The Path To No Man's Sky's 'End Game'

When I talk about No Man’s Sky, either on the site or with friends, I typically get one of two reactions.

When I talk about No Man’s Sky, either on the site or with friends, I typically get one of two reactions. It’s either, “That sounds cool,” or “That sounds cool, but what’s the point?” I get it; a lot of people like to play games with a greater purpose in mind. They want to rescue a princess or kill the bad guy or save the universe – possibly even all three at once. Hello Games’ spacefaring adventure isn’t easily explained, and the fact that the studio doesn’t want to reveal all of its secrets doesn’t make it any easier. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a goal in the game, for people who want more than simply idling through space, scanning planets, and gathering minerals. There’s a central mystery at the center of the game’s galaxy, and we’re sharing all we currently know about it.

Hello Games’ co-founder Sean Murray doesn’t enjoy talking about things like goals and objectives when it comes to No Man’s Sky, but he gets it. People have been trained to play games with certain expectations. As he points out, however, you don’t often hear people talking about beating Minecraft when they’re discussing the game. Sure, you can acquire the materials required to go to that game’s ending area, The End, and slay the Ender Dragon, but that’s not why most people are addicted to the game. Similarly, Murray loves the idea of exploring space, dogfighting enemy ships, and discovering things that nobody has seen – and may never see again. And you can do that indefinitely in No Man’s Sky. If you absolutely need closure, though, it’s in the game. Here’s a broad look at the basic loop of No Man’s Sky, for people who are determined to see the end credits. In other words, here’s “The Point” of the game, for those of you who need it.

1. The Outer Ring
You begin the game on a planet, one of hundreds of millions that circle the outer edges of the galaxy. It’s assigned to you randomly, and the odds that you’ll be someplace that another player has set foot on is infinitesimal. If you take a short walk from your starting position, you’ll come upon your first spaceship. It’s slow and weak, but it’ll allow you to get off the planet’s surface and into orbit, where you’ll chart your next move.

Pulling up the galaxy mapwill provide a better view of your relative position in the galaxy. Your starting planet is one of several in a solar system. Each procedurally generated planet is home to one of several resources, which have their own value depending on its scarcity. When you’re on a planet’s surface, you can scan your surroundings. Valuable commodities are highlighted by a grid-like overlay. Blasting the resources with your multitool harvests them. You can sell your finds at space stations – every solar system has one – or deposit them at trading posts that dot some planets’ surfaces. When you have enough money, you can buy additional fuel for your ship. You’ll need that for the next step in your journey.