Big Walk Screenshot
Image: House House & Panic

I love when small studios take big creative swings. Where do House House, developers of Untitled Goose Game (a single-player adventure about raising havoc as a horrible goose), go after that hit? On a long hike through the Australian outback with friends, apparently. Big Walk, first announced two years ago, is a co-op hiking adventure set in a hand-crafted environment. Part sightseeing, part Myst-esque puzzler, part playground just to goof around in, and initial reviews are calling it one of the best co-op games in years.

Unlike the panicky roguelike Peak, Big Walk seems to be a much more relaxing experience. The player characters are invulnerable, noodly-limbed little goobers with noses that inflate when you talk. There's no fail-state (beyond getting hopelessly lost in the wilds), and there's no HUD to be seen. The only traditional interface takes the form of diegetic in-world devices to fiddle with. Some are portable (like walkie-talkies), and others are built into the world, like a map room for planning your next expedition.

There's no traditional story being told here, but there is an ending to work to, slowly piecing together how the game's many open-world puzzles work and what they point you towards. House House have been open from the start that this is a game about communication. Whether that's talking, using gestures, or trying to blink Morse code messages to each other using a flashlight, you're meant to be conveying ideas between each other, and, as several reviews have pointed out, every group is liable to build up their own language, as the game doesn't give you official names for any of the locations or items you'll encounter.

While the game is designed for co-op, your group size can vary in Big Walk. The game's puzzles subtly change depending on whether you've got two or more players available, up to a chaotic cap of 12. That's a nice idea, and it's good to know that dynamic duos (or couples out for a scenic virtual hike) won't be missing much. The store page does warn that 12 players is likely to be an absolute mess, though, so perhaps aiming a little lower is the way to go. That said, I know some groups that are absolutely going to max out that player count, and I'm curious to see whether this'll speed up their path to the ending, or hold them back.

Big Walk is out now for £16/$20, with a sizable 25% launch discount that goes even further if you already own the chaotic co-op mountaineering game PEAK. What it doesn't come with is buddies to play with or a matchmaking system - you'll have to provide your own friends, I'm afraid.