Big Walk

Genre: First-Person Open-World Puzzle

Players: 2-12 Co-Op (Online)

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Review:

I admit I wasn’t as enamored with developer House House’s breakthrough hit Untitled Goose Game in the same way many others were. I thought it was a good game, but didn’t fall in love with it the way the entire world seemed to do. So when I saw their follow-up was some oddball multiplayer… thing? Well, I didn’t pay much attention. Having now played Big Walk, I can say without hesitation that I was wrong to do so.

Released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2, it’s hard to fully describe what this game is because there’s nothing quite like it, but I’ll try. First, you take the online co-op focus of games like Peak, but instead of tense Platforming, this is focused on Open-World exploration, with puzzle-solving akin to The Witness, albeit without the focus on line-drawing puzzles… yeah, I think I’m just making things more confusing.

Let me try again.

Big Walk can only be played in co-op in private lobbies, so you’ll need to bring friends. Thankfully, the game supports cross-play across different platforms, and it’s relatively inexpensive at $20. Before starting, you’re instructed to communicate exclusively through the game itself, rather than chatting via Discord or playing via local wireless so you can communicate in person while you play – communication is a key part of the gameplay in Big Walk, and using other means to communicate with others kinda’ misses the point of the game.

Once starting a game, you and up to eleven friends will find yourself starting the game in a building offering players basic instructions for how to play. You can point with one or both hands, move one or both hands to your sides, raise one or both hands above your head. You can jump, squat, sit, and run. You can use the Nintendo Switch 2 microphone to speak with nearby players (which works quite well when talking to one person nearby, but progressively worse the farther away they are or the more people trying to talk at once). You can use an empty hand to press a button, pick up an object, or pick up another player. You can use the object in your hand, drop it, toss it, or kick it away. And that’s about it – without any additional instruction, you make your way out of the building, finding yourself on a massive island.

One thing that quickly becomes clear is that every player can only hold one object at a time, and each object has its own uses that will help you to communicate and find your way. Early on, you find cowbells that you can ring to signal others nearby as to where you are, and big glowing balls you can use to light up the surrounding area when day turns to night. Not long after, you’ll find floodlights that can be used for semaphore or light up dark areas, laser lights that can point folks to a specific spot, and walkie-talkies that can enable players to speak across great distances.

Gradually, you’ll find a wide variety of puzzles spread across the island that must be solved. These can vary from a switch that one person must press to open a box at the other end of a valley for another player to access, or a bowling ball too heavy to move while holding. These puzzles are wildly varied, but all have one thing in common – they require at least two people to complete, and require a bit of deduction to figure out. And while you don’t usually need a specific tool or item to complete puzzles and all puzzles can apparently be completed with only two people, having more people and some items can help, particularly with communications and logistics.

I played in a group of six people, and we ended up generally splitting into three groups – one pair searching for and solving puzzles in one spot, one trio solving puzzles elsewhere, and one player acting as mission control atop a tower using a combination of a radio and a laser pointer to direct the other players.

This was an absolute delight, with fantastic puzzles that didn’t hold players’ hands but weren’t exceptionally difficult, a great sense of exploration as we discovered more of the island and more puzzles to tackle, and truly excellent co-op mechanics that really make working with the other players to complete tasks a great experience (at least, it was with my friends).

That’s not to say there aren’t flaws. The platforming in this game, such as it is, is pretty terrible, and it’s easy to get caught on scenery. It’s often difficult to tell who is talking at any given time, and their voices become tough to hear even a short distance away.

Then there’s also the presentation, which is a bit of a mixed bag. Even though this game isn’t doing anything technically impressive with its 3D visuals, I noticed a fair amount of pop-in and even some framerate drops at times. On the other hand, the sound design in this game is excellent, with all of the strange devices and tools having distinctive sounds, with a lot of environmental sounds grounding players in the space, and you can even hear your voice echo when you shout out from some spots, a really nice touch. Outside of the menu, the only music here is largely diegetic, but it makes for a nice break from the otherwise relative quiet of the game.

Not everyone will be able to enjoy Big Walk, simply because not everyone will be able to rustle up friends to play with. However, if you can, I strongly recommend you play this game. It’s a wonderful blend of cooperation, exploration, and puzzle-solving that still has me smiling as I write this.

tl;dr – Big Walk is a family-friendly online-only multiplayer-focused Open-World First-Person Puzzle game that has up to twelve players exploring a massive island, solving co-op puzzles together, and trying to communicate as they work on goals throughout the game. This is a true delight of a co-op experience that perfectly blends the cooperation, exploration, and puzzle-solving, with a focus on effectively communicating with other players. You need to have friends to join you online to play this game, but if you can grab one or two or ten friends to hop into this game with you, I wholeheartedly recommend it – this game is an absolute delight.

Grade: A

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