Complete listed story — includes the ending
Celeste
Celeste takes place on a fictional version of Mount Celeste containing several areas. It is seemingly haunted, housing many strange occurrences. The protagonist, a young woman named Madeline, decides to climb the mountain to challenge her anxiety, stubbornly persisting until she reaches its summit. Upon arriving at the mountain's base, she meets an elderly woman called Granny, who warns her against climbing it. After ignoring her advice, Madeline encounters an abandoned city wherein she meets Theo, a social media-obsessed traveler from Seattle. In the next area, Madeline experiences a nightmare in which she encounters a part of herself in the mirror, a personification of her anxiety and depression called "Badeline", who chases her out of the area. Badeline doubts Madeline's ability to successfully reach the summit, and says she will stop Madeline from continuing to save her from climbing unprepared, describing herself as Madeline's "pragmatic part".
Madeline then enters the Celestial Resort, an abandoned hotel, and meets Oshiro. Oshiro, a ghost who owns the abandoned resort, struggles to leave his past behind and lives in denial. He tries to convince Madeline to stay and improve the resort's poor condition. After she agrees, Badeline appears and taunts Oshiro, saying that Madeline only helped him to fuel her own ego. Believing Badeline, he becomes enraged and chases Madeline out of the resort. After navigating a windy ridge, Madeline reaches Theo at a gondola lift. Badeline halts the gondola's motion, causing Madeline to have a panic attack; Theo helps to calm her down. The two arrive at an ancient temple, where Theo gets trapped inside a crystal until Madeline frees him. After speaking to Theo, Madeline gains the confidence to confront Badeline and says she wants to abandon her. In retaliation, Badeline throws her down the mountain. Madeline then finds Granny, who suggests that she seek resolution instead of abandonment. Madeline then searches for Badeline, and after a chase, Madeline apologizes to her. The two reconcile and vow to climb together. After reaching the summit, they enjoy a strawberry pie with Granny, Theo, and Oshiro.
About a year later, Madeline meets with Granny to explore the mountain's core. The two go on to develop a connection to each other before Granny dies. Mourning her death, Madeline visits her grave. Madeline sees a mysterious bird at Granny's grave. Believing the bird to be her reincarnation, she decides to pursue it through space in hopes of locating Granny. Badeline is against this idea and abandons Madeline, forcing her to chase the bird alone. Badeline later returns, attempting to warn Madeline that she is dreaming and that she needs to wake up. Despite initially refusing, Madeline later concedes and instead decides to free the bird. Madeline meets Granny in a cloud-filled area and apologizes for not attending her funeral. After waking up, Madeline is seen speaking to Theo on a video call, who reveals that Granny was friends with his grandfather.
Outer Wilds
=== Setting ===
Outer Wilds is set in a planetary system consisting of a star orbited by a number of celestial bodies: the Hourglass Twins, a pair of planets orbiting each other with sand flowing from one to the other; Timber Hearth, a forested Earth-like planet that is the homeworld of the four-eyed Hearthian species; the Attlerock, a small rocky moon orbiting Timber Hearth; Brittle Hollow, a hollow planet that is collapsing into a black hole at its center and is orbited by Hollow's Lantern, a volcanic moon; Giant's Deep, a cloud-covered water planet containing several floating islands; and Dark Bramble, a shattered planet largely composed of a space-warping vine plant, inhabited by giant, aggressive anglerfish. Each planet has a distinct visual identity, such as Timber Hearth resembling a campsite in the woods with browns and greens, while Giant's Deep has blue-green rocky beaches. Each planet has a distinct auditory identity as well, with a member of the Outer Wilds space exploration program playing the same song on a unique instrument, which can be listened to from anywhere in the solar system with the signalscope. Additionally, there is the Quantum Moon, which moves to orbit different planets when not observed; the Interloper, an icy comet; and space stations orbiting the sun and Giant's Deep left by the Nomai, a race that went extinct in the planetary system long before the game begins. Hearthians are a four-eyed species that resemble aquatic animals with legs, while the Nomai are a three-eyed, fur-covered, antlered species that wear robes and large masks.
