The apparent reason for the time loop is, that your sun goes supernova after about 20 minutes. No matter where you are in the solar system, it will always catch up with you and you'll awake next to the fireplace by the launchpad, where you started your game. Same thing happens when you die anywhere else. There isn't much to do about it, so you start learning about the other civilisation, the Nomai. The Nomai were a nomadic species who travelled in massive spaceships using microsingularities (micro black holes) for essentially warp drive. One such clan with their spaceship, the so called Vessel, stranded in this solar system and what you're finding are remnants of this clan, no the entire Nomai species. You get to learn the names of them, as they seem to have communicated using writing on walls which was transferred to a connected similar wall, so you can essentially read their messages to each other.
The clan stranded in this solar system on the search for a thing they called "Eye of the Universe". They captured a signal, which they determined to have been older than the Universe, however impossible that might sound. Trying not to lose track of this incredible discovery they quickly tune their warp drive for the apparent source of the signal and initiate a jump, without taking the time to inform the other members of their society. They warp into close proximity of a "planet" of this solar system. This planet is the creepy place of this game. Called "Dark Bramble", this isn't a planet in the traditional sense, but rather one giant thorny plant which seems to have grown inside an ice planet and blown it apart. The plant captured the vessel and forced the Nomai to evacuate the vessel. Of the three large emergency capsules only two escaped the Bramble. They each landed on a planet of the solar system and settled down. Both these groups on their own started to notice strange aspects about the system they now inhabited, like a moon which will disappear when not observed. A sort of religion started to develop around this Quantum Moon and the Eye of the Universe, with the Nomai suspecting the Moon to be related to the Eye.
The two Nomai groups have then started working together on ways of discovering the location of the Eye of the Universe, the original reason why they came here, but each attempt fails. They notice however that the Moon sometimes disappears completely, leading them to the conclusion that the Moon, which is essentially orbiting every planet of the solar system until observed at one of them, is also orbiting the Eye. The "Sixth Location" as they call it.
Another thing you will learn fairly early on is that the Nomai attempted one enormous project to discern this location, the "Ash Twin Project", appropriately named for one of the binary planets, the Hourglass Twins "Ash Twin" and "Ember Twin". At the start of the time loop the Ash Twin is covered in sand which will over the course of the loop transfer over to the ember twin, leading to a fun, but sometimes stressful mechanic of being able to explore Ember Twin only at the beginning of each loop, while slowly uncovering more and more of Ash Twin. You learn that there is a giant "cannon" orbiting one of the planets, if you look closely you can even see this cannon firing at the start of each loop.
At this point you will naturally assume that the Nomai are responsible for the supernova, and that there might be a way to stop it. You'll learn that this Ash Twin Project is responsible for the time loop you're stuck in. It is based on an effect the Nomai discovered involving their warp technology: When using the warp you will appear at the target very slightly
before entering the warp at the origin. Using an enormous amount of energy they manage to extend this "time travel" to about 20 minutes. The Nomai also develop a technology to record memories and transfer them back into a living organism, using two items, a Statue and a Mask. You accidentally paired yourself to one of the statues at the beginning of the game. The energy of the super nova triggers the Ash Twin Project to send your memories back to you by about twenty minutes, explaining the time loop.
Over the course of the game you will also meet the other astronauts of your species. All of them named after some kind of mineral: Feldspar: the first astronaut, Gabbro: the chill one (who is the only other person aware of the time loop. They accidentally activated a Statue on the planet they are on (your species uses they pronouns by the way
)), Chert: the astronomer, Riebeck: the historian who is scared of space, and in a way also Esker, who takes care of a lunar outpost which was once used to fuel the spaceships of your species. All of these astronauts have their instruments with them, and can be heard using a tool of yours, the Signalscope, playing along for the entire time loop. If you manage to have multiple planets align and point your Signalscope right at them you will hear that together they form a beautiful song. You meet these people and share your findings with them, and in a way, they are always your companions. If you feel lonely just point your Signalscope at the sky and listen for the closest friend of yours.
