Greetings from Eastern Europe!
It’s me, ColdBeerHD and today I will talk about 10 amazing walking simulators you should
try.
And I must say that this list does not contain any horror games, like Soma or Amnesia.
For those I will prepare another list.
Ok, Let’s roll.
Dear Esther
You “play” Dear Esther by walking around and exploring a seemingly uninhabited island,
and listening to a man read a series of letters to a woman named Esther.
First released in 2008 as a free-to-play modification for the Source game engine, the game was entirely
redeveloped for a commercial release in 2012.
In 2008 it looked like that, and in 2012 it had entirely new graphics.
It looks amazing till this day.
Company that created Dear Esther is called “The Chinese Room”, but they are not chinese,
they are British, from Western Europe.
Let’s imagine what this game would look like if it was made in Eastern Europe.
It would probably be called “Dear Olga”.
“Dear Olga, I was much drunk yesterday, and I beat you in accident, please don’t
be mad and make dinner.”
Ah, it’s a beautiful game with amazing story and really cool environments.
Especially underground, it’s really breathtaking.
But I will not show it to you, because I don’t want to spoil best parts, you have to play
it yourself.
Journey
At just over two hours long, Journey delivers an adventure like no other.
Once you see the mountain on the horizon, you know that you just have to get there.
It’s the same feeling when you see a game sale on Steam and you just know that you must
spend all of your two dollars which you were saving for ten seven years.
Now you might say “Comrade, this only desert, this boring”.
Oh no, it’s not.
Here you will find breathtaking ruins, ancient caverns and even snow.
Yes, and the feeling of loneliness there will be overwhelming until you stumble across another
comrade – real player having their own experience.
Worldless cooperation with them to explore this world is one of the weirdest experiences
I have ever encountered during any game.
Also I have to mention the amazing music created by talented composer Austin Wintory.
I have met him at GameOn show in Lithuania, and asked for autograph.
He agreed and even draw me a little journey character.
Check him out.
Abzû
Abzû is almost the same as Journey, just under water.
Games development lasted three years, involving a team of thirteen people.
It’s probably more than live in whole Estonia.
Several members, including game director Matt Nava and composer Austin Wintory, had previously
worked on Journey and the ocean setting of Abzû was both a reaction to the desert setting
of Journey and inspired by Nava's love of scuba diving.
Game and story drew from Sumerian mythology and the cosmic ocean myth.
It combines futuristic technology with ancient ruins and magic.
Of course it would be a better game if it would be called Vodkû, where you swim in
an ocean of vodka.
All those things you see in a game would be more believable then.
Firewatch
This game was praised by the critics for it’s amazing art style and well written story,
but not everyone was pleased.
Some say that characters make dumb decisions and some say that the ending is disappointing.
And it actually is, but not because it’s a bad one.
Reason behind it is because game is fantastic, so you’re expecting overwhelmingly amazing
ending, and it’s a simple one.
Not a bad one, just simple.
Game has great dialogues and voice acting is really good, so it gonna be a story you
will enjoy.
And after that you will probably want to go camping.
Don’t forget your pickles, 10 crates of beer and especially potatoes, they are amazing
while cooked on hot coals.
Eat them with butter.
Mmm...
Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Game surprised me by not having any Head-Up Display, no status bar or anything like that.
And that’s a good thing because game doesn’t need one anyway.
Vanishing of Ethan Carter is very detailed and the praise this game received for its
graphics is very much deserved.
The game slowly reveals clues that allow you to piece the events of its Lovecraftian mystery
together.
Main story is constructed from several smaller stories, and once you collect all of the clues,
the game rewards you with an interesting and unexpected conclusion.
Game also has very positive reviews on Steam.
Everybody’s gone to the Rapture
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a slow game.
It takes its sweet time exposing the world to you, and you're forced to take a slow pace
getting through everything that world has to offer.