Story
The player takes the role of an unnamed Hearthian space explorer, referred to as "hatchling" by other Hearthians, preparing for their first space flight as part of Outer Wilds Ventures. They are to be the first explorer to travel with a Nomai text translator tool. Prior to departure, a Nomai statue in a museum activates and turns towards them. The player discovers that whenever the Hatchling dies, a vision of a Nomai mask appears, and they are sent back in time to the start of the game in a time loop. Additionally, the loop resets after 22 minutes regardless, as the sun abruptly goes supernova, destroying the solar system.
The player, through repeated time loops, explores the planetary system and the ruins that the Nomai left behind. From their writings, the Nomai were a nomadic species that explored the universe in large spaceships called Vessels; one Vessel discovered a signal older than the universe emanating from the Hatchling's star system. Upon warping to the system, the Vessel became embedded in Dark Bramble, with some of the Nomai surviving in escape pods. No longer able to detect the signal, the Nomai built a civilization throughout the system while trying to find the source, dubbed the "Eye of the Universe". They eventually discover that, with enough power, they can send objects or information backwards in time using a linked pair of black and white holes. This inspires them to build a probe cannon in orbit around Giant's Deep to fire a probe in a random direction to locate the Eye, and a station in orbit around the star, the Sun Station, that would artificially induce a supernova, generating enough power to send the probe's data back in time 22 minutes. Together, this would allow the probe to be fired in as many times and directions as necessary to find the Eye, at which point the Nomai would shut down the Sun Station, ending the time loop. However, the Sun Station failed to induce a supernova and before an alternate power source could be found, the Interloper entered the solar system. The Nomai investigating found that the Interloper contained an extremely pressurized source of "ghost matter", a highly lethal and invisible substance. Before they could inform the others, the source ruptured and a powerful wave of ghost matter spread throughout the system, killing all of the Nomai.
A long time later, after the animals of Timber Hearth evolved into the Hearthians, the sun goes supernova as part of the natural end of the universe, triggering the time loop repeatedly until the probe cannon finds the Eye at the beginning of the game and through the statue inducts the Hatchling into the loop. Armed with this knowledge, the Hatchling is able to repower the Vessel and warp to the Eye. Upon entering the Eye, the Hatchling encounters echoes of the other members of Outer Wilds, as well as a Nomai if they had met on the Quantum Moon. As the universe ends the Eye creates a new universe in a Big Bang. The ending shows a similar planetary system with new life forms 14.3 billion years after its creation, with influences of the Hearthians and Nomai.
Echoes of the Eye
The Echoes of the Eye expansion adds an exhibit to the museum at the beginning of the game, which shows off the deep space satellite used to generate the player's system map. The player discovers an object that eclipses the star—a planet-sized rotating ship, hidden within a cloaking field. Within this ship, called the Stranger, the player finds an abandoned village by a circular river, containing heavily damaged slide reels that can be projected to tell the story of the Stranger's inhabitants.
Similar to the Nomai, the unnamed species that built the Stranger also came to the Hearthian system after discovering the Eye of the Universe's signals, forming a religion around it and ravaging their homeworld moon to build the Stranger. Upon reaching the system and discovering that the Eye heralded the end of the universe, they destroyed their monuments to the Eye and constructed a device to block its signal from other races. The inhabitants built a virtual reality of their homeworld, which could be entered using lantern-like devices and in which they could remain after death. The player discovers their corpses, still holding the lanterns, as well as one inhabitant, the Prisoner, who is locked away from the others both in reality and in the virtual world.
