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, E choes of the Eye , remains true to the spirit of the base game while transforming its tone completely.