The Joy of Naming Things in No Man’s Sky

When you fly your spaceship into a planet’s atmosphere in the exploration video game No Man’s Sky, the first impression you get is one of color—the new surface might be dotted with angry red-veined mountains, or poisonous green lakes, or fields of aquamarine grass. As you hop out of your ship, you get initial readings on the planet’s atmosphere, its toxicity, and the aggressiveness of its flora and fauna. In a different, more formulaic sort of game, this information would exist only to prepare you for intense battles ahead, but in No Man’s Sky, if you don’t like the look of the place, you can leave immediately. Before doing so, there’s only one objective you must fulfill: naming the place you just stumbled upon.