That spuriously attributed Henry Ford quote comes for us all, in time. If asked back in 2019 what I’d want House House to follow up Untitled Goose Game with, I would have said “bastardier gooses”. I wouldn’t have suggested “co-op hangout game where you solve team puzzles and shout at your mates with a megaphone from halfway across an open world when you get lost”, but you know what? Now House House have explained Big Walk, I have to admit this a better idea than a terrorising hedgehog or whatever. There’s never been a good game about a hedgehog, and there never will be.
The first idea that House House have taken from something I’ve never consciously thought or cared about to something I now think is very neat is the way voice chat works. There’s the synced nose inflation, obviously, but there’s also lots of situational audio effects alongside proximity distance. Things like tunnels and walkie talkies alter how you sound, and there’s even soundproof glass for some of the team puzzles, which means you’ll need to invent your own systems of communication, such as scrawling symbols on portable whiteboards.
(Oooo. I could write like, a 4000 word article on emergent communication systems in Big Walk player communities. It would take me a year and six people would read it and I’d get all morose about it, but I’m making a note anyway.)
The proximity chat also has limits, so you’ll also need to find creative ways to communicate when you’ve wandered off from the group. Megaphones, more whiteboards, binoculars, flares, and so on. There’s also proximity text chat, if you fancy it.
Some other miscellaneous items I spotted: maps, cameras, glowing orbs, and possibly a jetpack at one point. More importantly, you can kick things, which officially qualifies big walk as an immersive sim. It’s out later this year. Do read Brendy’s deep dive into the rise of hangout games in the meantime. It’s got penguins in it.