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.