The player learns how to enter the simulation via the lanterns and discovers the active consciousnesses of the inhabitants, who are hostile to the player. The Prisoner's vault, however, cannot be entered. After discovering slide reels showing the limitations of the virtual reality system, the player uses glitches in the system to unlock the vault's three seals and open it. Communicating with the player via a telepathic projection staff, the Prisoner transmits a memory of their crime, which was to disable the signal blocker surrounding the Eye temporarily before they were imprisoned. The player uses the staff to explain to the Prisoner how their actions led the Nomai to discover the signal of the Eye and enter the system, setting the events of the game in motion. The Prisoner exits the vault and vanishes, leaving footprints leading into a nearby lake and their staff on the shore, which shows the player a vision of the Prisoner riding into the sunrise on a raft, accompanied by the player. If the player travels to the Eye of the Universe after having met with the Prisoner, they will find an echo of the Prisoner alongside the other characters, and the ending scene has an influence from the Stranger's inhabitants.
A Short Hike
Claire, a young bird, decides to spend her days off by travelling to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt May works as a ranger. Claire's mother drives her to a ferry that will take her to the park for the summer. When Claire arrives, her aunt informs her that there is no cell phone reception except at Hawk Peak, the tallest point in the park. May also asks Claire to help with various tasks around the park. Claire has never hiked the Hawk Peak Trail before, but is expecting an important call, so she decides to hike to the summit. Along the way, Claire encounters several animals who ask her to perform various tasks, including finding lost objects, delivering items, and participating in recreational activities. Claire also obtains golden feathers that allow her to reach higher areas of the mountain. It is then up to the player whether Claire wants to explore other parts of the island or head straight for Hawk Peak. A sign at the mountain's base warns it is a strenuous hike and other characters remark that the trail is too difficult for them.
When Claire reaches the peak, she congratulates herself for making it and stands in front of an aurora. Soon, her cell phone rings, revealing that the caller is her mother. She acknowledges that she had surgery after sending Claire away. Claire is upset she was not there for her, but her mother says she is proud of Claire for climbing Hawk Peak. The call is interrupted when an updraft emerges from the mountain. It makes Claire nervous, but her mother urges her to ride it before it disappears. Claire rides the updraft, soaring over the park. She then returns to her aunt and tells her about all her side activities during the hike. Afterwards, she goes to sleep.
Celeste takes place on a fictional version of Mount Celeste containing several areas. It is seemingly haunted, housing many strange occurrences. The protagonist, a young woman named Madeline, decides to climb the mountain to challenge her anxiety, stubbornly persisting until she reaches its summit. Upon arriving at the mountain's base, she meets an elderly woman called Granny, who warns her against climbing it. After ignoring her advice, Madeline encounters an abandoned city wherein she meets Theo, a social media-obsessed traveler from Seattle. In the next area, Madeline experiences a nightmare in which she encounters a part of herself in the mirror, a personification of her anxiety and depression called "Badeline", who chases her out of the area. Badeline doubts Madeline's ability to successfully reach the summit, and says she will stop Madeline from continuing to save her from climbing unprepared, describing herself as Madeline's "pragmatic part".
Madeline then enters the Celestial Resort, an abandoned hotel, and meets Oshiro. Oshiro, a ghost who owns the abandoned resort, struggles to leave his past behind and lives in denial. He tries to convince Madeline to stay and improve the resort's poor condition. After she agrees, Badeline appears and taunts Oshiro, saying that Madeline only helped him to fuel her own ego. Believing Badeline, he becomes enraged and chases Madeline out of the resort. After navigating a windy ridge, Madeline reaches Theo at a gondola lift. Badeline halts the gondola's motion, causing Madeline to have a panic attack; Theo helps to calm her down. The two arrive at an ancient temple, where Theo gets trapped inside a crystal until Madeline frees him. After speaking to Theo, Madeline gains the confidence to confront Badeline and says she wants to abandon her. In retaliation, Badeline throws her down the mountain. Madeline then finds Granny, who suggests that she seek resolution instead of abandonment. Madeline then searches for Badeline, and after a chase, Madeline apologizes to her. The two reconcile and vow to climb together. After reaching the summit, they enjoy a strawberry pie with Granny, Theo, and Oshiro.
