Cast your gaze heavensward as the lights of man grow dim. Take in all you can see, piercing far beyond the reach of the atmosphere and into the realm of the celestial, the infinite, the unknown. There the elements dance and collide still, a primordial rhythm that is as simple as science and grand as magic. Where both the fool and the wizen spin ideas and theories, and, in that moment of certainty and supposition, they are on equal footing. Well after the empires of today have crumbled into nothing, the vastness of space will continue, observing as the entirety of humanity’s ambitions wink out in the span of a protracted sigh. There is so much that we shall never know outside of our own world, which is both far too large and infinitesimally small. There, in the Dark Forest, is where we set the stage for Faraway.

It’s so quiet…at last…

Annapurna Interactive seems almost delighted to be the host of these sorts of games, the ones where the gameplay works in tandem with an underlying thematic or story, showcasing them in balanced parts to have the player both engaged and entranced. In Faraway, you are a star, or, rather, the essence of a star. In a gradually unfolding puzzle adventure that both matters and doesn’t, you, the star, wish to burn bright enough to leave a lasting impression in the cosmos. Using the gravitational pull of heavenly bodies themselves and the willpower to break free, you launch yourself around the endless night, finding groupings of light and connecting them to create recognizable and original constellations. Each connection gives you a bit more time, another handful of passing infinity, to try and carve your name onto the unblinking face of eternity.

As Lucifer falls, his screams go unheard, but the ripple causes the universe to tremor.

We lived through an entire glut of games touting the idea of “easy to learn, difficult to master,” and Faraway is no different. If you have a good understanding of geometry and mapping trajectories, it might be a tad easier, and the concept is relatively simple. Travel across space to find groupings of stars (in helpful red bubbles) and then attempt to connect them. Ideally, you would connect all the stars highlighted in the aforementioned zone, but you might slip and only get a handful. If you accidentally leave the bubble, the constellation breaks and you need to re-enter and try again. If you cross your own constellation line or re-connect with an already touched star, the constellation finishes, and you get awarded points and time for what you’ve mapped out. High scores and unlocking new stages comes from fast reflexes, good timing and spatial understanding.

For what it’s worth, solo developer Steph Thirion did their best to create as much variety to this straightforward approach as possible. You’ve got the traditional timed levels, but you also have ones where you have a general goal to meet, like how many constellations you can fully create in a row. But even with the different branches of level typing that come into your purview, it all comes back to the same central mechanic, so at least you can focus on the one button approach to making the game come together. One thing that a player might struggle with is that time is very elastic within the game. In the main story mode, the timer is constantly ticking outside of the red constellation zones; once you enter the zone, though, time freezes, which you should keep in mind for maximum success.

The dance is sometimes inelegant, but you have all the time to try, try again.

Faraway is able to create both a score-oriented arcade feel and a chill exploration vibe in the same breath. Trying to streak across the void of bare canvas, leaping and dancing with already steadfast stars to help reach your target, is fun, bordering on thrilling, as you try to get the angle and the speed just right so you don’t under or overshoot your target. Once in the formation spheres, you slow down exponentially, struggling to be as accurate as possible in very limited confines. You’ll discover patience, as moving slowly is the most surefire way to hit each point of the constellation. Not too slowly, of course, or you’ll never go further than a couple of dots, but this exercise in waiting is a good one, helping to ratchet you down after the journey so you can enjoy the destination.

The atmosphere of the game is a fairly solid blend of expected notations and some inspired soundtrack choices. As your dominant view is space with stars, even the attempts to give a bit more detail aren’t necessarily apparent on the real estate. You see some really solid animation choices for the start of the level and also the progressive degeneration of your own star, but nothing out of the ordinary jumps out at you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic expression of watching your own light grow smaller and dimmer, transitioning from a brilliant ball of potential to a spent yet satisfied star, adorning the backdrop of forever. There are plenty of quirky little graphics for score multipliers and such, and, thankfully, any text to talk about the game itself is mostly frontloaded in the tutorial. It lets the players carve their own story in a procedurally generated game.

Also, I enjoyed the soundtrack. Faraway has a nice blend of stereotypical 70s “space is a vast and mysterious thing” scoring with some thrumming, pulsing electronica for when you get into the constellation building. There’s no aspect of the soundtrack that feels out of place, which allows the soundscape to blend into itself seamlessly. When you begin hearing extra synthesizers during actual “gameplay,” it never feels out of place or jarring. Rather, the fading and ducking has been finely tuned so the transitions are natural. The sound effects of scoring and connection are bleeps and bloops that are more arcade based than anything else, but they’ve been constructed in a way that it presents as at home within the game. It’s a welcome, thoughtful construct that elevates the game without interfering or overshadowing.

A perfect combination makes you realize: constellations are weird.

With all that said, you feel like you get the ideology behind Faraway within the first five minutes, and anything after that is gravy. Your course that you carve is your own, and the remnants of your decisions and deeds, be they simple or complex, sit finely nestled in the unlimited night sky. Will the people of this world view your achievements, or will they become beholden by only the lost and lonely astronauts from some distant shore? You strive for the meaning beyond that, and you march into madness and loss. This is an interesting puzzle game that shows more than it tells, and it’s interesting enough, even if it doesn’t hold your attention in the long term. It’s lovely to witness, and it’s got enough challenge to engage you, but it can’t always hold you there.

Faraway is its own celestial phenomenon. It burns brightly and catches your eye, and, for a moment, you are there, within the game, within the world, and all is quiet as you strive to balance and waltz between the flickering embers of existence. It all matters, and it all is unimportant. While this title may not be my normal bread and butter, I appreciate it and I can see the intention and choreography. Come, my Tycho Brahe. Let us shed our fears and go into the perfect night. And remember, “patience, patience” is the watchword of a sage.

Faraway is available now on Steam, Epic Game Store, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch (2).

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A copy of Faraway was provided by the publisher.