Name of game: Year Walk
Creator: Swedish mobile game developer Simogo
Platform: iOS mobile device
Target audience: anyone who wants an adventure in ominous, spooky vibes
Important formal elements
- Players: single player vs. game
- Objective: exploration (played from a first-person perspective to explore an environment and discover a narrative about the game)
- Outcome: everybody wins, as they will eventually reach the end of the walk
- Resources: mobile phone interface, graphical display explorable environment
- Rules & procedures: explore the environment by panning, scrolling, and zooming. Interact with objects by tapping and examining them.
- Boundaries: the phone screen, and the virtual environment
Types of fun
- Narrative: players play the game to unveil and experience the mysterious story (goal met)
- Sensation: players play this game for the outstanding visuals and the music that engage their senses directly and give spooky vibes (goal met)
Moments of particular success/fails
- Success: When I passed by a tree with the image carved into it, I didn’t notice it was a puzzle at first, but eventually figured that it was indeed a puzzle, took out a paper to jot down the clues, and solved it successfully. The fact that puzzles are embedded in non eye-catching places is interesting.
- Fail: The narrative is about encountering a series of fairies and mythical creatures from Swedish folklore to find out the truth behind why the “Year Walk” is dangerous. However, I cannot personally relate to the game because to be honest, I have no interest in Swedish folklore. The graphics and music are nice, but I wish I could have related to it more culturally.
Things I would change to make the game better
- The fact that the game is in 2D first-person perspective, but simulates a 3D environment, makes it a little confusing. It really blurs the line between 2D and 3D (which I guess was on purpose?). But for me, this technique didn’t make the game better; it just made me feel dizzy. I would make the depth zoom continuous for a smoother experience.
- Walking simulations are long, and the player might get bored, no matter how good the story is. I would put in more popup scares to “wake” the player up in case they snooze.