About a year later, Madeline meets with Granny to explore the mountain's core. The two go on to develop a connection to each other before Granny dies. Mourning her death, Madeline visits her grave. Madeline sees a mysterious bird at Granny's grave. Believing the bird to be her reincarnation, she decides to pursue it through space in hopes of locating Granny. Badeline is against this idea and abandons Madeline, forcing her to chase the bird alone. Badeline later returns, attempting to warn Madeline that she is dreaming and that she needs to wake up. Despite initially refusing, Madeline later concedes and instead decides to free the bird. Madeline meets Granny in a cloud-filled area and apologizes for not attending her funeral. After waking up, Madeline is seen speaking to Theo on a video call, who reveals that Granny was friends with his grandfather.
Outer Wilds
=== Setting ===
Outer Wilds is set in a planetary system consisting of a star orbited by a number of celestial bodies: the Hourglass Twins, a pair of planets orbiting each other with sand flowing from one to the other; Timber Hearth, a forested Earth-like planet that is the homeworld of the four-eyed Hearthian species; the Attlerock, a small rocky moon orbiting Timber Hearth; Brittle Hollow, a hollow planet that is collapsing into a black hole at its center and is orbited by Hollow's Lantern, a volcanic moon; Giant's Deep, a cloud-covered water planet containing several floating islands; and Dark Bramble, a shattered planet largely composed of a space-warping vine plant, inhabited by giant, aggressive anglerfish. Each planet has a distinct visual identity, such as Timber Hearth resembling a campsite in the woods with browns and greens, while Giant's Deep has blue-green rocky beaches. Each planet has a distinct auditory identity as well, with a member of the Outer Wilds space exploration program playing the same song on a unique instrument, which can be listened to from anywhere in the solar system with the signalscope. Additionally, there is the Quantum Moon, which moves to orbit different planets when not observed; the Interloper, an icy comet; and space stations orbiting the sun and Giant's Deep left by the Nomai, a race that went extinct in the planetary system long before the game begins. Hearthians are a four-eyed species that resemble aquatic animals with legs, while the Nomai are a three-eyed, fur-covered, antlered species that wear robes and large masks.
Story
The player takes the role of an unnamed Hearthian space explorer, referred to as "hatchling" by other Hearthians, preparing for their first space flight as part of Outer Wilds Ventures. They are to be the first explorer to travel with a Nomai text translator tool. Prior to departure, a Nomai statue in a museum activates and turns towards them. The player discovers that whenever the Hatchling dies, a vision of a Nomai mask appears, and they are sent back in time to the start of the game in a time loop. Additionally, the loop resets after 22 minutes regardless, as the sun abruptly goes supernova, destroying the solar system.
The player, through repeated time loops, explores the planetary system and the ruins that the Nomai left behind. From their writings, the Nomai were a nomadic species that explored the universe in large spaceships called Vessels; one Vessel discovered a signal older than the universe emanating from the Hatchling's star system. Upon warping to the system, the Vessel became embedded in Dark Bramble, with some of the Nomai surviving in escape pods. No longer able to detect the signal, the Nomai built a civilization throughout the system while trying to find the source, dubbed the "Eye of the Universe". They eventually discover that, with enough power, they can send objects or information backwards in time using a linked pair of black and white holes. This inspires them to build a probe cannon in orbit around Giant's Deep to fire a probe in a random direction to locate the Eye, and a station in orbit around the star, the Sun Station, that would artificially induce a supernova, generating enough power to send the probe's data back in time 22 minutes. Together, this would allow the probe to be fired in as many times and directions as necessary to find the Eye, at which point the Nomai would shut down the Sun Station, ending the time loop. However, the Sun Station failed to induce a supernova and before an alternate power source could be found, the Interloper entered the solar system. The Nomai investigating found that the Interloper contained an extremely pressurized source of "ghost matter", a highly lethal and invisible substance. Before they could inform the others, the source ruptured and a powerful wave of ghost matter spread throughout the system, killing all of the Nomai.
