outer wilds blog

The owlks are by contrast are unknown. We found them by accident. We cannot know their language. Their tech is foreign and new, literally using new keybinds to reset muscle memory and new mechanics , a struggle after learning the base game. They are separate. The stranger feels like a completey new game, self-contained. Their search for knowledge ended up corrupting them. Consuming them? They walked willingly to their deaths.

The nomai almost lost hope in the eye and the only reason they didn’t was by clinging onto the fact that by giving up now was a waste of all their lives. the owls sank into hatred and fear and dragged each other down together .they were so desperate to recreate their home after sacrificing so much. while the nomai saw the solar system and went yes, we can work with this, the owlk went absolutely not. we wish for our moon, our planet in the sky. they created their own loop;trying to stand in the same river over and over and going nowhere, trying to stop the wheel and flow of time. THEY CANT! they locked themselves away to live forever, they are dead in the real world and they die again as the dam they built breaks and washes away the soulflame lanterns. they die a third time over as they burn their history, a fourth as the sun burns the rest.

our friends in each species are the opposite of the norm, as well. Solanum embodied the doubt and hatred(for a while), the Prisoner the hope and curiosity. both eventually drawn to the eye and what it could mean.

My partner and I played a lot of Outer Wilds during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's probably no surprise that I fell in love with its charming characters and expansive universe. I decided to celebrate the game by embroidering its solar system.

Since Outer Wilds fans are especially touchy about spoilers, I should note that this project has them everywhere, I should probably note that you should read/look no further if you don't want any hints of what may come later in the game if you haven't already completed it and its DLC!

I based my Outer Wilds solar system design on where the planets are at about 9 minutes and 48 seconds into the loop, but everything is re-scaled - while maintaining the vibes of the original proportions - so the planets and background supernovas in the dying universe aren't tiny. I realize now that I have a pattern of adding hundreds of additional (and arguably unnecessary) French knots to my embroidery projects - I am non-sarcastically shocked that I made this choice right after doing thousands upon thousands of French knots for the Milky Way in my Northern Sky & Southern Sky quilts.

Since the Eye of the Universe and the Owlk's home both aren't in Hatchling's solar system, I did each in a separate hoop, too. I chose to represent the Eye with a blend of the symbols used by the Nomai and the Stranger's inhabitants, and I opted to represent the Owlk's home moon and the planet it orbits before they raided it to build the Stranger.

Each of the planets has a slightly different feel due to the stitches I chose. Here are some detail shots of the main hoop:

I've hung the three hoops together on a wall near my desk:

All in all, I ended up using 97 different linen threads in this project, including a handful of vintage ones and a highly variegated space-dyed thread that gave me access to 5 different colors and blends between them.

...and just in case that wasn't enough, I actually made this whole project twice, so I could give a copy to the friend who introduced me and my partner to this phenomenal game!

Outerwilds ❤️ If you want it's downloadable in high resolution on my kofi for free! https://ko-fi.com/tikisabi

How unlucky to have been born at the end of the universe.

because you are love.

And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love.

You are the player.