Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet

About

A quiet story about survival and connection in a ruined world. You follow a nameless scavenger who stumbles into a dead city’s planetarium and meets Yumemi, a robot programmed to welcome visitors. She mistakes him for the first guest in decades and insists on showing him the stars. The pair slowly rebuild a broken projector while navigating the loneliness of a dying Earth. Dialogue and choices shape a fragile bond between them as the environment crumbles around them. The game’s emotional weight comes from sparse interactions and a melancholic setting. Players often cite its bittersweet atmosphere and how it handles themes of memory and isolation. Released in 2004, it gained a cult following and remains a fan favorite for its understated storytelling. With over 85% positive reviews on Steam, it’s praised for making a small, intimate story feel deeply resonant.

Storyline

"Why don't you come to the planetarium? The beautiful twinkling of eternity that will never fade, no matter what. All the stars in the sky are waiting for you." It is thirty years after the failure of the Space Colonization Program. Humanity is nearly extinct. A perpetual and deadly Rain falls on the Earth. Men known as "Junkers" plunder goods and artifacts from the ruins of civilization. One such Junker sneaks alone into the most dangerous of all ruins -- a "Sarcophagus City". In the center of this dead city, he discovers a pre-War planetarium. And as he enters he is greeted by Hoshino Yumemi, a companion robot. Without a single shred of doubt, she assumes he is the first customer she's had in 30 years. She attempts to show him the stars at once, but the planetarium projector is broken. Unable to make heads or tails of her conversation, he ends up agreeing to try and repair the projector...