Over the past few years, as the walking simulator genre has gotten more and more popular. Emphasizing quiet contemplation and exploration over action and adversaries, the games are often more interactive stories than they are games. You roam around at your will, picking up subtle environmental clues that spur you where to go next. While not for everyone, these methodical, brainy experiences can be a refreshing change of pace from the usual button-mashers and shooters.
Here’s a look at the best walking simulators available right now:
5. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxbkL3N_fM
Publisher: The Astronauts
Developers: The Astronauts
Platforms: PS4, PC
A paranormal investigator journeys to a small Wisconsin town to seek out the disappearance of a 12-year-old boy. Mysterious forces are at work, sometimes twisting your perspective to the point where you may not be able to trust what you see. This is one of the creepier games on the market.
ORDER: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter here
4. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1tBl7upgDU
Publishers: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: The Chinese Room
Platforms: PS4, PC
Seemingly overnight, most everyone in a British village has disappeared, leaving only audio recordings, notes and a series of mysterious lights that figures to point the way toward what happened to everyone. Darkly spiritual undertones pulse throughout the lonesome voyage.
ORDER: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture here
3. Dear Esther
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7VJ4lP-05A
Publisher: The Chinese Room
Developer: The Chinese Room
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
A devastated, emotionally broken widower walks around an island, noticing things that spark narration of memories of his dead wife. While most walking simulators have a few puzzles and some interaction, this lacks those and is one of the more passive games on the market. As is the case in all these games, the writing carries the otherwise bland material.
ORDER: Dear Esther here
2. Gone Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5KJzLsyfBI
Publisher: The Fullbright Company
Developer: The Fullbright Company
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Set in 1995 and soaked in period detail, the game is set in a home in an Oregon town. You play a girl who has returned home after spending time away. As you rifle through filing cabinets, pictures and answering machine messages, you piece together what went on in the lives of your family members, unveiling subtly haunting mysteries.
ORDER: Gone Home here
1. Firewatch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02lhvvVSy8
Publisher: Panic
Developer: Campo Santo
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Camped out in a desolate Wyoming forest, your only source of human contact is a woman on the other end of a handheld radio. You learn about the area’s history, investigate oddities and find yourself generating an intense relationship with your long-distance colleague. Choices you make can influence the way the story plays out, leading to different endings.
ORDER: Firewatch here
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