A long time later, after the animals of Timber Hearth evolved into the Hearthians, the sun goes supernova as part of the natural end of the universe, triggering the time loop repeatedly until the probe cannon finds the Eye at the beginning of the game and through the statue inducts the Hatchling into the loop. Armed with this knowledge, the Hatchling is able to repower the Vessel and warp to the Eye. Upon entering the Eye, the Hatchling encounters echoes of the other members of Outer Wilds, as well as a Nomai if they had met on the Quantum Moon. As the universe ends the Eye creates a new universe in a Big Bang. The ending shows a similar planetary system with new life forms 14.3 billion years after its creation, with influences of the Hearthians and Nomai.
Echoes of the Eye
The Echoes of the Eye expansion adds an exhibit to the museum at the beginning of the game, which shows off the deep space satellite used to generate the player's system map. The player discovers an object that eclipses the star—a planet-sized rotating ship, hidden within a cloaking field. Within this ship, called the Stranger, the player finds an abandoned village by a circular river, containing heavily damaged slide reels that can be projected to tell the story of the Stranger's inhabitants.
Similar to the Nomai, the unnamed species that built the Stranger also came to the Hearthian system after discovering the Eye of the Universe's signals, forming a religion around it and ravaging their homeworld moon to build the Stranger. Upon reaching the system and discovering that the Eye heralded the end of the universe, they destroyed their monuments to the Eye and constructed a device to block its signal from other races. The inhabitants built a virtual reality of their homeworld, which could be entered using lantern-like devices and in which they could remain after death. The player discovers their corpses, still holding the lanterns, as well as one inhabitant, the Prisoner, who is locked away from the others both in reality and in the virtual world.
The player learns how to enter the simulation via the lanterns and discovers the active consciousnesses of the inhabitants, who are hostile to the player. The Prisoner's vault, however, cannot be entered. After discovering slide reels showing the limitations of the virtual reality system, the player uses glitches in the system to unlock the vault's three seals and open it. Communicating with the player via a telepathic projection staff, the Prisoner transmits a memory of their crime, which was to disable the signal blocker surrounding the Eye temporarily before they were imprisoned. The player uses the staff to explain to the Prisoner how their actions led the Nomai to discover the signal of the Eye and enter the system, setting the events of the game in motion. The Prisoner exits the vault and vanishes, leaving footprints leading into a nearby lake and their staff on the shore, which shows the player a vision of the Prisoner riding into the sunrise on a raft, accompanied by the player. If the player travels to the Eye of the Universe after having met with the Prisoner, they will find an echo of the Prisoner alongside the other characters, and the ending scene has an influence from the Stranger's inhabitants.
A Short Hike
Claire, a young bird, decides to spend her days off by travelling to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt May works as a ranger. Claire's mother drives her to a ferry that will take her to the park for the summer. When Claire arrives, her aunt informs her that there is no cell phone reception except at Hawk Peak, the tallest point in the park. May also asks Claire to help with various tasks around the park. Claire has never hiked the Hawk Peak Trail before, but is expecting an important call, so she decides to hike to the summit. Along the way, Claire encounters several animals who ask her to perform various tasks, including finding lost objects, delivering items, and participating in recreational activities. Claire also obtains golden feathers that allow her to reach higher areas of the mountain. It is then up to the player whether Claire wants to explore other parts of the island or head straight for Hawk Peak. A sign at the mountain's base warns it is a strenuous hike and other characters remark that the trail is too difficult for them.
When Claire reaches the peak, she congratulates herself for making it and stands in front of an aurora. Soon, her cell phone rings, revealing that the caller is her mother. She acknowledges that she had surgery after sending Claire away. Claire is upset she was not there for her, but her mother says she is proud of Claire for climbing Hawk Peak. The call is interrupted when an updraft emerges from the mountain. It makes Claire nervous, but her mother urges her to ride it before it disappears. Claire rides the updraft, soaring over the park. She then returns to her aunt and tells her about all her side activities during the hike. Afterwards, she goes to sleep.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Exact listed stories combined in catalog order. Sources retain their stated license; formatting and headings adjusted. Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Celeste (video game). Section headings and formatting adjusted. Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Outer Wilds. Section headings and formatting adjusted. Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, A Short Hike. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license