Starlit Cove

*This article contains spoilers!* Outer Wilds and Echoes of the Eye should be played with minimal spoilers, knowing too much will hinder the experience!
Please play the game before reading any of this! (Or don't, I'm not your dad.)

The **Starlit Cove** is a location on the Stranger, located inside of The Simulation. It is a residential area on stilts above a large lake, with two small caves, an Alarm Bell in the center with candles surrounding it, and a spiral staircase nearby leading down to a memorial room of sorts.

### Purpose

A secluded residential area for Inhabitants to live in.

## Features

Starlit Cove is the toughest section to get by in Echoes of the Eye for most players, requiring quick thinking and a lot of thinking ahead due to its very punishing layout and abundance of Inhabitants to avoid while remaining in the darkness.

#### The Main Area

Starlit Cove opens with a bridge high above a large ocean, eventually splitting into two paths once you get to the main area.

The left path will lead to a room with an exit to outside that can be opened by blowing out a candle. From here you can light up a dock that allows you to use a raft to go to and from the Starlit Cove. Continuing down the left path will lead you to an elevator that will bring you down to the bottom floor.

The right path will bring you through a small cave with candles inside, eventually leading to a split path that gives you a choice between going down the stairs past a chainlink sign, or focusing your light on a hand above to teleport upwards. Taking the upwards path will loop you around to the elevator from the left path. The bottom path will lead you past an Alarm Bell that you must conceal to get past, past the Bell, you'll find a raft that brings you over to a ruined building, There is a hand behind some rocks near the right of the canyon as you go through on the raft, which will bring you to an area where you can turn out the lights. The lights being disabled allow you to go down the spiral staircase guarded by the Alarm Bell, but will promptly alert the Inhabitants of this area. One will appear just before the split path on the right of the Starlit Cove, one will appear in the small cave at the bottom of the elevator on the left path, and two will appear in The Memorial Room.

#### The Memorial Room

The Memorial Room can be found by getting past the Alarm Bell in the center of the Starlit Cove, which can be done by turning out the lights, preventing it from seeing you, or being dead in the real world while in the dream, preventing the bells from waking you up.

The Memorial Room contains many portraits of Inhabitants, it is assumed that these are those who couldn't live long enough for The Stranger to make it to the Eye of the Universe, though never confirmed. This area contains 2 Inhabitants who will hunt you if they detect you, they will only be present if the lights have been extinguished by the player, otherwise they will not be there.

At the end of The Memorial Room, there is a staircase with an Alarm Bell overseeing it, if you're being chased, an Inhabitant can shine their light on you and wake you up from the Simulation if you aren't careful, so getting past this area undetected is recommended. Proceeding through the elevator at the bottom will lead you to the second Forbidden Archive.

## History

The Starlit Cove was made for the Simulation long before the events of Outer Wilds, many have been living in there since.

13 Minutes into the loop, the Dam will break and cause the Island Tower to tilt. If the player is connected to The Simulation during this time, the area will tilt slightly and then return to normal.

20 minutes and 30 seconds into the loop, the Island Tower will fall and the Inhabitants inside will have their artifacts snuffed, waking them up into their dead bodies. If the player is sleep at the Hidden Gorge campfire, they can continue to explore Starlit Cove until the end of the loop.

## Trivia

* The first Inhabitant encounter can be skipped if you jump into the water and re-enter the Simulation, placing you past the Inhabitant and allowing you to proceed left to the elevator.
* The ruined building on the right path presumably belonged to The Prisoner, due to the artwork inside showing the completed vision in the second slide reel.
* Prior to 1.1.12, The Memorial Room had 3 Inhabitants within. (This had to be reduced for obvious reasons.)