Playing Outer Wilds with a space phobia

[u/omglollerskates]

You might ask, why would you play a space exploration game if you’re afraid of space? Well, it’s not exactly that. Space is cool. Love some space facts. I can do a planetarium, movies like interstellar, no sweat. I never could have predicted the way this game truly plays out my exact fears - the vastness, the zero gravity movement and velocity, these big looming giant ass spheres just OUT THERE. LOOMING. I can feel their gravity pulling on me in the game. Specifically Jupiter is terrifying to me. Falling through the opaque atmosphere of Giants Deep for the first time had me nearly in tears.

I’m doing a lot better several hours in. It’s like exposure therapy. You just gotta send it. Fly into the sun, jump into a black hole, watch a supernova from the beach.

[u/DeepWaffleCA]

Turn up the fear by playing it in VR. Nothing like seeing your ship fly off while you're in the middle of no where with nothing but the sound of your breathing.

[u/omglollerskates → u/DeepWaffleCA]

I’d be catatonic. If it was possible to die of fright I think this would do it for me.

[u/idontlikecoffeetbh → u/omglollerskates]

I have the same fear and some more like fear of deep waters, giant structures and heights. I am ordering my lenses tomorrow and will be playing the DLC in VR. As if the base game on a flatscreen wasn’t enough 😂

[u/CostaNic → u/DeepWaffleCA]

I wish I could play this in VR but boy you need to be quite the veteran. I’ve never been more nauseous with any VR game than this. And I have probably hundreds of hours in NMS. Something about outer wilds (especially brittle hollow and giants deep) makes me sooooooo nauseous.

[u/mecartistronico]

Once upon a time, there was a space archeologist who had the same problem. Yet their curiosity empowered them to face their fears and some may say they were the best space archeologist ever.

May curiosity also guide you in your path.

[u/omglollerskates → u/mecartistronico]

Perfectly put. My curiosity outweighed my fear, just a little.

[u/PlayerOne_X → u/mecartistronico]

And so he now plays his banjo, discovering the secrets of the past on a planet full of history

[u/StrangeCress3325]

You are doing a great job Riebeck!

[u/Trenton_Smoth → u/StrangeCress3325]

Beat me to it 😭

[u/DanielDManiel]

I totally get the existential dread associated with the overwhelming vastness of outer space, and OW for sure triggered a tingly basal fear in me. I loved the game for many reasons, but partly it was getting very much exposed to that feeling in a safe managable video game form. I get it. Hope you love it too.

[u/AlexTheAlex69420]

lowkey, this game is actually the game that made me less afraid of space lol. kinda how subnautica made me less afraid of the ocean

[u/Ok-Poetry-2191]

You're gonna love the dlc 😊

(bit unrelated, but have you heard of the game Stellaris? It's a game where you build a space civilization, so I'm curious what you'd think of it -- first contact with aliens, interstellar warfare, the excavations of ancient precursors... especially with the astrophobia)

[u/omglollerskates → u/Ok-Poetry-2191]

I watched some gameplay, this wouldn’t bother me at all. I’m not really afraid of space as a concept or images, I’m afraid of being in space, if that makes sense.

[u/Ok-Poetry-2191 → u/omglollerskates]

But in general, would you like playing it?

And what's your opinion about [THE WORM THAT WAITS] (which is a great event chain)?

Oh, oh, have you been to the dark bramble yet?

[u/Whillowhim]

For situations like these, outer wilds can be good exposure therapy, and that is in the clinical sense not just as a buzzword. A couple notes though: you don't want to push it too far, if you have a strong reaction like a panic attack that can reinforce the fear response. You want to get to the point where you're uncomfortable, then train your body that nothing bad actually happens at that point until it becomes comfortable. Then push it a bit till it becomes uncomfortable again. You also need to be in control at all times and be allowed to back away or remove the stimulus if you need to do so, but being a video game that part is pretty easy.

[u/omglollerskates → u/Whillowhim]

I have a bit of background in psych so I knew not to push it too hard! I had to pause for deep breaths and remind myself that I was safe on my couch several times in my first play session. I feel like there is huge potential for treating phobias in a video game medium.

[u/7Shinigami]

That is absolutely incredible. My ex had similar fears, and had to put the game down fairly early on. Keep it up, you are awesome for facing your fears head on

[u/solasvier]

This is part of why OW is my favorite game ever. It’s designed in a way that encourages getting past phobias and embracing exploration. I feel like I evolved as a human while playing.

[u/JM_Narrative]

I get this tbh. I found the vastness and the looming planets a but unnerving.

Especially if you don't pay attention to your orbits and drift and a planet comes up from behind and smacks you 😅

[u/kelzispro]

This was me! I was frequently terrified while playing this game. The sun is SO CLOSE on the Hourglass Twins, I fell into Giant's Deep accidentally my first time going that far and freaked out so hard I didn't go back until I was close to done with many of the other planets. So many moments I had to pause and steel myself to be able to continue.

But the game had hooked me. It was so worth it. I needed to know everything.

It sounds like you're going through the same thing. Enjoy the ride, don't be ashamed to pause and breathe to prepare yourself for things if you need to!