Outer Wilds ▶ Trailer
Outer Wilds screenshot 1Outer Wilds screenshot 2
ActionAdventureExplorationSpaceMysteryStory RichGreat Soundtrack

565 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 1,192

Peak in the last 7 days: 1,496

Outer Wilds Steam store

Game description

Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop.

Basic info

DeveloperMobius Digital
PublisherAnnapurna Interactive
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateJun 18, 2020
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10
ProcessorIntel Core i5-2300 | AMD FX-4350
Memory6 GB
GraphicsNvidia GeForce GTX 660, 2 GB | AMD Radeon HD 7870, 2 GB
Storage8 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 357 reviews from the past 1 year

94.5/ 100
Top 5%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (96%)

Metacritic: 85 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 12, 2026)

147 reviews praise the world of Outer Wilds, some saying it changed how they see things, and it scores 94.5 from 110,032 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

Story & World ranks 2nd of 1096 and appears in 78% of analyzed reviews. 53 reviews praise the story, and the most upvoted says its mystery creates awe and wonder the first time through. 70 say they love it, and the most upvoted calls it the best game it has played. Visuals & Sound ranks 51st of 1249, with players praising the soundtrack, and others like puzzles built on knowledge with consistent internal logic.

👎 Where it falls short

The same design that delights some players loses others. 31 reviews found clues unclear, some getting stuck often and needing a guide, and 26 find it hard on their patience, some citing repeated trial and error. 12 doubt its replay value, some calling it a one time experience once the mystery is solved, and a few found the controls hard without a gamepad.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“permanently impacted worldview with existential depth” · 147 reviews
“best game ever played, had to call off work, emotional impact” · 70 reviews
“audio presentation is jaw dropping” · 20 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 63% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +4.43 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “exploration and curiosity at the forefront, open world gameplay in unusually open fashion” · 12 reviews

Progression 6% · Difficulty 14% · Onboarding 24% · Strategy 20% · Controls & feel 9%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 78% of reviews · Top 1% of the games we've analyzed

World +4.72 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “permanently impacted worldview with existential depth” · 147 reviews

Story 50% · Characters 5%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +2.97 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Negative “games like this end too quickly” · 3 reviews

Variety 8% · Replayability 13%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 34% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Audio +4.50 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Positive “audio presentation is jaw dropping” · 20 reviews
Negative “traducción difícil de leer” · 1 review

Visuals 14%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 2% of reviews mention this.

Community +3.00 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 1% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 1% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing +0.04 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 0% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 3% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.01 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “o jogo causa crash quando o sol explode” · 2 reviews

Performance 1% · Developer support 0%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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