The walking is painfully slow, the sprint feature doesn't make any noticeable difference
and you feel like a grandmother carrying a heavy box of vodka for grandfather who is
lazy and never buys his vodka himself.
And that grandmother has only one leg.
That’s how slow this game is.
But that doesn't mean it's a bad game.
Far from it if you can deal with that infuriating slowness.
Here you might want to take your time and explore every corner, because game is full
of surprises and has a lot of interesting things to offer.
Here you will not find any puzzles, you will not be required to manipulate any items like
in Firewatch, just explore and enjoy interesting story.
Game also has an amazing soundtrack created by Jessica Curry, the same composer that created
music for Dear Esther.
What remains of Edith Finch
17-year old Edith Finch is the last surviving member of the eccentric Finch family.
All of her immediate relatives and family have died violently in young age, leading
to rumors about a family curse.
Now, Edith is on her way to her Finch mansion – a bizarre, ramshackle building hidden
deep within the forests of the state of Washington.
Once there, she intends to research her family’s history and learn the truth behind the alleged
curse.
While this can sound like a horror game, it’s actually just a nice tale about one family.
What Remains of Edith Finch keeps changing the way the stories are told.
While, say, one of them resembles a comic book, the other told from the point of view
of a toddler.
And sometimes it’s a pure walking simulator, where you just walk and story is told before
your eyes.
The Stanley parable
The Stanley Parable is extremely well written and by well I mean awesome.
I can tell that because in a real life I’m a writer myself.
Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game.
You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley.
You will follow a story, you will not follow a story.
You will have a choice, you will have no choice.
But as you explore, slowly, meaning begins to arise, the paradoxes might start to make
sense... perhaps you are powerful after all.
Those are the words of the developers, but I can only agree with them.
Stanley Parable is a different game from all the others, and it has high replayability
value, and by that I mean that you can get up to 19 endings here.
Nineteen Endings.
Fun fact, nineteen is the age you still can’t buy alcohol in Lithuania.
You have to make your own.
Gone home
A game starts with you arriving home after a year abroad.
You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty.
So you start to panic.
Where is everyone?
I came back from distant land, probably even from Serbia or Romania, so why there is no
herring ready, no potato salad?
What's happened here?
So, just like that, you start your investigation.
I probably should warn you that this house is kinda creepy place, it’s full of squeaking
and unnatural sounds, plus the game is set during a thunderstorm and all the lights are
off.
So be sure you’re into that stuff.
Of course game is no Slenderman, all those sounds and everything are here not to scare
you, but to set that specific atmosphere.
Game is short.
It will take about 2 to 3 hours of your time.
Gone Home is described as walking simulator, but it’s probably more close to first person
point and click kind of a game.
Nevertheless it’s a great title.
Ether One
Ether One is an exploration-puzzle game that takes you on a journey inside the mind of
Jean Thompson, a 69-year-old woman who's been diagnosed with dementia.
The player takes the role of a "Restorer," a medical technician working at the Ether
Institute of Telepathic Medicine whose job it is to enter a series of 3D recreations
of 69-year old Jean's memories that have been pieced together from her subconscious, and
cure her of her condition.
Now you might say: “Excuse me Comrade, can you repeat how old this lady was?”.
Of course I can.
It’s a 69-year old woman and she’s in a terrible need of your help.
Though I must warn you, that this game has some frustratingly tricky puzzles, so sometimes
it will get hard, that’s what she said, and the story is kinda sad, but full of surprising
twists and turns.
Ether One is a very slow-paced game that gives little in the way of pointers, so it occasionally
really tests your patience.
If you’re not experienced walking simulator veteran I wouldn’t recommend this, but if
you’re experienced adventurer, this journey will bring you lots of fun.
Well, that’s it.
There are plenty more Walking Simulators in my list and I will definitely talk about them
in other release.
If you have some in mind, please share in the comments below and I will include them
in my second list.
And for now...
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