No Mans Sky is a PC game starring you – as a lone interstellar nomad, living off the cosmos, spreading good old human extractive behaviour throughout the galaxy; as you discover new worlds – some more habitable than others. On the surface this is just a game but, if you allow yourself some latitude and philosophise about it, it’s about sustainable ‘off-grid’ living on a galactic scale. Armed with just your spaceship, spacesuit, a handheld mining device, and a portable refiner you are required to mine and process essential elements from nature to survive. Often, one encounters an unknown element you don’t currently have the knowledge or technology to put into use. Yes, it’s just a game but I wonder and worry- how are African nations preparing their youth for the inevitable? We should be building sustainability modules into everything – from secondary schools to every degree offered in all tertiary schools. We must invest in encouraging innovative thinking and doing, including highly speculative areas in the material sciences category. We should also be advocating for policies that de-risk investments in material sciences locally.