What
is a Walking Simulator? Well, there's actually 2 very good literal definitions:
Noun
walking simulator (plural walking simulators)
(video games, sometimes derogatory) An adventure game focused on gradual exploration and discovery through observation, with little in the way of action.
A walking simulator is a type of video game which lacks many of the traditional aspects of a game (such as a goal, win/loss conditions, any kind of game system to interact with) despite taking the form of a video game. The phrase implies that there is basically nothing to do in the game other than walking around.
So in short, the difference between most video games and walking simulators is the existence of a win/lose condition, being able to get hurt or attacked, or the existence of tools to let you attack others, and so on. I'll also mention (if it wasn't obvious) that walking simulators are first-person experiences, as the goal is to immerse you into the world being created. They also tend to be much shorter games, with the longest ones usually clocking in at 8 hours at maximum, and that's normally just from exploring and finding all the items that can be read/picked up. The exception to this rule are the more puzzle heavy games, as either the difficulty of puzzles can pad out the time (Myst series on first playthrough), or there are an abundance of them that you can solve (The Witness).
Walking simulators tend to have a scale:
*Focus on the story, not the gameplay: As stated, ones in this category are all about you absorbing the story, nothing else. Gameplay is very basic to practically non-existent. One example in this category is
Dear Esther, a game in which you literally just walk as the story is narrated to you. There are no cutscenes, no puzzles, no actual exploration, no difficulty, no critical thinking of any sort required. While some paths may expand, this is a very linear experience where your only job is just to keep walking until you reach the end point. Basically your job is just to walk and experience a sort of mini-movie.
*Focus on the story, mix in some gameplay: The next step up from a literal walking simulator is one that adds a couple of elements here and there...opening doors, being able to read letters, that sort of thing. The main focus is still definitely the story, but it's a more...I guess immersive type of experience. Again, there are no set goals aside from reaching the end point, but there are more things to do...even if none of those things affect progressing further in the game. Games such as
Gone Home and
Tacoma would fit in this category, as you can progress throughout the game without having to to interact with really anything...even if it does add to the story (and in Tacoma's case, is a bit more interesting with some of its gameplay).
*Focus on both story and gameplay: These are walking simulators by basic definition, but there's definitely conditions for you to truly finish the game. However, these conditions are incredibly basic, and once again the difficulty is virtually nonexistent most of the time. This is because while there are slight obstacles involved now, it's still very much about experiencing the story and being able to immerse yourself in the created world, rather than accomplishing difficult tasks. Games in this category would include titles such as
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and
Whatever Happened to Edith Finch. These are games that you will definitely do a fair share of walking through, but there are also simple puzzles around.
*Focuses on gameplay, mix in story: Again, these are walking simulators by basic definition, but there is a more obvious difficulty curve involved. There is definitely a story, but it's almost secondary to the experience of the game. Don't be surprised to be thrown in situations with really mind boggling puzzles, because these are practically puzzle games. While again, there's no win/lose situation in titles like these, there are definitely rewards for finishing the game a certain way, and pretty much the reverse if you finish it a different way. A notable series in this category would be the
Myst/Uru series as well as the game
Obduction (created by the same studio as Myst). There is much reliance on interacting with everything you see, and it's actually very much required if you want a solution to the puzzles you face. There is also a story in there, but it's always obvious which element is just a bit more important.
*Focuses on Gameplay, not the story: As the statement suggests, these are games that are much more about the gameplay, and the story is bare-bones at best. You might get snippets of story from notes found throughout the world, or various narration when you trigger it. But these are much more about the puzzles, and are arguably more puzzle games than anything. However, these are also first-person experiences that have no win/lose condition outside of solving puzzles and reaching the end. There is no time limit, no deadline to solve these puzzles. These games normally encourage you to solve them at your leisure, and may even use visual or auditory cues to help you with solving some of the puzzles. A notable game in this category would be
The Witness, a game that puts you on an island with hundreds of different line puzzles, and lets you choose which ones you want to solve if you want to continue towards the "end-game" area...or gives you the choice to solve every single one. Puzzles range from simple to mind-numbingly difficult, but as said the game gives plenty of clues and occasionally cues for solving a good majority of them.
There are other games out there that I haven't listed, but these are ones that I've played to the end personally.
Horror games don't count in this genre. While some are first-person experiences that allow you no weapons (Outlast, for example), horror games have a clear win/lose condition and difficulty curve. They're much more about survival and pushing through, whereas even the most challenging types of walking simulators are much more about the experience and taking your time. Horror games are about keeping you on your toes and in a constant state of panic, especially the first-person titles. Walking simulators are about keeping you calm and relaxed, letting you soak in the environment.
