Walking Simulator

I walked across an empty land

Perhaps you've heard the term uttered before and thought "Oh, it must be another one of those weird asset swap genres that populate unregulated store fronts" (I.e. Steam.) But no in actuality, for this term is as much an insult as it is a descriptor. Today I want to take a look at those games that fall under the label of 'Walking simulator' and assess whether or not the term is worthy of merit. Oh and a brief disclaimer, I have actually played through a scant few of these types of games (They're just not for me) however I am a sad lonely shut in of a human being so you can bet that I've watched significant hours of content on them. Does that achieve the same effect as playing through them? Kinda.

Firstly, let me establish that the term 'Walking simultor' was coined as a pejorative to refer to a game who's main gameplay feature is the act of walking. Not just games that offer an abundance of walking functionality within and around the game. (I.e. The game I'm currently playing as I write this, the original Dragon Quest, wouldn't qualify as although there is an absurd amount of walking, the crux of the game is the RPG combat.) Through the years there have been a increasing number of these 'Walking Simulator' experiences made almost exclusively by passionate indie studios driven by a desire to tell a story rather then stage an adventure. Or at least, I assume it's mostly indie studios. I can't imagine an pitch meeting about a game revolving around walking around your parent's house going down well with the investors. (Unless the Devs could tie in some lootboxes and a battlepass, of course.)

Personally, I am not entirely adverse to the idea and do always enjoy when a video game makes use of what it is to tell you an interesting story that isn't driven by your character's ability to stop every heart in a 5 mile radius. (Although I have no issues with those kinds of games either. 'Wolfenstein' is my jam.) However, I will specify that such experiences should; A. have a story worth following and B. actually use it's medium in a way that couldn't be achieved on any other platform. I'll always defend the early Telltale games from those who claim that they're just glorified DVD games by pointing out that your choices have genuine consequence on the progression of the story. That is something that neither film nor TV could replicate. (Books have the choose-your-own-adventure style but I never enjoyed those. Too many dead ends.) Tell me a story in a way I didn't expect and I'll have time for you, no matter how much walking I have to do to uncover that story.

That being said, I do understand and partially sympathise with those that cannot stand such games and label them 'Walking simulators'. Some people come to games looking for action and tut impatiently whenever a cutscene gets between them and the guns. Now there is nothing wrong with this, it's a little 'neanderthal-ian' but I understand, Sometimes you just want to kick a demon's head into a wall. There are even some who are willing to give games like these a chance but give up claiming that such games are too slow and/or lack any pacing whatsoever. This outlook I can sympathise heavily with. (That has literally been me before.) But I always find it is important to regard games like these within their own context and dispel your preconceived notions of what a game, or even a story, actually is. In order to explain what I mean by this, I'm going to dive into some examples of 'Walking simulators' that I am familiar with. (Good thing Steam has a section of them ready for me to cherry pick through!)

Firstly I thought we might start with one of newest entries into this genre. Partially because it's fresh in my mind and partially because it's based on a property that I'm willing to bet that you know. That's right, I'm talking about 'Blair Witch'. This was game that came out of nowhere during this year's E3. There was just a brief trailer showcasing someone prowling through the woods with a video camera and people just naturally assumed that Outlast had slunk out of the naughty corner for entry 3. When everyone saw the 'Blair Witch' title alongside the iconic stick man, no one quite knew what to expect. And why would they? The films themselves have varied wildly. The original spawned the found-footage genre and focused around spooky happenings that only seem supernatural within a certain context. The sequel took a more traditional movie approach and joined some supremely annoying teens as they undergo a series of events that could charitably be called 'phycological'. And the latest movie dabbled in time manipulation. So what the heck could we expect from a game? Well, a lot of walking it would seem.

Bloober Team's bread and butter have been creating these 'Walking Simulator'-esque games, although tilted more towards the horror angle of this sub-genre. That being said, to call 'Blair Witch' a horror game would be, once again, charitable. It is mostly an adventure through a series of mildly disconcerting visuals intercut with copious amounts of walking and basic dog maintenance. (You've got to let Bullet know that he's a good boy, afterall.) Some critics have laid into the game and the way it seems to dance around the mythology of the Witch to instead deliver a personal story of a war Vet's PTSD, although I will argue that the series itself has avoided focusing on the Witch up until now so I don't understand why the game should break that trend. (That being said, a PTSD riddled Vet is literally the most cliched 'broken' protagonist they could have gone with. I could have written a more intriguing protagonist. And I'm just an arse.)  At the end of the day, the game's 'gameplay' sections are rather weak and not really worth experiencing for yourself in the way that games like 'Outlast' are. Although, the game does just enough with the way it handles the interactivity to earn it's right to be a video game. This isn't a case of a 'walk-through movie' like some games.

