When most people think about open-world games, they often believe that more is better. More people, more buildings, more missions, more items, and more everything. House House has done the opposite of that and managed to make less better in their newest open-world puzzle game called Big Walk. This is both familiar and new territory for House House, so how have they managed to make an enjoyable co-op puzzle game set in an open world environment? Well, let’s dive in and find out!

For those who are unfamiliar with Big Walk, it is a game developed by the same creators of Untitled Goose Game. As a defining second game in their portfolio, and the one that put them on the map, it only makes sense that Big Walk would be no different from its top-down sibling in terms of sheer quirkiness. This time around, the quirks come in the form of the player characters and the various puzzles that are scattered throughout the world. Each player model is a rudimentary-looking biped with a rounded mouth, which gives it a bird-human hybrid appearance. As for the puzzles, well, they are harder to explain. Each of them is truly unique, with only a handful sharing common elements. Some are relatively straightforward, while others will have you scratching your head for longer than it should.

The overall design for the world is also rather peculiar. It is a mashup of two differing artistic choices; one focused on realistic-looking textures (such as the water, land, mountains, and other natural features) and the other focused on vibrant block designs that make up the various buildings and structures within the world. The distinct mishmash of these two art styles makes the world feel almost like a sandbox that you would play in as a child. While some may gawk at this choice or take some time to get used to it, I found it to fit perfectly with the charming nature of the puzzles. The charm continues with the fact that the game has rather funny-looking motions that you can use to solve a variety of puzzles and communicate with one another over long distances. 

I mentioned earlier that the puzzles in this game range in difficulty. There is no slider in Big Walk to determine how difficult they are; it is just how they are designed. Some are quite complex in design, but easy to solve, and others are the complete opposite. The one that my friend and I had a notoriously difficult time with was a basketball challenge where you had to score a point. While not so much a puzzle in the traditional sense, this did allow us to learn the physics of the game’s kicking system.

There are other puzzles where this knowledge would prove useful, as well as knowing how to emote and use the various tools that are scattered across the world. Throughout each stage, you have a set number of pawn-looking figures that you must collect to get a key. This key will unlock the next area of the world. It is also important to note that things slightly change based on how many players you have in a session, so you will have a different experience playing with one other person as opposed to three other people.

At the end of the day, one simple question has to be asked: is Big Walk fun? I would say yes, although you have to grab your best friends to have it. It is not possible to play this game on your own, and that is for the best. I believe that Big Walk would be rather dull if you were to play it entirely on your own, and that makes it difficult to rate. That being said, it would be interesting to see how this game would work out with a single-player mode or even playing on a couch with friends. Regardless, I believe that Big Walk is the game that we need at a time when people are getting more disconnected from each other despite the prevalence of the internet. If you are looking for other colorful games like Big Walk, consider checking out Alexx’s review of Teeto right here. 

A PC Review Copy of Big Walk was provided by House House for this review.

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Big Walk

19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Charming World Design
• Challenging Puzzles
• Quirky Gadgets and Controls

Cons

• Need The Right Friends To Enjoy The Game