understanding between the developers and the player that you can indeed fly into that geyser, that you can land on the moon and then eject yourself into the sun.

If there was ever to be a video game canon the likes of which was taught in old schools about literature, I would encourage the mandatory play of Outer Wilds. It understands non-linearity and the potential of video games as a story-telling tool better than almost every other game I’ve ever played. The potential to tackle objectives in any order is limited only by a player’s ingenuity. And perhaps, in the case of a few crucial objectives, a bit of prior knowledge. But that prior knowledge is a reward for exploration, which in turn rewards more exploration – and when you reach the end of the exploration, it is a satisfying conclusion to all the exploring that you’ve done. The more exploring you did, the more satisfying the ending will seem.

Living in a game world is a really hard thing to actually sustain. Immersion and interest has to be sustained for such a long time, and the depth of the world has to be sufficient, that only a certain caliber of well-designed game can encourage a player to live in it. Outer Wilds is the kind of game you’ll want to live in, to delve into every well-detailed and well-thought-out corner. It’s an underrated thing in video game design to actually construct a world with no truly extraneous details. Would big, open-world RPGs be better if every location had a tightly designed story and meaning to it? Not necessarily, but Outer Wilds benefits from the tight focus. Each area in the game never truly outstays its welcome, always leaving you wanting more, rather than having you wish it was over. That’s a true feat.

Outer Wilds also has a tight control over the emotions present within the game – joy, awe, sadness, and fear. A fascinating environmental mystery leads to many smaller sub-mysteries, forcing the player to engage with every facet of the game to discover the truth. While that may sound daunting, the fact is that the game never bothers with unnecessary minigames or annoying or frustrating mechanics. You have a small set of tools, and each tool can be used in a variety of interesting ways to solve puzzles. The harder puzzles are made delightfully easy when you understand the nuance behind each of your tools, using them in concert or in smart ways to achieve your objective. There’s nothing quite like that feeling of “I am so clever” when you solve a devious puzzle, and add to your understanding of the game’s mechanics, which you can use to solve even more important puzzles. Everything builds and builds in Outer Wilds, and the ending actually builds to something truly beautiful and worthwhile. It spins a lot of plates, but doesn’t let any of them smash.

Everything about Outer Wilds is naturally engaging and fun. It is a vital expression of the power of the video game medium, even as the larger elements in the industry struggle to create creative or interesting games, relying instead on name-brand recognition and barely bothering to iterate on old and staid mechanics. Outer Wilds is the antidote to such games, a story that could only be told as well as it is in the medium of video games, and is an essential part of any passionate gamer’s library. A consistently fascinating game, which deserves to be experienced blind. If I have convinced you (and I hope I have) – go and play it without looking anything else up! It’s a game meant to be experienced on an individual basis, or with a partner or a friend, hypothesizing each development as it comes up. Truly marvelous.