Big Walk
31 August 2026, early morning
My friend Yochai invited me to play Big Walk with him and his wife yesterday. Big Walk is by the people who made the hilarious Untitled Goose Game. The game is both simple and hard to describe: you should watch the intro video for the game.
Big Walk is all about exploring an open world. There are puzzles scattered around, and you are meant to complete them to earn a weird little trophy, but it wasn’t obvious to my friend what the point of the trophy was just yet. You play as a weird looking stick figure of sorts, a fellow composed of some simple geometric shapes. You can host a game for two or more friends, or join a game your friend is hosting. There is no solo mode, though you can technically wander the shared world alone if so inclined. There is no match making or playing with strangers, the expectation is you’re playing with people you know and enjoy spending time with. The game has amazing sound design, which is very important, because it’s also a game all about communication: you and your friends are meant to only communicate via voice in the game, and your voice in the game is meant to feel like talking in the real world. As people move away from you they will get quieter and quieter till you can’t hear them. The sound design is top tier. There are little doodads in the game to help with all this exploration: walkie-talkies, flash lights, glowing balls, etc. There is probably more stuff we haven’t found yet. The game feels quite tactile.
In the game I played I got lost from Yochai and his wife Sarah. I climbed up a hill trying to spot them, and held a light up high hoping they would spot it. And they did! It was actually quite cute and joyful when they found me again, and we continued on our adventure. That whole experience is more or less plucked straight from the game’s trailer. We tried to complete puzzles, with mixed success. The first two we just couldn’t figure out at all, they were so weird. We thought we might need more people to see everything that was going on. The last was an odd one: one of us had to put a mask on our head and navigate a space directed by our friends as the person with the mask can’t see. Earlier we found a beach and so sat and relaxed, pictured above.
I’m curious to see how the game holds up. It feels quite minimal as games go. Apparently people call this genre of games friendslop. I wouldn’t disparage it so. This is game is thoroughly charming.
Anyone else playing?