With its whimsical score paired against a gorgeous island rife with puzzles and secrets to explore, House House’s surprise summer banger Big Walk has been a lovely breath of fresh air. You and up to 12 friends find yourselves on an island where your objective is to simply explore and unlock more regions of the map for even more exploring. There’s no combat, no survival mechanics, not even fall damage. You need simply collaborate with your friends to solve a series of puzzles and see what the next adventure holds. This is not the first game to utilize this concept, and if you’re enjoying Big Walk, there are a few other games we definitely recommend checking out.
Chained Together
A very silly and very absurd game, but one bound to bring a lot of laughs (while maybe ending a few friendships). You and up to three other friends are all chained together, as the title implies, and must escape Hell by climbing up a series of absurd obstacles until you reach the end. The game requires precise coordination and tight mechanics with your friends. One mistake could send you all spiraling back down to the bottom and starting all over. While it isn’t the same wholesome exploration romp that you get with Big Walk, Chained Together provides the same laughs and cooperation with your friends to achieve victory.
Core Keeper
While Core Keeper is a little more structured than the previously mentioned games, it rewards that level of precision and creativity in a way just as satisfying as any of them. You and your friends find yourself in a dark underground world and an ancient core that seems to wield magical properties. You build a settlement around this core and slowly expand your enterprise, going from simple farming tools to advanced machinery capable of mining, smelting, and sorting your materials for you. It’s a great way to unwind with friends at the end of the day, or to all load up with your armor and weapons and venture beyond your gates to see what treasures await.
Spiritfarer
Though not a co-op game in the traditional sense, Thunder Lotus’ Spiritfarer is a heartwarming and at times soul-crushing narrative about death. You take on the role of Stella, the new “Spiritfarer” who is tasked with attending to spirits as they prepare to fully pass on. Your ship doubles as a home for the spirits, and you travel across an ethereal landscape in search of more souls and to discover the secrets of the souls already in your care. If you want a more narrative-driven experience along with exploration, this one is definitely worth playing.
Journey
While this one is shorter than most, capping out at around 90 or so minutes, Journey is a beautiful game about the joys of exploration more than discovery. While you can’t co-op with friends, you can find yourself sharing an instance with other players, working together with zero dialogue to explore the landscape and ultimately make your way up the mountain. With no tags to identify each other, the experience is basically anonymous, but provides a unique experience of camaraderie you won’t find in other games. Journey provides a breath of fresh air and peace in a world that often feels convoluted and overwhelming, and can be played again and again to simply enjoy the ride.
Outer Wilds
The less you know about Mobius Games’ Outer Wilds, the better, and that is what most players will tell you. Outer Wilds is a solo player experience that leans into nonlinear storytelling, rewarding players who explore the world with more knowledge about the world itself. There is no right or wrong way to play the game, much like there is no right or wrong way to play Big Walk. The game simply needs to be experienced, and the more you uncover, the more you will be motivated to explore. That’s all we can really say, other than to emphasize in no uncertain terms: play this game. It will be the best decision you’ve ever made.
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