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"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space."

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my all-time favourite things. It's hilarious, it's silly, and it's about travelling through space and time. Space is the scariest, most fascinating, and most brain-melting thing ever, because we know practically nothing about it. We do know a few things – planets orbit stars, stars cluster together into galaxies, galaxies come in a variety of shapes and sizes – but there's a heck of a lot of undiscovered intergalactic… stuff that just, well, exists and happens. Things millions of times bigger than Earth are exploding trillions of light years away, with potentially huge ramifications for us and for everything we know to be true. And here we are, staring at a screen, reading a paragraph that's gone on for far too long without once mentioning No Man's Sk–ah, there it is.

Sorry, got a bit carried away there. But you get my point. It's no wonder that space exploration has persisted in games since its infancy; the idea of heading out into the infinite unknown and making your own discoveries is a perfect fit for gaming. In fact – and I'm not sure you'll have heard about this – a small development team based in Guildford launched its procedurally generated, sci-fi adventure game, No Man's Sky recently. If you haven't already, check out our review – but make sure to head straight back here, because I've got some exciting news.

You see I, like many of you, have embarked on my journey through this ridiculously massive game, heading vaguely towards the centre, and probably stopping every five minutes to gawp at the sights and sounds of the ubiquitous planets. And I want you all to join me. I'd like to welcome you all to a new, weekly No Man's Sky feature that I'm calling Mission Blog.

Each week, I'll be bringing you all up to speed on what I've seen, what I've done, where I am, and how much trouble I'm in with a personal travel diary. The first Mission Blog will go up next Sunday, and subsequent chapters will be published here on Push Square every week until I finally reach the centre of Hello Games' gargantuan galactic map. You can expect a warts-and-all rundown of my adventure, with plenty of anecdotes, drama, laughs, and mistakes. My biggest fear right now is getting stuck on the least interesting planet in the whole game, my ship blown to smithereens, and only a backpack full of Madeuptonium to my name.

Anyway, I hope you'll be able to check it out. It'll be nice to have some company in the cold, hostile emptiness of space. If you like, you can even share your stories, questions, or suggestions in the comments of each Mission Blog – I'll be sure to peruse them. Y'know, as long as I'm not busy being hunted by a horde of goldfish-zebras with turquoise legs and a grudge against needlessly-long articles.

See you next Sunday for Mission Blog #1, fellow explorers.