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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! |
Artifacts are objects crucial to exploring the Stranger. They can be used at green fires across the Stranger to enter various areas of the simulation built by the Stranger's inhabitants.
Function[]
The Artifacts have the ability to Conceal, which hides the central flame, and Focus, which focuses its light. When you sleep at a green fire, it will awake you inside the simulation. It is revealed in the Endless Canyon Forbidden Archives that it is the focal point of the simulation, and when you go too far from it, the simulation will unload. The fire inside the Artifact appears to be what powers it, and when it is extinguished through blowing or water, you will exit the simulation. Artifacts also work with dead individuals, which will trap them inside the simulation, unable to be woken up by normal means.
History[]
In a laboratory in the Hidden Gorge, the Stranger's inhabitants performed experiments to figure out the object that was needed to connect somebody to the simulation. Individuals had to fall asleep in front of a green fire, after which a light had to appear in the object they were holding.
The first experiment was with a regular lantern, which failed to light up after the individual fell asleep. The second experiment was with a metal artifact without a focus and conceal mechanism. While this did produce a flame, the fire went out of control and killed the individual holding the artifact. The third experiment with an artifact that had a focus and conceal mechanism successfully established a connection to the simulation.