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Stuck? Not finding the game fun yet? Don't know what to do next?

This spoiler-free guide will help you learn to love the game and help you progress when you may feel lost or frustrated.
This game is so incredibly unique that I didn't like it for the first half of my playthrough because I didn't understand HOW to enjoy the game. But once it clicks, you get hooked and you don't want to put the game down because you suddenly pieced something together and you know how to progress.
WARNING: Basic game mechanic spoilers ahead (i.e. mechanics you learn within the first couple hours of playing; the ship log, for example)
So for people who are stuck or confused on how to progress or aren't really hooked in your playthrough yet, here are some tips that will help you learn HOW to enjoy the game and may help you progress:
Tip 0: Use gamepad/controller, not KBM. It's much easier to control your ship and there's also one specific section in Dark Bramble where having a controller will be very convenient.
Tip 1: Your ship log (particularly Rumor Mode) is crucial to the overall experience in this game. It guides you towards what your next objective could be (you don't have to do most of it linearly). Locations marked with a "?" means you haven't fully discovered everything in that area, or you haven't actually been to/in that location. If you're stuck, look through those locations on your ship log and pick a place you want to try to get to.
The ship log notes key details that you should remember from the Nomai dialogue you translate. These will provide you with clues on where to go or what to do to progress. They give you multiple different hints and the fun part about the game is looking at all your clues and piecing the puzzle together on what to do next. This combined with the next tip makes you feel like the most intelligent person in the universe every time you figure out what to do.
Tip 2: Learn the time loop and embrace the time loop. Understand how your solar system works and the differences between the beginning, middle, and end of the time loop. Learn the characteristics of each planet. What is changing throughout the loop? Study them, analyze them. You can also "doze off" at any of the campfires in the solar system to pass time quickly.
Now that you understand the mechanics of each planet, think about how the hints provided to you via the ship log may interact with these mechanics. Be in certain places at certain times. It's a lot easier to do trial-and-error with the next tip.
Tip 3: There is a secret dialogue option that provides you with an extra quality-of-life feature. I will mark sections of this as spoilers rather than the whole thing, so you can reveal small hints one-by-one rather than the entire thing if you want.
The feature: In the pause menu, you'll unlock an option to "meditate until next loop", which is essentially just a "restart loop" button.
How to obtain this: You have to have talked to Gabbro (on Giant's Deep) in a previous time loop then come back to him on or after the 3rd loop. Ask him "How do you stay so calm in the face of repeated impending death?" to unlock this feature.
Tip 4: USE YOUR EQUIPMENT!!! This is the biggest thing I neglected but it's there for a reason. Your Scout Launcher and your Signal Scope are key features that you will need to progress. I got stuck once because I thought they were just "gimmick" features. No, you are required to use them to progress in some areas.
Tip 5: If you find an "unknown frequency" with your Signal Scope, make sure you get close to the source with your Signal Scope out and it will register it with a name on your Signal Scope. So if you ever need to go back to it in the future, it's labeled for you.
Tip 6: When in "landing mode" in your ship or when you're wearing your spacesuit on any planet, you can see a little globe on the left of your HUD. Red is the north pole and blue is the south pole. This will be helpful later in the game. Remember this by thinking of a compass and how the red arrow always points north.
Tip 7: If you're confused about a specific puzzle or you just don't really understand how to progress in one specific area on your ship log, don't be afraid to just save it for later and go try to solve something else. Many times, you're unable to progress without having specific knowledge from a different branch of the log.
Tip 8: If you're repeatedly trying something and it's still not working, you're doing something wrong.
Tip 9: If you're REALLY really stuck, take a step back and think about all the information you know about something. For example:
- This has a hidden area I cannot currently access
- This has that changes it throughout the time loop
- My ship log told me about this planet
Now try to combine all that information and apply logic to the clues.
Tip 10: If you've done the above and still have no idea how to progress, r/OuterWilds on Reddit has a ton of spoiler-free hints on how to progress. Just look up where you're stuck followed by "reddit" and you'll find plenty of spoiler-free responses that will guide you in the right direction without outright telling you what to do. Obviously do this at your own risk though, but I never had a spoiler when I had to look things up.
I will say, it's so much more satisfying to figure it out on your own, but there are some puzzles that are extremely difficult and seemingly obscure (they're not obscure when you have all the clues). So try to spend some time figuring it out on your own before giving up. You really have to think outside of the box for some of the puzzles. Especially for the last puzzle of the game to get to the Ash Twin Project.
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Overall, brilliant and incredible game that will test your detective skills and out-of-the box thinking. I have never played a game that was this unique in my life, so I'd highly recommend! The OST is peak also, so if anything, you have to play it for that.