Holidays and video games go very well together, but what is an even more perfect match are holidays and walking simulators, for the simple reason that the genre offers relaxing and often emotional experiences that help the player truly let go of everyday life.
Walking simulator games have the opportunity to be completely different from one another and the developers can really play with the artistic styles and the narrative direction they want to take them. Often, those very two things are what makes them stand out, and other times it is the intricacy of the interaction of the player with their surrounding environment that makes all the difference.
8 Journey
Gamers and non-gamers alike swear by this masterpiece of simplicity and relaxation. Journey has managed to do what a lot of walking simulators try but can’t quite achieve: an experience that challenges the very ideas of everyday life for the individual.
The player gets into a third-person adventure and has a chance to meet companions, fly, and make a magnificent scarf along the way. A faraway mountain is the end goal, but to get there, the players have to leave their ideas of how a walking simulator works, and let the game instruct them on how to live a new experience. Don’t be embarrassed if you feel like crying by the end – you’re not the only one.
7 Tacoma
For sci-fi fans and lovers of colorful designs alike, Tacoma is a walking simulator that lets the player explore an empty high-tech space station.
The year is 2088 and the clues are all there: the player has a chance to go through everything and find out how the crew lived and worked and how the station came to be empty through 3D recordings of important moments.
6 Sunlight
In 30 minutes, the player has the chance to explore a forest that has taken artistic direction from the paintings of expressionists and listen to the different voices of trees, as they come together to create a magnificent choir.
The only thing one has to do in order to enjoy this experience to the fullest is to have an open heart and a willingness to spend some time creating the most magnificent bouquet of their life. Extra points to the company because for every game purchased, a tree is being planted.
5 Thousand Threads
Simple, beautiful, and fun. All that somebody could want from a walking simulator, a Thousand Threads delivers. And in that same vein, this is one of the main jobs the player has to do: deliver mail to townsfolk, along with helping friends, fighting off enemies, and finding treasures.
While it has light elements of RPG, this game is mostly about observing NPCs and doing the odd job here and there, as fans get to know each of them and build a relationship. A perfect way to pass a couple of relaxing hours.
4 Year Walk
Not as relaxing as some others, but as immersive and interesting as walking simulators get. Year Walk lets the player explore the ancient Swedish tradition of walking through a forest, solving puzzles, finding mythical creatures, and going through different dimensions.
Sounds confusing? It is. But it is also simple to get and fun to play. How can it not be, when the player must get through dark woods in 19th-century Sweden? As for the artwork, only two words are needed: majestic and gothic.
3 The Long Dark
Although Long Dark falls right in the middle of survival games and walking simulators, it is such an amazing experience that it belongs to all the lists. The player should prepare some blankets, or even better, a blanket fort, and take some hours off in order to enjoy the worst the Canadian wilderness has to offer and have the best time.
The player has to think how they will survive as they walk, and walk, and…walk, and try to solve the mystery of the weird electromagnetic storms as well as some mysteries that surround a loved one from the protagonist's past and the people she’s trying to save. From what? Well, it’s a mystery.
2 Abzu
When gamers get tired of walking simulators, what do they do? They go on a diving simulator. It’s a thing. Abzu comes from AB meaning water and ZU meaning to know. It is a game that makes the player know the water, and it lures them to try out fantastical acrobatic moves inside the deep ocean. It is a full and deep exploration of hundreds of species of marine life and each of them uniquely responds to the player as they explore more and more.
As for music and graphics, Abzu creates what feels like a choreography full of colors and majestic fluidity. Plus, it is a perfect game for players that are somewhat beginners and want to explore what gaming can give them.
1 Gone Home
The hero visits a place they know very well, a place called home. In Gone Home though, the version of their beloved house is empty and nobody from their family is there, with no explanations given.
No rock should be left unturned, and no door left unopened if the player wants to unravel the mystery of what happened there, back in the 90s. It doesn’t have any puzzles or combat, so it is just the player and their imagination when it comes to using the objects and understanding the story.