Technologies

The Sci-Fi Video Game Everyone Should Play at Least Once

There’s nothing else like it.

The first time Outer Wilds made me say “holy shit” out loud was unforgettable.

I’d gotten into my spaceship for the first time. Still confused, still unsure. What’s happening here? What is this video game about? How does this all work? Where am I supposed to be going?

Still, I followed the prompts. I approached my spaceship — a rickety wooden shack of a thing. I pushed some buttons, and soon I was afloat, soaring effortlessly into the darkness of space. Still confused. Still unsure. What the hell is going on here? I don’t get this at all.

Then, in the distance, a planet. A vivid green dot splotched in the void. “I’ll head there I guess,” I said to myself, more out of confusion than anything else.

Struggling against the controls of the ship, I headed toward the green planet, eventually hurtling into its dense green atmosphere at top speed. “I can’t see shit,” I whispered, but then I emerged from the fog.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I only had a split second before I splashed headfirst into the ocean, but I saw it. This was a water planet, toylike in size. But that didn’t startle me — it was the whirlwinds. Six of them at least, competing with one another in an otherworldly storm on the waves. As I floated back to the surface, water streaming down the windows, my eyes turned into saucers.

The wind whipped as the competing whirlwinds galloped across the surface, so powerful they launched entire islands into the atmosphere — literally into space — before they crashed back onto the planet. I’d never seen anything like this in a video game. I’d never seen anything like this before, period. But this was Outer Wilds. In Outer Wilds, the blisteringly imaginative becomes normalized.

“Holy shit.“

Outer Wilds is a video game about exploring space, but it’s also a mystery to unravel. Following in the footsteps of the Nomai, an alien race that perished thousands of years ago, Outer Wilds is a game that has you playing space detective, investigating the ruins of an extinct civilization in an attempt to find exactly what the hell happened? The twist: Outer Wilds is centered on a Groundhog Day-esque time loop. You have precisely 22 minutes to investigate before the sun implodes, taking your entire solar system with it. All that remains: The knowledge you acquired during those precious few minutes.

Outer Wilds is a mystery that reveals itself in a traditional video game manner — through audio logs, written notes and so on — but the execution is so inspired you barely notice the tropes. Through its inventive locales and subtle puzzles, Outer Wilds consistently inspires a level of awe unlike any video game I’ve ever played.

Outer Wilds has you traveling back and forth to a handful of different planets, each more bizarre than the last. Each is laden with strange advanced technology left behind by the Nomai. A clue found on one planet might lead you to a new locale in a planet you visited previously. Slowly you worm yourself deeper into these dazzling environments, and into a deeper understanding of the mystery you’re trying to solve. There’s no shooting, no complex platforming. In Outer Wilds the currency is knowledge, knowledge players use to figure out their next step and, consequently, solve this strange mystery on a meta level. The result: a constant, revelatory joy, a series of “holy shit” moments that make Outer Wilds unforgettable.

Outer Wilds is constantly evoking awe. There’s Giant’s Deep, the aforementioned planet with its competing hurricanes, but there’s also Brittle Hollow, a world collapsing before your eyes. Descending deep beneath the surface you watch as entire sections of the planet are swallowed by a black hole vibrating at its center. One false step and you yourself could fall through it.

And what happens when you fall through a black hole in Outer Wilds? Well, it would be rude to spoil the surprise. But it’s as mind-bending as you might expect.

Outer Wilds is punctuated by its holy shit moments. A quantum moon that disappears when you stop looking at it. Technology that allows you to warp instantaneously between two far-flung points. Twin planets connected by a pillar of sand that flows endlessly back and forth, dramatically reshaping both planets like a complex hourglass.

But unlike the cool, clinical sci-fi of, say, Interstellar or Arrival, Outer Wilds is a homely, almost acoustic invention: a small-scale snow globe of a universe, precisely imagined and executed. As if it expanded wholesale from the collapsing atoms in Bon Iver’s beard. That’s part of its charm. Its most outlandish moments inspire awe because they’re grounded in a world that’s familiar to us, almost anachronistic.

You sail into space in a craft made of wood, wearing a spacesuit that looks like it was built in the 19th century. Your home planet is a hipster’s dream, like a shrunken vision of the Canadian wilderness or a Grizzly Bear music video. Outer Wilds’ unique cast of characters swing on hammocks on alien planets and play the banjo at campfires as the universe collapses around them.

It all leads to this overwhelming feeling: You’re trapped in a universe where your traditional ideas don’t make sense. Where gigantic sci-fi ideas of space travel feel just beyond your primitive brain. All you can do is stare — in awe — as the sun implodes in a brilliant blue flash, your time loop complete. Before you awake once more with a gasp, ready to explore the strange universe of Outer Wilds all over again with fresh eyes.

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”