The Ash Twin Project in combination with the Orbital Probe Cannon were developed by the Nomai to search for the Eye of the Universe. They realised that the only way to discover the Eye is by searching for it with a physical probe. But of course they also realised that the chances of finding the eye on the first attempt (and they were rightfully doubtful on the longevity of the cannon, it is torn apart by the force of firing at the start of each loop) are minuscule. So they devised this plan:
- Blow up the sun to initiate a supernova
- This supernova will supply enough energy to the ash twin project to activate and send the command to fire the cannon back in time by twenty minutes
- The probe will be launched and send the information it receives back to the Ash Twin Project
- At the end the supernova will be initiated again to start the next attempt.
The Nomai did not want to be aware of the theoretically extremely long time it might take until the Project was successful, so they configured the Statues to pair to the Nomai only in two cases: Success or catastrophic failure. They included the catastrophic failure option to avoid being stuck in a loop forever and not even be aware of it in case something goes horribly wrong.
With this in mind you start looking for a way to stop the supernova. The Sun Station they built to initiate the supernova is the obvious next step. Once you make it to there however the horrible realisation will set in: The Sun Station was a failure. It didn't, and could never cause a supernova. The sun is just dying of old age. There is no way for you to stop it. The Nomai were randomly wiped out by a comet which had entered the solar system right before they first attempted to start the ATP. So they left everything in place, primed to start. All that was missing was the supernova, which they failed to induce. But now, millenia after the Nomai, at the end of the natural lifespan of the sun, everything clicks into place. The ATP works, and it finds the Eye of the universe. The statue pairs to you, and that's why you become aware of it. You find evidence of thousands of loops that have happened before, each one having ended with you died via supernova, unaware of what was happening.
Even worse, by this time you've probably noticed that the longer the loop goes on, the fewer stars there are. Looking up with your Signalscope will show you that every single star in the sky is exploding. And with the time it takes for the light to reach you, there is only one conclusion: Not just your sun is at the end of its lifespan: the universe is dying, and you're the last solar system in it.
There is only one thing left unresolved: The Eye of the Universe. This wondrous signal which is older than the universe, which led the Nomai to this place. The Nomai found it, and you can find the coordinates. The warp core of the Vessel was damaged when the Bramble captured it, but the Nomai build another one to power the Ash Twin Project. With the coordinates and the warp core you
could use the vessel to jump to the coordinates of the eye of the universe.
And so begins the last loop:
Right at the start you make your way to the Ash Twin Project. Take out the warp core which keeps the time loop in place. The music changes as you prepare for your mad dash for the Eye of the Universe. You make your way to the Dark Bramble, through this horrifying planet filled with the only thing you find that is actually alive: giant anglerfish that will eat you if you make too much noise. You sneak past them and make it to the Vessel. About 10 Minutes have passed. Another 10 Minutes until the end of the universe. You plug in the warp core, enter the coordinates and find the Eye of the Universe.
The entire games plays with a (philosophical) idea of quantum mechanics: Observing is an act that induces change. The concept of Schrödinger's Cat was introduced fairly early on with the Quantum Moon that was essentially in superposition, it is orbiting
all planets, until it is observed.
The Eye of the Universe is, in a way, the source of all uncertainty. It is implied that this has happened before, that the universe you inhabited was created out this
thing which somehow contains every possibility every. And by observing it, when nothing else is left, you start a new cycle. A new universe. And it is implied that your experiences, the friends you made along the way, have an impact on the new universe that is to come.
This is the ultimate point of this game. It builds up this idea of you being able to stop this, of being the hero. But in the end: it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. There's nothing you can change about the Nomai, the Sun, or even the Universe ending. But instead of giving up, or moping about it, the only thing that actually matters are the friends you made, the experiences you have. Because no matter how irrelevant they are to the universe at whole, they are important to you. Instead of saying "Nothing you do matters, so why should you bother?" it asks "Nothing you do matters, so why not go out and have some fun? Everything might end, the sun might go out, so enjoy it while it lasts. No need to be afraid of what might happen, just make the best out of what you have."
So yeah, that's why I wanted to share this summary with you, if you really didn't want to play the game, because I feel like the points it makes are important enough to be heard no matter what.
As a final note: the song below is the one you can hear when pointing your Signalscope to the sky. Each instrument is one of your friends. Riebeck plays the Banjo, Feldspar the Harmonica, Gabbro the Bass Flute, Esker whistles and Chert plays the drums. They're never far away if you're out there.
