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What are the best walking simulators?

Duchess

Member
Is Observer any good? I've had it on my wishlist for a while. The whole horror / cyberpunk theme is quite appealing.
 

Sophist

Member
Ihatovo Monogatari (1993, Super Famicom). The game revisits the stories of Kenji Miyazawa. There is nothing to do excep reading and exploring. The OST is great. A precursor to games like To The Moon.


 

anthony2690

Banned
Probably what remains of Edith Finch, the only one I've finished and didn't think mid way though, I'd rather wait paint dry.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Journey. Kinda. You don't do much else in it. But it also doesn't really tell an actual story, which I suppose is an important part of this genre.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Time to make a running simulator thread as well.

Mad Max Reaction GIF
That's easy, the Cruise Missile.
tom cruise running GIF
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Yes it is!

As soon as you spend more than 70% of your time walking around the game is a walking simulation.
So every FPS and 3rd person are walking sims?

In DS, it starts off very little compared to the rest of the game in scope. I would say 15-20% or so (and gives the illusion well, and a masterclass well played trope by Kojima), then you get a bike and all these cool traversal gadgets, etc..
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I hate the term, it's meant as pejorative/derisive. But anyway,

Gone Home,
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Lone Echo
The Stanley Parable

Telltale and Quantic Dreams the thread?
Those are narrative adventure games, not walking simulators.
 
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Dreamfall duology are amazing and evokes a mood that other games just dont recapture.

SOMA is one of the best horror walking sim ever. The underwater station is better than Bioshocks Rapture and when you get to the endgame it really feels fucking horrifying ( you know it when you get to it).

Lis and Lis Before the Storm for that cozy small town murder mysery vibe.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
I look at all open world games as “walking simulators” you can debate all you want, I look forward to the walking sections of games like twilight princess or Horizon.
 

Three

Member
My personal favourite is Everybody's gone to the rapture. I have a soft spot for the Shropshire'esque British countryside village it's based in, since I grew up in that neck of the woods as a kid.

The world design is brilliant, and ever so british. The nostalgia is thick. Not to mention the story is really quite intriguing as you go through the game finding new audio tapes and tidbits of information leading up to the ending.

I loved it so much I got the platinum despite the horrendously slow movement speed + several playthroughs to get it.
The graphics and setting is amazing but after a while it felt like you're walking in a jar of honey and want to get places faster.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Dreamfall duology are amazing and evokes a mood that other games just dont recapture.

SOMA is one of the best horror walking sim ever. The underwater station is better than Bioshocks Rapture and when you get to the endgame it really feels fucking horrifying ( you know it when you get to it).

Lis and Lis Before the Storm for that cozy small town murder mysery vibe.
Dreamfall aren't really walking simulators, walking sims have minimal combat at puzzle elements, but also minimal active dialog or cinematics.

Games like Walking Dead or Detroit are narrative games, they're mostly focused on dialog and choice, not exploration and environmental storytelling.

Dreamfall is neither, especially the second one which is a straight up adventure game.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
I love "walking sims". No point arguing semantics, but I guess this stands for fpp adventure, exploration-heavy games with puzzles and no combat. Best recommendations already in the thread, if anyone really needs to play only one - go for SOMA.
 
The only one I've ever played that I really thought was excellent was SOMA - assuming that qualifies. I've enjoyed some others to a degree, but all the rest have been middling experiences. It's certainly not my favorite genre.
 

wipeout364

Member
The only one I've ever played that I really thought was excellent was SOMA - assuming that qualifies. I've enjoyed some others to a degree, but all the rest have been middling experiences. It's certainly not my favorite genre.
I don’t think SOMA is a walking simulator. At least my understanding of what one is, but SOMA was a great game I agree.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I love "walking sims". No point arguing semantics, but I guess this stands for fpp adventure, exploration-heavy games with puzzles and no combat. Best recommendations already in the thread, if anyone really needs to play only one - go for SOMA.
Walking sims are lean on puzzles as well. Like that's the whole point of the term is that it's a game with basically no mechanics.
 

22:22:22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
I liked that firebase or something? The one in the woods with the walkytalky

Also Halo CE or BTB maps without vehicles
 
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The ones that I've played and remember:
- Observer
- Call of Cthulhu
- Outlast 1
- Outlast 2
- Amnesia A Machine for Pigs (it feels a lot more "walking sim" than the first one)

And as you said, Soma, PT and What Remains are pretty good.

I don't know if I would consider Death Stranding and Hellblade as walking sims, but I really loved those games too.

How are any of these "walking simulators" ??? They are intense horror games. Do you know what games are regarded as a walking sim? From that list matbe Observer can fit but the rest...lol.
 
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marjo

Member
Not sure if it qualifies as a walking simulator, but I really enjoyed Life Is Strange: True Colors.
 

Shmunter

Member
I must offer a critical tip for anyone jumping into Everybody's Gone To The Rapture. Play it with subtitles. It helps tremendously in understanding the characters and stories. Being ghostly figures it can be difficult to keep track of who’s saying what otherwise.
 

Amiga

Member
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a favorite of mine.
Oxenfree is one of the best
Enjoyed The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and The Unfinished Swan at their time.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
This thread makes me wonder why indie games have this trend of being named real vaguely in an effort to be intriguing and sophisticated and including some randos name, denoting it's a deep personal story about pathos and shit. Like

Doctor Edward's Timepiece
The Grandfather of Thurston
Delilah's Acre
Arthur's Late Book Return
Jenna Jameson's Eggplant
Etc
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
Death Stranding has running, jumping, climbing, gunplay, stealth, building and vehicles.

I guess fortnite is a walking simulator.

Some of you people are bitter and it shows.
 

Melchiah

Member
Aside from What Remains of Edith Finch and PT, I'd recommend these...

  • Journey
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (the only downside is the story conclusion)
  • The Unfinished Swan (arguable, from the same studio as What Remains of Edith Finch)
  • Bound (also arguable)
  • Firewatch
  • Flower
  • Call of the Sea (the downside is the amount of puzzles pausing your journey)
  • The Town of Light (somewhat clunky and not a looker, but good atmosphere and story)
  • Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (the downside is the excruciatingly slow moving speed, that doesn't really fit exploring large areas)
  • Dear Esther (same as above)

Personally, I wouldn't call run & hide horror games like Outlast walking simulators, as your progress is constantly blocked by trial and error chases that result with a game over screen, just like games with combat.
 
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BabyYoda

Banned
What remains of Edith Finch blew me away! Hellblade is not a walking simulator, but that also blew me away and I'm not easily impressed.
 

Jaybe

Member
By definition:
Walking simulators, or environmental narrative games, are narrative games that generally eschew any type of gameplay outside of movement and environmental interaction that allow players to experience their story through exploration and discovery.

It’s not a walking simulator like most posted so far, but regarding achieving bolded in your definition, don’t sleep on the Telltale games The Walking Dead 1 and 2. I also hear The Wolf Among Us is excellent. For the more popular definition of walking sim, I’d recommend What remains of Edith finch, and Firewatch though it fails to stick the landing.
 
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