That dubious honor would go more to games like The Chinese Room's 'Everybody's gone to the Rapture'. This game would be the next game from The Chinese Room, since they released 'Amensia: A Machine for pigs' and managed to make every horror fan go "huh, I guess there are no new idea's in the Amnesia series, afterall." Perhaps that is the reason why the team decided to step away from the 'horror game' stigma and launch into the budding 'interactive story' genre with this new game. I had a friend who wouldn't let me rest with how much he kept bending my ear about how exciting this game would be and how it would revolutionize video game storytelling. Then it came out and suddenly gave prime ammunition to those 'Walking Simulator' coiners.

When I look at a game like 'Everybody's gone to the Rapture', I can't help but think that this is the kind of game that isn't sure of what is wanted to be. (Certainly not the laughing stock that is sort of became when it released.) Set in a lovingly rendered English town (It's actually uncanny how accurate the whole place is) this game set the player in the role of an observer through a deserted former habitat. You are tasked with... well nothing really. But the only thing to do in the game is wonder about and try to piece together what happened, so that'll likely be what you end up doing. Gameplay consists of wondering about at a literal snail's pace and interacting with nodes across the map. These nodes imbue you with some audio of the people who used to live there and will take you across the story of a few of the residents as the Event begins to happen. That is the whole game. There is little to no interactivity with your environment and the individuals that you are eavesdropping on are so mindnumbingly ordinary that you feel like you're listening to the world's slowest soap opera at times. Maybe this idea might have made for an alright radio show or podcast series, but in it's current form the game just feels like a waste to it's medium. Nothing about being able to walk around this town adds to the story on display here beyond giving you the ability to walk exceedingly slowly. This game is the prime example of what a 'Walking Simulator' is, in it's worst incarnation.

One thing that I have made note of during my brief time browsing the 'Walking Simulator' section of Steam is that no-one is married to a definitive definition. (Or the fact that Steam just has no idea what the term means.) Their list is comprised of games like 'Life is Strange 2', (Which is a choice based narrative game) Viscera Cleanup detail, (Which is a hilariously satirical game about playing the cleaning crew after a massacre. What? That exciting mopping gameplay just doesn't count?) And The Stanley Parable. This does go to show just how flimsy of a term that 'Walking Simulator' really is with the term being as broad as the describer needs it to me. (Which does not make for a good descriptor. And no, you're not allowed to apply that logic to the way I use adjectives. This is not a democracy.) However, I do find that last game I mentioned to be particularly interesting in this discussion for reasons that I hope to adequately convey.

For those unaware, 'The Stanley Parable' is a game about... well a lot of things really, but I'll just call it a parody game for now. For the game, the player is placed in the shoes of the titular Stanley and lumped with an narrator who's job it is to guide Stanley through a peculiar day at work. The intended narrative should follow Stanley discovering that his office is abandoned, finding a hidden mind control lair underneath his boss' office and escaping into the outside world of endless green fields, 'Portal' style. However, the kicker comes from the fact that it is oh-so easy for the player to subvert the Narrator's wishes and go off on their own. 'The Stanley Parable' takes a more on-the-nose approach to supplanting the expectations of the video game protagonist than, say Bioshock does, but it does it with such natural flair that it doesn't come across as boorish or pretentious. In fact, I'd go so far as to call 'The Stanley Parable' a supremely funny and clever game.

That is all despite the fact that the core gameplay of 'The Stanley Parable' is the act of walking. Yeah, you get the chance to hit the odd button every now and then,(and even jump!) but your key tool for defiance against the Narrator is the ability to walk the opposite direction from the one he wants to go in. (Unless, that's the direction that he really wants to go in. Ever thought about that?) As the protagonist defies his script, players will begin to unravel the world in a variety of smart ways that are so varied and surprising that I absolutely refuse to reveal any in this little overview. All of that is achieved and unlocked by relying on the player's capacity for curiosity and their willingness to explore. Sure, if the player is feeling compliant they could follow along their fixed path and reach the 'end', but there is so much more that the player could and should see, but it'll take an active effort on their part to experience it. I think that is what separates a game like this from the likes of 'Everybody's gone to the Rapture' and the 'Walking Simulator' label. Everything about this game is reliant on the player having interactivity with the world, choice of destination and, most-importantly, free will. There is no other medium on which this experience could exist and it makes the most out of it's existence as a 'game' to lead players for a loop. (Sometimes literally.)

