Official PC Thread

[Frogacuda]

I think it's fine as a label for something like Dear Esther because that's basically all it is. If the game has any sort of puzzles, then I would just call it an adventure game.

It's a horrendous label regardless, because the point is not to simulate going for a walk in any of them. They're not simulators, they're stories. These are games that are universally driven by narrative and exploration, and those are the defining traits, not that you "walk around" in them. It's really stupid and deliberately derisive. It's like calling Monkey Island a "picking stuff up simulator."

There's also a lot of gray area. Like Ethan Carter is a game that absolutely does have puzzles, but it's still easy to see what it has in common with something like Gone Home or Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. It's open, with a story that has primarily already happened, that is pieced together through exploration and discovery... Almost all of these games are described by their creators as "exploration games" or some similar term ("exploration mystery," "exploration adventure," etc). I've yet to see one billed by its creators as a walking sim.

Tower defense and sports games are games though.

Is Phoenix Wright a game? Just because a game is focused mostly on story doesn't mean it's not a game. It's still an interactive experience with an objective that you can "win."

[NeoZeedeater]

Fair enough. I agree people use it as an insult. I think the insult is deserved in Dear Esther's case at least. Unlike Gone Home, there was virtually no exploration. It barely justified being interactive at all.

[Frogacuda]

Maybe, I never played it. But I still think it's likely to miss the intent of the game, even if the result is boring.

I did really enjoy The Stanley Parable, P.T., and Gone Home, which are squarely in that genre. I'm liking The Vanishing of Ethan Carter quite a bit too. The new save system in the Redux is a godsend, as the old save system is a big part of what made me stop playing last time through.

[James]

I really hated Dear Esther and want those couple hours of my life back. On the other hand, I loved Proteus. I don't do the "walk around and look at stuff" genre often, but there are good games in there.

[Hero]

It's really stupid and deliberately derisive.

You mean like how gamers felt so threatened they needed to coin "casual game(r)s?"

[James]

Yeah, so "walking simulators" as a phrase falls very much into the "casual gamer" camp. It's a term used by people who don't see the game as being worthy of being a "real" game.

[Diff-chan]

Something where you walk around and look at stuff is literally not a game. It's not a game any more than a people mover at the airport is a game.

[A Robot Bit Me]

People who stand still on the people mover make it a game.

[YellerDog]

I like the seat kicking bonus level that happens later.

[Frogacuda]

Something where you walk around and look at stuff is literally not a game. It's not a game any more than a people mover at the airport is a game.

Well there's generally a bit more to it than that. Like in Vanishing of Ethan Carter you have to look for clues and then piece together evidence, figure out squences of events, or some environmental puzzles. It's clearly a game, but it's a game that has no combat or indeed other people and exploration is a big focus. It's an adventure game by just about any definition.

Even something like Stanley Parable is a puzzle of sorts in that different thing happen base on different criteria and finding different endings is a challenge. Or in Gone Home you're not just going to walk straight to the end (it may be physiclly possible but no one would do it without previous knowledge of what to do). You're looking for clues and figuring out where to go. There's a mystery and an ending where you can win.

I haven't played every one of these games but the ones I'vd played aren't just walking around and looking at things with no object like, say Epic Citadel or some VR demos. They're all games with an objective and barriers of some sort and a way to win.

I have to wonder, which of these games have you actually played?