19. Outer Wilds (2023*)
- * released on the Nintendo Switch in 2023; original PC release in 2019
- Final score: 20 points
- Total placements: 1 list
- Highest placement: #1, Amanda
Casey writes:
While its inclusion may be somewhat controversial due to its performance on the Nintendo Switch being a significant downgrade from almost any other platform it runs on, Outer Wilds is such an incredible and moving game that I would tell someone who only had access to the Switch version to play the game anyway. The time-loop galactic-armageddon mystery game, along with its excellent Echoes of the Eye DLC, was the featured event of two different Mansion Land New Years’ weeks, both a sort of fever dream where we played the game until we needed to eat a meal or go to sleep, spent the mealtime discussing theories of what to try next, then returned to the beginning of our own loop. As we’ve learned over the years, games with lots of opportunities for different people in the group to obsess over different details and clues work pretty well for our group, so a version of that turned up to 11 where every half-hour run presents a fresh starting point to investigate something else gave us the chance to try out all kinds of wacky ideas, careful hunts for written logs, and terrifying runs through icy tunnels, slingshot jumps onto the surface of the sun, or (of course) silent drifts through anglerfish-infested fog.
We know that Outer Wilds deserves better than the Switch, but it’s nice for recommendation’s sake–and a testament to the already mindblown engineering marvel that is the clockwork machine of this game’s synchronized time loop–that it can be played on this platform.
P.S. Stay tuned for a real tribute to Outer Wilds from Amanda in... The Outliers!