There are a lot more games in Steam's list that I do not know well enough to comment on, so I decided to instead default to a couple that I know rather well that fall under the 'Walking Simulator' banner. Firstly there is the classic well-known mystery game "What remains of Edith Finch'. If you want to get a good idea for what narrative focused storytelling looks like in a video game environment, this is place to start. Although, chances are you've already heard of this game given the fact that it won a BAFTA. There is so much to this experience that goes beyond the simple 'walk along and listen to things' definition that it is rather hard to explain it all concisely, although I'll try.

'What Remains of Edith Finch' places the player in the shoes of Edith as she is placed in the woods outside of the Finch family home. From there you are expected to explore the surrounding area, uncover the stories of the former residents and uncover the reason why she's the last member in her family left alive. Now, you may thinking "That's just the Steam description", and you'd be right. There is so much to cover about the way this game handles story telling, puzzle solving and even mildly spooky scenes that is all honestly deserves a fully dedicated review which I intend to get around to at some point. More to the point, this game does not fit the disparaging confines of the 'Walking Simulator' label due to two factors. A. the exploration of the game in an interactive way is key to the 'discovery' angle that the narrative in being told in, justifying this game's existence; and B. The game has puzzles, so it's not all just walking and reading/listening.

Another such game which is often heralded as the progenitor for 'Walking Simulators' would be the oft unsung classic 'Gone Home'. Fullbrights' 'Gone home' is as close as anyone can get to a 'ground zero' for this sub-genre and it's almost cliche premise is indicative of that. You arrive back home after having been abroad for a year and discover the family home completely empty. This is another game that tasks you with nothing but instead places into an incredibly believable world space and expects you to put together the story piece by piece. The world space of 'Gone Home' is honestly the best example of such that this genre has to offer, it is so true-to-life that you honestly feel like you're rifling through a real room full of real belongings. The story is scattered amongst all this clutter so naturally that players will find themselves picking up on it instinctively and being drawn along.

Once again, 'Gone Home' is an experience which revolves primarily around the act of walking around the house and reading things, but those that dismissed this game as 'empty and boring' are doing themselves a supreme disservice in passing up this genuinely unmatched experience. The game taps into the inner voyeur inside us all and invites us to unfettered access into the lives of a family that you will become intimately familiar with in no time without ever having even met them. Also, this game transcends the 'Walking Simulator' label in my eyes by being an experience that is impossible to recreate on any other medium save for, perhaps, a real-life investigation. (Although who wants to dig through real people's possessions? That's just gross.)

Finally, I decided to dig up another well-known genre-game from a developer who have something of a tarnished reputation for me. But whatever I think or don't think about Camp Santo, their game 'Firewatch' is a noteworthy narrative adventure. Different to every other game that I've mentioned on this list, 'Firewatch' is a highly linear and story driven game that follows a newly stated fire lookout called Henry who escapes his frantic life to the desolate isolation of the Wyoming wilderness. Throughout the game your only communication with other life is your Supervisor Delilah with whom you speak exclusively over the radio. What follows is a magnetic tale about isolation, paranoia and connection that honestly must be experienced.

Firewatch is one of those games that has the potential to stay with you long after you leave the adventure. In fact, a lot of the games that I've mentioned today have that boon, it's a side effect of this sub-genre and the way it tells stories. That is partially the reason that I'm so quick to dispel the label of 'Walking Simulator' whenever I see it as I feel those two words are so reductive to the experience actually at play here. In Firewatch's case, much of the impact of the story and it's themes require the player to be as immersed with the character of Henry as humanely possible, or else the emotion resonance may fall flat. Could this be told in movie form? Sure. But it would take a damn good cast and crew to do it justice, just as it took Camp Santo to pull of this game in the first place.

Once more, I do understand the philosophy and arguments presented by the 'Walking Simultor' crowd, but I do feel that they sorely undersell a genre that has such interesting and different stories to tell. Perhaps these aren't the kind of games for everyone out there, granted, but it would be foolish to discount the value of what's there and call it nothing, when it can prove to be a special, sometimes eye-opening, experience for those willing to donate their time. It's the gaming equivalent of when Martin Scorsese labels Marvel movies as 'not cinema', or when Francis Ford Coppola expands on these claims and calls them 'despicable'. These are by no means foolish men, just two people who are a bit closed minded to a new type of Cinema that isn't to their tastes. It's perfectly okay to dislike something that doesn't speak to you, but the second you try to wave it away and assume it's trash the only person you're discrediting is yourself. (Of course, the only exception to this rule are modern sports games. They're always trash and you can quote me on that.)