Earth is exhausted of resources and no longer a viable planet for its human civilization, whose unsustainable growth made it impossible for developing society any further.

There are 3 civilizations that the astronaut interacts with that have a major impact: The Judges/Architects, responsible for the destruction of solar systems, Star Iron, an advanced AI that runs the stations the player can resupply in, and People Death, the original creators of Star Iron and survivors of another species whose homeworld was destroyed by the Judges/Architects.

The player starts with a ship equipped with some devices, fuel, oxygen, and hull metal, and can mine planets for more resources; a steady supply of them is necessary to continue progressing through the game.

Along the way, the player will also discover a variety of aliens in space and planetside, as well as artifacts and abandoned spaceships, which can be stripped of equipment and resources or taken over.

"[9] GamesRadar+ praised the "melancholy atmosphere" and "challenging resource management", which they said would draw players back repeatedly despite its issues.

[13] Pocket Gamer said, "A vast, lonely game about space and time and death, Out There is by turns funny, exciting, and fresh.

[16] Digital Spy said "Out There is a game about controlling what you can, and adapting to what you can't, as a new story unfolds with each jump across the stars.

[19] Game Informer said the difficulty "can be infuriating", but players who enjoy the luck aspect of roguelikes will find it a fascinating attempt to combine strategy with storytelling".