The Outer Wilds is an unforgettable game that has become an instant classic. You take on the role of a curious alien adventurer about to embark on their first journey into space. You'll get to investigate fascinating planets in the solar system, uncover many mysteries, and learn all that you can about an ancient alien civilization that came before you. You only have a limited amount of time to explore, but eventually, your goal will become apparent, and all the puzzle pieces will start to come together.
Although there is one clear main ending to aim for during your playthrough, you can achieve several alternative endings instead. These endings are sometimes humorous and sometimes rather tragic. How impactful and intriguing these endings can be is varied, so here are all the possible endings ranked and how you can witness them for yourself.
Warning: This article includes major spoilers for Outer Wilds
8 Dying Before The Loop Begins
Before heading into space, you must grab the launch codes from Hornfels at the Observatory. At the entrance to the building, you'll encounter the Nomai statue, which will pair with you and grant you the ability to send your memories back in time to your previous self. This connection makes you immortal, as you are caught in a never-ending time loop whenever you die.
If you avoid heading to the observatory museum immediately, it is possible to get the abrupt You Are Dead ending. You can achieve this in various ways, such as falling from a great height or diving into dangerous geyser pools. It is amusing to die so suddenly at the start of the game and have the credits roll, but it's unsatisfying to have not even started your adventure.
You can also unlock this ending after the time loop has begun by removing the Advanced Warp Core from the Ash Twin Project and then dying.
7 Lost In Space
The sudden supernova that ends each loop is quite terrifying and seems unavoidable. It is possible to get out of the range of this catastrophic explosion, but since the sun destroys the Ash Twin Project, you are reset by the time loop regardless of how far you managed to go. If you head to the Ash Twin Project and remove the Advanced Warp Core, nothing stops you from ditching everyone and racing off into space to avoid the supernova.
A short while after the supernova occurs, and with no time loop to reset you, you float aimlessly for as long as your ship has oxygen. The game fades to black, and text appears to tell you how drifting off into space alone is your horrific final fate. It sounds like a dull, lonely way to live the rest of your life and is not a fun ending at all.
6 Stranded On The Stranger
The Echoes Of The Eye DLC can be a little tricky to find in the solar system, but once you get started, you are in for a thrilling new chapter of discovery. You’ll explore The Stranger, an invisible floating ship that is seemingly abandoned and falling into ruin. The Stranger drifts out of range of the supernova, so if you remove the Advanced Warp Core and settle down in this abandoned ship, you’ll survive and achieve another secret ending.
The game will fade to black, and text will tell you how you’ve been stranded in this creepy, lonely settlement, wondering if anything is edible. Trading in your small spacecraft for the large Stranger feels like an upgrade, but it is still a sad ending. At least you can spend your days riding rafts along the river.
5 An Endless Nightmare
Although there is no combat in Outer Wilds, in The Echoes Of The Eye DLC, you encounter these spooky residents set on hunting you down. Just a few minutes with them is pretty scary, so imagine being stuck with them for eternity! To get this endless nightmare ending, you must remove the Advanced Warp Core and travel to The Stranger. Head to a green campfire and stand on the flames until you die, and you’ll end up a permanent resident of the dream simulation.
This ending is certainly more intriguing than just drifting off into space alone. But it is also utterly terrifying. If a single resident of The Stranger finds you or you get knocked into the water, you’ll be gone. The text says that the residents eventually decide to stop hunting you, but still, this dark dream world isn’t the best place to spend eternity.
4 Breaking Time And Space
Before heading on your first space adventure, they didn’t teach you how to avoid destroying the very fabric of space-time. To do this, you must go to the High Energy Lab on Ember Twin and mess around with the black and white hole cores. These cores are supposed to show you how there will be two copies of an entity briefly before they step through a black hole.
You can simulate this by firing your probe toward the small black hole, but if you remove one of the cores right before the probe enters the black hole, you will cause a paradox. There are now two copies of the same probe when there shouldn’t be. Space-time will begin to crack, and the universe will suddenly end.
It is undoubtedly an abrupt, deadly ending but an entertaining one to achieve. Getting the timing right to remove the core can be tricky, but it is a fun way to end the game. As the credits roll, a kazoo version of the main theme plays to highlight how ridiculous this ending is.
3 Chilling On The Quantum Moon
One of the fascinating puzzles of the game is trying to reach the mysterious Quantum Moon’s sixth location. Once you do, you discover that time works differently here. So, if you remove the Advanced Warp Core before venturing to the Quantum Moon, you will survive the supernova and become stranded in this mysterious location forever.
This ending is quite a mind-bending one. The text explains how you have lost all sense of time, becoming quite detached from reality. At least you get to hang out with Solanum, one of the last Nomai, and learn all you can about their ancient civilization. They are far better company than the residents of The Stranger, at least.
2 Meeting Yourself
In a game where time is constantly being rewound, paradoxes are bound to happen eventually. If you wait at the Ash Twin Project for the supernova to begin and then jump into the black hole, you cause a paradox. During the next time loop, another version of you will be chilling out at the Ash Twin Project. You can head over there to have a conversation with yourself.
While talking to yourself, your duplicate will wonder what will happen if you decide not to jump into the black hole this time. By doing so, you’ve made it so that your other self should no longer exist, causing space-time to crack once more and destroying the universe. This is another abrupt, catastrophic ending, but an entertaining one, especially with the amusing, existential conversation you can have with the other you.
1 The True Ending
Finding all the abrupt endings of Outer Wilds and discovering all the other hidden secrets the game offers is fantastic, but eventually, you'll want to experience the actual end. The other endings cannot compare to this masterpiece of a final climax. Achieving this incredible ending is no easy feat, so we have included our three-step guide on how to do so:
This ending is well worth the effort. It is a profound, surreal, and emotional conclusion, where you enjoy one last song around the campfire before the universe ends and a new one begins. Stick around until after the credits to glimpse what this beautiful new universe will be like. If you find Solanum and the Prisoner, new aliens will be seen gathered around a campfire. It is a lovely ending that you have to experience for yourself.