No Man’s Sky was one of the most anticipated sci-fi games of all time and promises players adventure in the form of exploring the cosmos.  The point of the game, as is stated on their website, is for players to experience the freedom and excitement of “uncovering the secrets of the universe.”

The game boasts planets, lifeforms, and galaxies that are procedurally generated, making each one a unique experience to encounter.  As of now, the game boasts a staggering 18 quintillion planets for players to explore.  18 quintillion.  In case you are wondering how many zeroes that is, this is what 18 quintillion looks like numerically: 18,000,000,000,000,000,000. That’s the number 18 followed by 18 zeroes.  Each planet is a unique combination of terrain, topography, vegetation, climate, temperature, atmosphere, inhabitants, etc.  Some planets are incredibly small, others have rings, others experience the heat of being near several suns, others still prove perilous due to  their incredibly mountainous planetary surfaces.  The draw of the game isthe sense of excitement that comes with exploring an essentially endless universe of novel planets and creatures.

Players take the form of a humanoid astronaut who has crash-landed on a unique planet in a unique sector of the galaxy.  Their immediate goal is to traverse the terrain of this planet and assemble enough materials to craft the components necessary to fix their crashed ship and get off the planet.  The magnitude of the game is clear right from the outset.  You are plopped down randomly and given an entire planet to explore as you see fit.  Each bit of vegetation and minerals can be harvested for different elemental materials by using your trusty mining beam ray gun.  Different planets may have traces of inhabitants or even homes that you can stumble upon. As soon as you get off planet, the true scope of the game becomes clear.  In my experience, I barely made it off my starting planet, which just happened to have an incredibly acidic atmosphere that would literally eat through the lining and life support of my space suit if exposed for too long.  I discovered new animal species, plant types, and I explored some abandoned settlements that were nestled deep in underground tunnels (away from all the acid in the air at the surface).  Once I got off planet, I aimed my ship at the next nearest planet and
started flying at cruising speed.  At cruising speed, which could quickly move around individual planets, my ETA for reaching that next closest planet was 31 days 13 hours 42 minutes and 55 seconds.  Over a month!  Of course, that’s when you kick the ship into hyperdrive to drop it down to a cool 3 minutes of travel.  Just be careful when coming out of hyperdrive because if you happen to be in an asteroid field like I was, things might get a little messy.

Many new components have been added since the game’s launch in 2016 in order to give all your exploring more of a point than simply going where no person has gone before.  Players can harvest rare and expensive materials to do many things.  They can upgrade their ships to be either fighting ships that can dominate in galactic battles (with or against other players) or trading ships if they wanted to be interplanetary merchants or they could dabble in fighting and trading if they wanted to become a type of space pirate.  Beyond ship enhancement, players can actually claim a planet for their own and build sprawling home bases to show off the many things they have found from the places they have discovered.

No Man’s Sky is a quintessential exploration game.  Its novelty is its massive and sprawling scale and the fun comes from the adventure of discovering the galaxy.  Jumping from planet to planet, each one different from the last, gives you the digital experience of exploring space like your favorite sci-fi movie characters do.