Outer Wilds

Boss Fight Books #36

by Tommy Wallach

Maybe it's happened to you too. You're talking to a friend about your favorite games, and their voice suddenly drops to a whisper. "Have you played... Outer Wilds?" When you ask what makes the game so special, their only response is a smile and a promise: "Go play it. You'll see." After enough of these cryptic conversations, you finally try the game—and suddenly you're the one praising Outer Wilds to anyone who will listen.

In this volume, novelist and escape room designer Tommy Wallach explains how a project that began as a USC student's master's thesis ended up winning "Game of the Year" from Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian. Along the way, he'll discuss how Outer Wilds uses theme to reconcile the age-old battle between narrative and gameplay; how its unique form of knowledge-based gating spurs player curiosity; how it offers up true mystery without resorting to videogame-y puzzles; and how its spectacular DLC, Echoes of the Eye, remains true to the spirit of the base game while transforming its tone completely.

Genres: Nonfiction, Video Games

Paperback

About the author

I'm a Brooklyn-based novelist, screenwriter, and musician. I wrote "We All Looked Up" (a New York Times Bestseller) and "Thanks for the Trouble." My newest book is "The Anchor & Sophia," first in a trilogy set in a future North America which, for asteroid-collision-related reasons, has regressed to 19th century technology levels (oil lanterns, covered wagons, whiskey used as anesthetic, etc.).

As a musician I've released an EP with Decca/Universal Records, as well as a companion album for my first novel. I also makes music videos, including one that was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum. I currently reside in LA, where I am developing my books as TV shows and movies, so I can make enough money to afford kombucha, spin class, and my Scientology membership fees.

Consider buying me dinner.

Reviews

[giuliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last Boss Fight book I read—about Animal Crossing—was widely concerned with the history of the game’s development and player reviews. I remember yearning for literary criticism that was heavier on analysis of style, form, and how a game’s mechanics accentuate its storytelling with ludonarrative consonance.

Wallach delivers just that. And he’s not afraid to do so without taking himself super seriously. So many of the footnotes had me laughing out loud.

Good nonfiction, in my opinion, spurs discovery of other nonfiction. And this book doubled my reading list. And with references to The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Witness? Come on.

[Diana Täht · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give 5 ⭐to a book about the best video game of all time. But sadly I can't. And the reason is in the first chapter, the chapter that summarizes the story of Outer Wilds. For a superfan, the author made so many mistakes in this short summary that it felt like it was written hastily and was never reread again by anybody before publishing and also our superfan author didn't grasp some bits of Outer Wilds. I feel like researching and error checking this chapter was lacking to say the least. Note: Interestingly I didn't feel the same about the DLC descriptions (or as much at least, the summary of that was quite on point).

From chapter 2 the book got better and more interesting which meant that I didn't have to give it 3 ⭐ after all (which I was so afraid of while reading the first chapter). The specific attention to game design that this book is all about was well explored making it a nice read in the end. I do suggest skipping the story summary part for those that have played the game, dived deep into the story and lore and have a clear understanding of it. It might grind your gears too much and you know how it goes already.

My review ends here but I will highlight some errors now that stuck with me, so game spoilers incoming (if you haven't played the game please don't read on, also don't read this book yet either).

...

About Nomai warping to follow the Eye's signal: "..the tribe climbed into a large spaceship known as "the Vessel"..." - The Nomai are a nomadic species and thus most likely live in their vessels most of the time if they are not visiting some planets. But what seals the deal is the fact that they had no time to even send a message to another tribe before warping. Which means they were definitely already in the Vessel when they caught the signal. They didn't climb anywhere.

About escape pods: "... the third [pod landed] on Ash Twin." - No, it landed on Ember Twin, there is a crash site there and they built their city on Ember Twin.

About the player character referred to as "the protagonist" - not really factually incorrect but I think it should be mentioned that even though the character doesn't have a name, they are referred in-game and many online discussions as "Hatchling".

[Kryptomite · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Outer Wilds. It blew me away, and I'll be forever changed by it. Clearly, this author is in the same boat. That being said, this book doesn't really cover the story of the people who made the game. It mostly covers the philosophy of the game, and let me tell you, the author was WAY over my head intellectually. After reading this book, I felt like I had attended a lecture. It was mentally exhausting. The author is passionate, he's intelligent, and he knows what he's talking about. But I can't honestly say I enjoyed reading this.

