Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Codes
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • Community guidelines
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
Subscribe now
Popular
  • Essential Hardware
  • Top 100
  • PC Gaming Show
  • Arc Raiders
  • BF6
  • Quizzes
Don't miss these
A ship flies towards the atmosphere in No Man's Sky.
Games No Man's Sky embraces the 'thrill of space-walking' with new space wrecks to explore and salvage
A fantasy open world
Survival & Crafting Light No Fire: Everything we know about Hello Games' planet-sized survival game
A space ship flying toward a space station, in space
Survival & Crafting No Man's Sky adds buildable custom spaceships big enough to fit all your friends on board
Aliens chasing astronauts
Action The first gameplay footage from Astroneer studio's next space game looks like co-op chaos on colorful planets, but I'm not crazy about the idea of timed missions in a hangout game
A fantasy open world
Survival & Crafting Sean Murray says the Earth-sized planet in Light No Fire will have 'real oceans' that players will need 'large boats and crews' to cross
Mars Attracts early access
Sim This theme park sim based on a 30-year-old sci-fi movie is so much better than it has a right to be
An image of a glowing ball of fire in the sky over an automated sci-fi base in videogame StarRupture.
Survival & Crafting The next survival game from the developers of Green Hell plops you on an alien planet with atmospheric firestorms and a horde of giant spiders
The Helldivers 2 spokesperson wears a cheesy grin, about to be wiped off his face when a Terminid invades but - hey, can't win 'em all.
Third Person Shooter You've heard of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, so here's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch 2, a Helldivers 2 city based on the village, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Image of starship voyager from game Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown
Survival & Crafting The Star Trek: Voyager survival game will let you murder Tuvix all over again—so I don't really care that it looks a little rough
Wendy from Alien: Earth
Movies & TV Alien: Earth is the best thing to happen to the Alien universe since Isolation
Pragmata
Action After nailing a quirky PS2 throwback with Kunitsu-gami, Capcom's Pragmata has the charming energy of an Xbox 360-era shooter like The Darkness or Syndicate
A companion holding a bottle
FPS Meet your snarky, sexy companions in The Outer Worlds 2: 'And no, you can't sleep with them'
Jump Ship screenshot
FPS Jump Space, the co-op spaceship crew-'em-up we warned you was fun, just launched in early access and it's already turning heads
The lighthouse covered in candy floss and floating into the air in Keeper.
Adventure Under Microsoft, Double Fine has made its weirdest game yet—and this is only the beginning: 'We can take more risks'
A squad of Helldivers in Helldivers 2 heroically face down a nest full of insect Terminids.
Third Person Shooter Wading into Helldivers 2's new Terminid hives to blow up their hearts, all as hordes of bugs swarm you is, unsurprisingly, exactly as cool as it sounds
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. No Man's Sky

The weirdest, coolest No Man's Sky aliens and planets we've seen so far

Features
By Wes Fenlon published 11 August 2016

Weird aliens, breathtaking vistas, and a planet named Kotaku.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

If there’s one thing I learned from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s that an infinite universe is going to be filled with some very weird shit. With 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets, each with its own unique life forms, No Man’s Sky may as well be infinite. And players are already finding some weird, weird shit out there in the universe. We’re out there exploring, too, even though the PC version doesn’t arrive until Friday, and have found some pretty cool creatures.

Here’s a collection of our favorite animal and plant life we’ve seen posted on reddit, forums and social media so far, with a few of our own discoveries thrown in, too.

Page 1 of 26
Page 1 of 26

Several of our favorite NMS curios so far have come from redditor halfdeafmusic. First up: these space cacti are ready for a rave.

Page 2 of 26
Page 2 of 26

Redditor halfdeafmusic calls this one "Falkor's people," which brought back some Neverending Story warm and fuzzies. 

