“Big Walk” from House House is a multiplayer puzzle game that’s all about communication. Up to 12 players explore an open island together, solving puzzles and finding secrets in a relaxed co-op experience. 

The puzzles in “Big Walk” are simple, but there’s a good variety. Each puzzle requires you to figure out new ways to communicate with your friends. Players decide at a moment’s notice how to convey information, almost like making a new language for each puzzle. Items, terrain, and even the characters’ body language can all be used to solve each puzzle. 

Proximity chat not only encourages players to stay together as often as possible, but it’s also funny hearing shouts of frustration or surprise in the distance, or fading away as your friend falls down a cliff. 

The game map is filled with serene, chill spots that are designed to sit and enjoy with a friend. A game like “Big Walk” wants you to stop and smell the roses and have a good time. It’s not about solving all the puzzles; it’s about hanging with your friends. 

Some puzzles overstayed their welcome. Being a simple puzzle game, I wouldn’t want the challenges to be too repetitive if they’re going to take more than a couple minutes. The world itself already encourages connection between players; forced, prolonged instances of it were a bit too much. “Big Walk” got dangerously close to being boring a few too many times.

Interestingly, playing “Big Walk” was the first time in over 20 years of gaming that I experienced motion sickness while playing. I discovered it was common enough that House House included optional overlays to give your eyes a fixed frame of reference to avoid nausea. It shouldn’t have been needed, but it was nice to have. 

“Big Walk” is a fun adventure to enjoy with friends. It’s a surprisingly poignant experience that asks the player to slow down and appreciate the world and others around them, which is increasingly rare in video games. There are some things that could be changed to make it slightly better, but it’s still a good time.