Creating a good walking simulator is something only talented storytellers can do. This is a genre where you cannot hide a half-assed game behindcool mechanicsor impressive graphics.
These games are very different from one another, but they share a love for worldbuilding andstorytellingthat makes them unique.
This approachto game development can make some of these titles less replayable, butwalking simulators this good do not need more than one playthroughto leave a lasting mark on you.
10Dear Esther
Loneliness Feels Good
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
The desolate Outer Hebrides in Scotland are the stage for one of the simplest yet most beautiful walking simulators.
The developers atThe Chinese Roomhave set forth a simple goal: walk across the island, and the game will do the rest.
Dear Estherlets you slowly unfurl the mysteries and stories at your own pace, and it leaves you time to absorb the gorgeous world around you.
This is a purist’s interpretation of a walking simulatorin the best way possible.
9Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
A Masterpiece of Sound and Vision
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
It is the end of the world as we know it, and you get to watch the aftermath from a sleepy village in Shropshire, East Midlands.
For such a grim opening premise, it feels strange to acknowledge that Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is one of the most peaceful gaming experiences you will ever have.
The pace in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture feels deceptively slow, but it sweeps you in as you progress through the acts.
This is a cinematic experience loaded with emotions, so bring some tissues, and give your best friend a call after you finish playing.
Inspecting a Crumbling City
The world of INFRA puts you in the shoes of a civil engineer determined to follow a thread all the way to its source.
You have to make your way through derelict structures with your trusty camera in hopes of uncovering uncomfortable truths about your city’s infrastrcuture… if you survive, that is.
What makes the world of INFRA so endearing is that you are nothing more than a public servant performing objectively boring tasks, but in a context where these affect the lives of thousands of people.
It is a love letter to civil engineers, wrapped in an engaging walking simulator full of challenging puzzles.
7The Invincible
A Love-Letter to Hard Sci-Fi
The Invincible
Polish hard sci-fi author Stanisław Lem has redefined the genre, and Polish heavy-hitters 11 bit studios (ofThis War of MineandFrostpunkfame) have helped Starward Industries take his legacy to the digital world.
The story takes place on the desolate planet of Regis III, where astrobiologist Dr. Yasna comes to alone experiencing severe memory loss.
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The Invinciblegives you a box of tools anda beautiful environment that is held together by diegetic game design.
you’re able to only see what your character sees. Your footsteps are heavy because of the bulky spacesuit. Your field of vision is limited by the sides of your helmet, which fogs up with your breath.
The only way to survive in Regis III isto explore, andThe Invinciblemakes that a joy even at its tensest moments.
Cooperative Artwork
This game is all about exploration, putting you (and your super cool outfit) in the world of Journey.
You get to glide over ruins while listening to one of the most iconic soundtracks in gaming history (we are talking ‘Grammy nomination’ good).
Unlike most walking simulators that are exclusively single player experiences, Journey stands out by having collaborative multiplayer elements.
It is possible to complete the entire game with another player, with the bittersweet catch that you never find out who your friend is. It truly is about the Journey, and not the destination.
5The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
An Open World of Possibilities
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Walking simulators are no strangers to open world settings, butThe Vanishing of Ethan Carterexecutes this with a purpose that is rarely seen.
The start of this paranormal adventure drops you off into the world with a clear message: figure everything out yourself.
If that is often considered hostile or lazy game design in other titles,The Vanishing of Ethan Cartermakes the exploration more exciting.
The premise seems simple enough: little Ethan Carter writes to his hero, a paranormal investigator (you), asking for his assnstance. When you reach his home, he is no longer there. The answers are all around for you to find.
4Firewatch
A Boring Job Meets Burning Curiosity
Picture this cocktail:comedy, mystery, and the desolate wildernessof Wyoming.
Firewatchdeveloper Campo Santo has reached perfect harmony between these elements, tied together by a little yellow handheld radio.
You step into the shoes of Henry, a mess of a man trying to find peace in the troubled year of 1989 as a fire lookout.
As your supervisor Delilah succinctly puts it, your job is to “stay there and watch,” but sometimes things get out of hand and a fire lookout needs to get his hands dirty.Firewatchmakes the process relaxing with the right amount of thrills.
3Death Stranding
Saving Humanity, One Delivery at a Time
Death Stranding
Humanity ison the brink of extinction, andthe only person capable of saving it is the equivalent of an immortal Doordash guyplayed by Norman Reedus.
The premise ofDeath Strandingis equal parts strange and fascinating, a trademark of Hideo Kojima titles.
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The game requires inventory management, personal hygiene, base building, and even combat, but whereDeath Strandingshines is walking.
You face complex terrain andsome of the most refined walking and climbing physics in videogame history, where taking the shortest path or doing every cargo run in one go could be catastrophic.
Horrors Live Under the Sea
The joyful chants of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid paint life underwater as idyllic, but Frictional Games had different ideas when creatingSOMA.
The game hasan elegantly grotesque take on humanity, plunging you into an underwater facility where you are alone but far from the only sentient being.
PATHOS-II has no contact with the outside world, and the secrets it holds are grim, but it asks the right questions about what it means to be.
SOMAis a walking simulator mixed with elegant psychological horror, relying on asking troubling questions instead of jumpscares to drive fear into your soul.
If the occasional fright is not your thing,SOMAhas a ‘Safe Mode’where you’re able to explore without enemy encounters.
1What Remains of Edith Finch
Childlike Joy and Mystery Reimagined
What Remains of Edith Finch
If the title did not make that clear enough,What Remains of Edith Finchputs you in the shoes of the little Edith Finch. You are in your family’s mansion, but your loved ones are nowhere to be seen.
The only way to trace their whereabouts is towalk through the home in search of clues, and that is whereWhat Remains of Edith Finchshines.
The game is a narrative masterpiece that goes all in on taking the wildest reaches of your imagination and turning it into something tangible.
Playing throughEdith’s story is a rollercoaster of emotions that every game should experience at least once.