Personally, I tend to most enjoy the perfectly mixed to slightly more puzzle heavy walking-simulator games. I actually thoroughly enjoyed
Vanishing of Ethan Carter. It's roughly a 4-5 hour title at most, and it's one I played multiple times as well as even wrote a review on here about it. The puzzles for it are fairly straightforward and simple (and even the more difficult ones give you visual clues), but I really enjoyed some of the gameplay elements, such as finding the clues and deducing how one of the murders took place (it's a reason I love the Sherlock Holmes games). It was a welcome type of puzzle for sure along with the various other puzzles sprinkled throughout. The story was actually surprisingly tragic and has a lovely twist at the end that makes it all the more heartbreaking. The area is also very beautifully made as well. The game goes through various areas of ruin, mines and lush forests, and all of it is just gorgeous to look at. One reason I do tend to enjoy even the most basic walking simulators for the smallest reason is because of how they look. These are short games, but they devote a lot of their time into making sure that it's at least a gorgeous short game, and it shows with the level of detail in games like this.
Another favorite of mine in that same category is
Whatever Happened to Edith Finch. Like VoEC, there's a distinct mix of story and gameplay, which is one reason I enjoy it. Puzzles are wonderfully varied and engaging, and there's even one that made me cringe waiting for the bad to happen. Basically, one of the family members worked at a cannery and is severely depressed. His job, basically, is sending fish across to get cut by basically a mechanical blade of sorts. As the player, you relive this in a first person perspective and are responsible for grabbing the fish and moving it across the blade. But as you're doing that, you're also given a sort of medieval-hero type of scene that intrudes over what you're doing, and have to progress through that as well WHILE YOU'RE STILL SWIPING FISH ACROSS. Basically, he's daydreaming of something better because he's so depressed, and you're living that moment with him while trying to keep him focused. What's tragic is that you know how it's supposed to end -- with him accidentally getting himself with the machine, but it's incredibly stressful when think about how you're experiencing that moment with him.
And that's what makes WHtEF so engaging and exciting: these aren't just random puzzles, these are either dreams that one of the lost family members had that you experience with them, moments in their life that explain why they're no longer there, or days they remark in their journal that you're experiencing with them. Some of the stories are downright depressing in their most basic form, while others are visually exciting, but there's a tragic undertone giftwrapped in that joyful looking present, because in the end it's about what happened to all of these family members, leading up to what happened to this "Edith Finch."
And I guess I shouldn't truly call them "puzzles," as many of them are just complete change ups in gameplay and sometimes even visual style. What do I mean? Well you might just have to pick up this title and give it a go. Like most walking-simulator type games, it's not a long title in the slightest, chalking up to at most maybe 5 hours. However, it's definitely one of the most interesting that I've played, despite it having a depressing undertone hidden underneath all of the exciting gameplay.
On the flipside, I personally did not care for
Dear Esther, and in fact this game was the reason I brought up this topic. As mentioned, this game requires no skill, as you're purely just walking. You don't interact with anything, and while there is
some openness to it, it's all purely about just enjoying what you're looking at. Your main goal is to just keep walking until you reach a certain point in the game, in which it ends. At most, this is a 3 hour experience unless you're walking to explore every nook and cranny. However, this was also a game that didn't allow running, and walking felt
incredibly slow.
But as far as walking simulators go, I can't stand ones like this that take the name at face value. It also didn't help that the story was purely narrated and I was so bored that I couldn't even keep up with it. But I have to have some kind of interaction in my games. Even ones as basic as
Gone Home kept my interest up more, because I felt at the very least that I was doing more than just walking, and the various notes kept it just engaging enough.
When you're basically just walking and hearing some guy occasionally talk, however, it becomes dull. I want to play a game, not walk around to look at stuff and hear some guy talk about stuff you don't entirely understand...I can always just go to an actual park with the guy who thinks he has a radio in his mouth if I wanted that.
When I play a game, I want to feel like I'm actually doing something or learning something, or feeling like I'm actually making some sort of difference in the game outside of just walking to my objective.
Even the reverse side with games like
The Witness are much more fun to me, even if they can be frustrating beyond all belief. But when I solve one of those difficult puzzles, it's a wonderful feeling, even if I don't really get why my character is in that place. But even then, there's still that engaging factor which I feel the face-value walking simulators don't understand. Sure, they're visually beautiful games, but normally they're also incredibly dull beyond those looks. If walking simulators were guys, then ones like Dear Esther would be like that incredibly good looking guy that, damn he's fine looking...but when you get to actually talk to him, he's dull as dirt and incredibly basic to boot. But unlike guys, you can't really overlook a game like Dear Esther's personality flaws and get into bed with its good looks.
But enough about guys and my view of WS games, what do you guys think about them? What's your favorite? Your least favorite?