Page 3 of 26
Page 3 of 26

Redditor TheSilverCoyote found Big Bird. Well, he thinks it's Big Bird. His screenshot titled "Acid Big Bird" either refers to the planet's acid rain or what Big Bird would look like after a particularly nasty space bender. Stay hydrated, BB.

Page 4 of 26
Page 4 of 26

NeoGAF poster Betty has some of the best discoveries so far in the photo thread, including this tentacle snail alien with a wicked lobotomy. Or are those ears?

Page 5 of 26
Page 5 of 26

Our own stellar explorer Chris Livingston found this golden formation during his travels. No comment.

Page 6 of 26
Page 6 of 26

A space station at the mouth of a black hole sent the needle on my Cool Sci-Fi Shit detector spiking into the red. Dear god, this is cool. Props to Neogaf poster idonteven.

Page 7 of 26
Page 7 of 26

Another idonteven joint, this sunset(?) on a barren planet is absolutely beautiful. 

Page 8 of 26
Page 8 of 26

Our own Tyler Wilde found this bird...bear...thing, which stands precariously upon the axis of cute and blood-curdling.

Page 9 of 26
Page 9 of 26

There's nothing too unusual going on in this shot from redditor shdw44, but I love the variety of vegetation and the environment in this shot. It feels like a perfect window into the excitement of exploration: coming out of a lush valley to discover a settlement and new types of life.

Page 10 of 26
Page 10 of 26

Oh hey, NeoGAFfer Betty found that lady from Assassin's Creed Unity who didn't have any skin. She seems to be doing well.

Page 11 of 26
Page 11 of 26

Redditor TheTarg found an abandoned ship that looks like a cross between an X-Wing and a Battlestar Galactica Raptor. In other words: sweet.

Page 12 of 26
Page 12 of 26

Kirk, was that you? NeoGAF member freeman76 is on your trail.

Page 13 of 26
Page 13 of 26

NeoGAF member DoctorWho met a pretty awesome monster on his starting planet. He's got kind of a doggy dinosaur look going on. Who's a good alien? You are!

Page 14 of 26
Page 14 of 26

NeoGAF member FigBoy79 found this environmental oddity. We're christening it the Half-Eaten Taco Bowl.

Page 15 of 26
Page 15 of 26

Betty from NeoGAF found one of the best aliens we've seen yet: the big-eared stoner slug with a fu manchu.

Page 16 of 26
Page 16 of 26

Redditor JohnTravoltasBox took this screenshot, which I'd describe as sci-fi as hell. Look at that sweet telescope-lookin' thing! And that floating island! And the planet in the background! Yes, yes, yes.

Page 17 of 26
Page 17 of 26

MyAnacondaDoess posted this one on reddit, calling it the "most gorgeous screenshot of the game I've seen so far." Agreed.

Page 18 of 26
Page 18 of 26

Redditor sillykawaii found a big bouncing pineapple which is apparently not that uncommon. But I'm pretty into big bouncing pineapples, so it gets a pass.

Page 19 of 26
Page 19 of 26

Awesome space ruins, via NeoGAF member UpDownLeftRight.

Page 20 of 26
Page 20 of 26

"And I shall call him Watermelonface," posts redditor keyree.

Page 21 of 26
Page 21 of 26

Did you like those last catci? Well these cacti have hats. Hats on their hands and their heads. What a wonderful galaxy.

Page 22 of 26
Page 22 of 26

I honestly don't know what to say about this one, except: I am afraid. Thanks, redditor Rsuff.

Page 23 of 26
Page 23 of 26

This seemingly adorable little guy has been all over twitter thanks to user space_mannequin. Watch as innocence turns to horror.

Page 24 of 26
Page 24 of 26

Via this anonymous gfycat post, a truly majestic creature: all dinosaur, but with some itty bitty butterfly wings. Actually, those are pretty huge butterfly wings, but, y'know, in context.

Page 25 of 26
Page 25 of 26

And we end where we begin, with halfdeafmusic's great shot of cool telescopes on a beautiful alien planet.

