No Man's Sky update adds a base terrarium, complete with tiny captive alien

An update has arrived for No Man's Sky, providing new rewards in exchange for gathering data and materials for Specialist Polo's robo-pal, the Quicksilver Synthesis Bot. There are tier one rewards, including several plants you can decorate your base with, and a cool looking tier three helmet you can earn, but forget all that crap. The real hotness is tier two, which is a terrarium, complete with a little alien prisoner.

"The terrarium is a small observatory unit designed to house a small alien specimen for study and companionship," read the update notes. "Specimen is included with domicile. To avoid undesirable specimen-to-specimen interactions, a limit of one terrarium per base is recommended."

It certainly looks cute, that squishy little alien bouncing around in there, but let's face it: what you've got there isn't a companion but a captive. It's not fooled by the rocks and crystals and plants in that glass cage. You have not replicated its habitat. It knows it's in space-jail.

On the other hand, I don't care if it's cruel! I really want a squishy little alien in an aquarium at my base, too. It would be doubly cool if you could actually go out and collect the alien you want from some distant planet and then bring it home and stick it in your tank, but for now, any old alien prisoner will do.

I'm also unsure if the 'specimen-to-specimen interactions' line is a joke, or an actual warning. Can something really happen if you have two jailed lifeforms in close proximity? I have a feeling some brave Traveler will find out soon.

Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.

Latest in Action
Assassin's Creed Shadows allies - A close-up of Yaya smiling after joining the League.
All Assassin's Creed Shadows allies and how to unlock them
The First Berserker: Khazan review - Maluca
The First Berserker: Khazan review
An image of Hornet from Silksong engulfed with rage.
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets SteamDB updates, and at this point I can't tell if the end is nigh or if I'm just hope-poisoned
A man with purple hair and face tattoos poses for a mugshot in the GTA 6 trailer.
Playable GTA 6 map nuked without warning by Take-Two lawyers: 'My guess is that the map was probably a little too accurate'
assassin's creed shadows protector's armor
Assassin's Creed Shadows hits 2 million players, putting it on track to be the series' most successful game yet
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Latest in News
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Gabe Newell had his eyes on a social network in the '90s that 'was not in a games context at all'—meaning Valve-owned social media could've been a very real thing
Dune Awakening
Dune: Awakening system requirements are here, complete with Razer Sensa HD haptic support to 'feel the rumble of your ornithopter's seat'
An image of a MSI power supply unit against a circular gradient blue background
MSI has gone so heavy with 12V-2x6 power sockets in its latest high-end PSUs that many AMD and Intel graphics cards have no way of being powered
A dried ghast, a ghastling, and a friendly ghast all smiling
The latest Minecraft Live uncovered the tragic truth of the Nether's most bothersome mob, which has unlocked new levels of guilt
An image of Hornet from Silksong engulfed with rage.
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets SteamDB updates, and at this point I can't tell if the end is nigh or if I'm just hope-poisoned
A man with purple hair and face tattoos poses for a mugshot in the GTA 6 trailer.
Playable GTA 6 map nuked without warning by Take-Two lawyers: 'My guess is that the map was probably a little too accurate'