No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival game played from a first or third person perspective that allows players to engage in exploration, survival, combat and trading.
The player takes the role of a specimen of alien humanoid planetary explorer, known in the game as the Traveller, in an uncharted universe. They start on a planet near a crashed spacecraft at the edge of the galaxy, and are equipped with a survival exosuit with a jetpack, and a “multitool” that can be used to scan, mine and collect resources as well as to attack or defend oneself from creatures and hostile forces.
The player can collect, repair, and refuel the craft, allowing them to travel about the planet, between other planets and space stations, engage in space combat with aliens, or make hyperspace jumps to other star systems. While the game is open ended, the player may follow the guidance of the entity known as the Atlas to head towards the centre of the galaxy.