10 EXACT Moments That Made Great Video Games Even Better

The Outer Wilds is an astonishing indie game that's criminally overlooked. It sees you take control of an alien anthropologist who’s about to embark on an adventure around their solar system to uncover secrets about a mysterious precursor race. This quest leads to fascinating discoveries and secrets on each of the distinctive planets, each of which is coloured by its own unique aesthetics and gameplay elements.

However, just before they take-off in their rudimentary spaceship, one of the precursors’ artefacts activates, which consequently traps the adventurer in a 22-minute time loop.

How the game world evolves over this time is central to approaching many of the puzzles. And if players don’t die before this time elapses, they’ll have the pleasure of witnessing the supernova itself.

Andrew Prahlow’s ethereal electronic soundtrack acts as the countdown to the event. The music slowly builds to a moment of silence, which is cut short by the burning sound of the sun collapsing. An eruption of blinding light then engulfs the screen, and time resets.

Best observed from outer space, this moment is awe-inspiring in its devastating beauty. Seeing this for the first time is when you realise how grand this small indie title really was.