Outer Wilds by Andrew Prahlow

I thought I might inaugurate this new community committed to all things video game music by highlighting one of my favourite video game soundtracks from the last decade.

The Outer Wilds soundtrack was composed by Andrew Prahlow and has an incredibly distinct indie folk sound that really characterizes the entire game. There are a few repeating motifs throughout, but they never become grating or overly repetitive rather, they give the entire game a sense of familiarity; like no matter where you go in the solar-system you’re never too far from home. Though there are some really unnerving horror ambience type tracks as well.

A year ago I was trying to learn some of the tracks to make into lofi covers and after wrestling with the guitar parts landed on using the alternate tuning D# F A# D A# D which I’m almost certain Andrew was using throughout the soundtrack. It makes it easy to get these beautiful sustaining open chord shapes that just immediately sound like Outer Wilds.

Anyway, I highly recommend playing Outer Wilds if you’re into slower thinking type video games. But even if you’re not, it’s worth giving the soundtrack a spin. Here's a Youtube link to give it a listen.