Make sure to read our first impressions of No Man's Sky and our editorial on the journey through space in games like No Man's Sky and Elite Dangerous, and what they could learn from Kerbal Space Program.

Page 26 of 26
Page 26 of 26
Wes Fenlon
Wes Fenlon
Social Links Navigation
Senior Editor

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.


When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).

Read more
A ship flies towards the atmosphere in No Man's Sky.
No Man's Sky embraces the 'thrill of space-walking' with new space wrecks to explore and salvage
 
 
A fantasy open world
Light No Fire: Everything we know about Hello Games' planet-sized survival game
 
 
A space ship flying toward a space station, in space
No Man's Sky adds buildable custom spaceships big enough to fit all your friends on board
 
 
Aliens chasing astronauts
The first gameplay footage from Astroneer studio's next space game looks like co-op chaos on colorful planets, but I'm not crazy about the idea of timed missions in a hangout game
 
 
A fantasy open world
Sean Murray says the Earth-sized planet in Light No Fire will have 'real oceans' that players will need 'large boats and crews' to cross
 
 
Mars Attracts early access
This theme park sim based on a 30-year-old sci-fi movie is so much better than it has a right to be
 
 
Latest in Action
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Vermintide's developers only realized they were wading into a cursed subgenre after they started making a first-person melee game: 'I was so scared'
 
 
The Ubersreik Five, and a skaven
Don't expect Vermintide 3 any time soon, as Fatshark plans to keep supporting the existing game: 'Vermintide will keep on going'
 
 
Escape From Duckov - A green pigeon stands unaware while a duck in a SWAT helmet sneaks up from behind
Escape From Duckov is the latest breakout Steam hit to owe its success to China
 
 
Image for Fatshark celebrates 10 years of 'Tide, reveals Darktide is getting another new class and Vermintide 2 a new map
Fatshark celebrates 10 years of 'Tide, reveals Darktide is getting another new class and Vermintide 2 a new map
 
 
A close-up shot from the Hades 2 launch trailer. Melinoe faces the viewer with her bright red eye while her hair ripples in the wind.
Hades 2's first post-launch update attempts to fix the 'true ending' that nobody really liked
 
 
Full Metal Schoolgirl
My Steam account is now forever tainted with an achievement I got for accidentally upskirting a katana-wielding machine girl
 
 
Latest in Features
A billboard from PowerWash Simulator 2 with bright colored animals on it and a bit of dirt
PowerWash Simulator 2 introduces a new tool that makes washing mud from a billboard more enjoyable than ever
 
 
It breaks our hearts to cut great games from the Top 100 list, but sacrifices must be made—these are some of the omissions that caused us psychic damage this year
 
 
Femme Phyre with intricate scars and grey hair wearing one of the unique outfits in Bloodlines 2. It's black with gold and red rose detailing.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2's biggest mistake is being called Bloodlines 2
 
 
A large hero doing admin
Dispatch's superheroic efforts have changed my mind about its episodic release schedule
 
 
EU5 key art
25 years of making history: Europa Universalis lead Johan Andersson talks grey hair, running out of ideas for DLC, and only hiring a menus guy after 3 games
 
 
Codename Eagle
Battlefield had a messy predecessor, Codename Eagle, that predates even DICE’s involvement in the series
 
 
  1. Two of the best PC cases with the PC Gamer Recommended badge in the top right.
    1
    The best fish tank PC case in 2025: I've tested heaps of stylish chassis but only a few have earned my recommendation
  2. 2
    Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming
  3. 3
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC
  4. 4
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  5. 5
    Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
  1. 8BitDo Pro 3 controller
    1
    8BitDo Pro 3 review
  2. 2
    Edifier G2000 Pro review
  3. 3
    Razer Raiju V3 Pro review
  4. 4
    The Outer Worlds 2 review
  5. 5
    Farthest Frontier review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...