[Alex Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really more like 3.5. Made me appreciate one of my favorite games even more. The best parts were when they describe particular mechanics and what other games did those things really well.

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy loves a footnote

[reverse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a pleasant read, but full of some strange and questionable remarks that the author tries to prove. As an example, he insists that Outer Wilds isn't a puzzle game, and spends a good portion of the book trying to prove that that's true. Not that his argument is wrong, but it's just generally kind of bizarre to be making that case.

I was expecting a book covering the development of the game, but although it does include quotes from the developers and the composer throughout, that's not what this is. It's mostly about game design and the author's take on the philosophy of the game. He made use of some fancy terminology that made me lose the thread of his argument at times.

Still, as an Outer Wilds fan, discussion about the game is always nice to see, and I'm glad I read this book. Note that there are many references to other games throughout, which means you may get spoiled, but in the two particular cases I wanted to avoid spoilers (The Last of Us Part 2 & The Witness), I was able to simply skip over that section.

[Sam Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outer Wilds is one of the greatest works of art of all time. It’s the kind of game I’d gladly read forum discussions about, so when I found out there was an actual book about it, I knew I had to read it.

To be honest, some of the writing was slightly pretentious, including the repeated references to ludonarrative consonance. Although, it would be pretty surprising if a book about Outer Wilds wasn’t slightly pretentious.

In terms of the analysis of Outer Wilds’ themes, I particularly enjoyed the section about Echoes of the Eye. There was also some interesting insight into the games development from a series of interviews conducted for the book, though I would’ve liked more of this.

Overall I’d recommend this to fans (would be truly absurd to read it if you weren’t a fan), but don’t expect the writing to be at the level of the source material.

[Toad · Rating 3 out of 5]

unfortunately could not finish it after reading about halfway. i felt like it was much more negative than it needed to be. every other page is a little rant/jab at something the author hates. more often than not it felt awkward and out of place. it just got really exhausting to read.

i will say, other than sometimes getting weirdly wordy, the writing flow felt nice and enjoyable to read!

and the book itself is great. it’s a really nice size, and i loved the printing/formatting of the book. i’d definitely buy from Boss Fight Books again, even though i’m sad this book didn’t click with me.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Boss Fight Books, and I love Outer Wilds. When I heard there was gonna be a BFB on Outer Wilds, I was excited. I might be biased, but I really enjoyed this one.

Tommy Wallach does a deep dive into why Outer Wilds and its DLC Echoes of the Eye work so well. It's informative, insightful, and a bit pretentious, but I was here for it. It's a love letter to one of my favorite games that still examines it critically. If you have played and love Outer Wilds, you'll enjoy this one. I would recommend at least attempting to play Outer Wilds before checking this out, just on the nature of how the game works.

[Roland · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting tidbits and thoughts in here, but mostly I did not particularly enjoy this. For one thing, a lot of the book is literally just explaining the story and mechanics of the games, or basic game concepts - like it's written for someone who has never played a video game before, which is bizarre.

But the more fundamental issue is just that the author is very much a stereotypical "pretentious art guy". He has tragically limited ideas of what games can be and what makes them great, and is obsessed with pseudo-objective analysis of games in a way that doesn't really go anywhere interesting. The author also seems strangely out of touch at times, making kind of obviously untrue claims about the modern state of video games.

I think the most positive thing about this book was that as someone who didn't particularly like the ending of Outer Wilds, it was interesting to hear from someone who felt it was absolutely brilliant. But the rest of the book (aside from the occasional behind-the-scenes details of the game's creation) really amounts to just saying "I hate ludonarrative dissonance" without a ton else interesting in the way of exploration or discussion.

[Jay Slayton-Joslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a really enjoyable look at this game. It leans slightly towards an academic side, introducing some terms, but it does apply them to the game in a fairly accessible way. Also, it doesn't hinder the book because the author's love for the game clearly shines through and makes a fairly convincing case about a game that's hard to describe. Though, I do hope in a few years (if not already) the whole arguing that a game is art discussion is redundant. And maybe books and games like this will help.

[Cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first very dense and I worried I wouldn't be able to handle it. Eventually it got easier and made way for some great insights into the game. I also appreciated how detailed and well supported the arguments were.

[Arjen · Rating 3 out of 5]

109 Footnotes is way too much for a book this size.