Big Walk Is One Of The Best Co-Op Games Ever Made

In the three years since Big Walk was first announced, the gaming community has struggled to categorize this unique experience. Critics and players alike have attempted to label it as a co-op walking simulator, a puzzle-adventure game, or even the increasingly popular term “friendslop.” However, after spending more than twenty hours exploring its Australian Outback-inspired world, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Big Walk defies conventional classification. By masterfully stripping down the gaming medium to its most essential elements, developer House House has created an experience that welcomes both newcomers and veteran gamers to rebuild the experience from scratch, discovering its mysterious world alongside their friends. Whatever category Big Walk ultimately belongs to, one descriptor fits perfectly: unforgettable.

At its core, Big Walk is a first-person experience designed for groups of two to twelve players, centered entirely on walking and talking with friends. Players embody charmingly vague humanoid characters—imagine multicolored snowmen with elongated noses and noodly appendages—as they trek across a vast, open island. The primary objective involves hunting down nameless MacGuffins by solving an abundance of inventive puzzles together. This intentionally minimalist setup conceals remarkable depth that reveals itself gradually as players invest more time in exploring the island’s secrets.

House House Brings Untitled Goose Game Philosophy to Multiplayer

House House, the Melbourne-based studio behind the viral sensation Untitled Goose Game, has applied their signature design philosophy to Big Walk with remarkable results. The studio’s previous work demonstrated their ability to create memorable experiences through simplicity and charm, and Big Walk represents an evolution of these principles applied to multiplayer gaming. The game begins in a starting area resembling a playground or children’s gym, filled with buttons to push, vibrant bouncy objects to manipulate, and climbable surfaces. This space serves as an organic tutorial where players discover everything they need to know about the game’s mechanics, from expressive body gestures to proximity chat functionality and the physics governing the world.

The tutorial structure elegantly guides players through the first four puzzles in a limited section of the island. Groups seek these challenges deep in woods, atop hills, or along beaches, working together to solve them and unlock corresponding MacGuffins. Placing these rewards in a central console unlocks virtually the entire rest of the island simultaneously, granting players complete freedom to chart their own course. Unlike Peak, another popular cooperative game that Big Walk is often compared to, this island is entirely handcrafted rather than randomly generated—and the difference is immediately apparent. Every inch of the world feels intentional, from switchbacks down mountainsides that offer tantalizing glimpses of far-off landmarks to discoverable radio stations playing unique songs that players can carry with them on their journey.

Dynamic Puzzle Scaling Adapts to Party Size

One of Big Walk’s most impressive technical achievements is its dynamic scaling system that adjusts puzzles based on group size. The host maintains save data across sessions, allowing players to join or drop out as needed, while different versions of the island exist for parties of two, three, or four-plus players. Each puzzle receives slight tweaks to accommodate varying team sizes, ensuring that every group faces an appropriate challenge regardless of their numbers. Some puzzles become easier with more minds working together, while others become delightfully chaotic—one early challenge functions essentially as a basketball hoop with large bouncy lights serving as the ball, and larger groups will inevitably knock away each other’s shots until someone takes command and establishes order.

The visual language of Big Walk achieves remarkable clarity from the very first moments. However, everything beyond these fundamentals emerges from a foundation that players build together with their friends, establishing their own vocabulary and body language in an intuitive, organic way that many other games seem afraid to embrace. In one family’s playthrough, they began calling the dozens of MacGuffins “eggy things” due to their shape, while their characters became known as “walklings.” As the hazy semblance of a narrative unfolded, they made sense of it in their own terms—exactly as House House intended. The developers deliberately filled the world with fundamental gaming objects and objectives while adding nothing definitive beyond that, trusting players to create meaning for themselves.

No HUD, No Markers, Just Discovery

Big Walk’s world communicates entirely through itself. There are no quest markers or on-screen prompts, no stamina or health bars to manage. Every aspect of the game exists within its world, and every discovery feels genuinely earned. Players receive no lore dumps or explanations about who they are or why they’re solving puzzles on an apparently uninhabited island. The contrast between realistic landscapes and cartoonishly colored structures of various shapes and sizes creates visual intrigue, while the developers trust each friend group to carve out their own adventure, letting curiosity guide them through hours of shared learning.

The puzzle design demonstrates extraordinary range and sophistication. Some challenges demand close collaboration with precisely timed actions and coordinated button presses, while others require groups to split up for extended periods across great distances—making reunification its own satisfying puzzle to solve. Many puzzles deliberately inhibit communication, such as one where a player trapped behind soundproof glass must relay information visible only to them. The game focuses on approximately six to eight core concepts, but House House consistently returns to each idea with clever new wrinkles that keep the experience fresh throughout.

One particularly devious puzzle forced a player to wear a blinding helmet while teammates guided them through a treacherous obstacle course using only vocal instructions. Hours later, the same helmet reappeared with new rules requiring the wearer to transport specific objects to designated locations—meaning the group first had to identify the correct objects before the blinded player could begin following instructions. This layered approach to puzzle design creates memorable moments that reward both individual skill and group coordination.

Emotional Depth Through Shared Experience

The cooperative gaming landscape has expanded dramatically in recent years, with titles like It Takes Two, Overcooked, and various “friendslop” games demonstrating the market’s appetite for shared experiences. However, Big Walk occupies a unique position within this ecosystem. It doesn’t embrace the slapstick sabotage that defines many party games, nor does it rely on competitive elements to generate excitement. Instead, the true highlight emerges from shared joys of exploration and overcoming obstacles through thoughtful communication and teamwork. There’s significantly more stopping and thinking in Big Walk than its title might suggest—players will walk plenty, but they’ll talk even more.

The game proves remarkably well-polished, with virtually no technical issues interrupting the experience. One family reported only a single bug during their entire playthrough, which actually created an accidentally hilarious moment when a player’s character became stuck in a folding chair, allowing the group to carry them around like royalty. This level of polish reflects House House’s commitment to delivering a seamless experience that removes all barriers between players and the meaningful interactions the game seeks to facilitate.

The only significant caveat involves the proximity chat system, which functions as a core design pillar rather than an optional feature. Using external communication tools like Discord would effectively bypass many puzzles’ intentional friction, particularly during moments when proximity chat is designed to fail. Players must commit to the intended experience to unlock Big Walk’s full potential—similar to playing a horror game with the lights on, the experience remains enjoyable but never reaches its full power.

Big Walk’s incredible focus culminates in a final sequence that encapsulates everything players will have learned throughout their journey in genuinely mind-blowing ways. Families who spend dozens of hours together solving difficult puzzles and inventing shared languages will find the finale asks them to synthesize every lesson learned. The area masterfully fuses repeated actions of experimenting and exploring with emotional undercurrents that rise purposefully to the surface. The very last scene delivers a surprisingly bittersweet moment with remarkable emotional impact, whether playing with children, partners, or lifelong friends. Big Walk takes fundamental, timeless gaming concepts and shapes them through intensely focused cooperative play into something singularly rewarding, supremely mysterious, and completely unforgettable.

Why Big Walk Matters for Co-Op Gaming

Common Questions About Big Walk