Journey is a game by Annapurna Interactive, my absolute favorite video game company.
Journey is a walking sim that situates the player in the middle of the desert with no instructions laid out, and as you walk around you can unlock different powers such as flying etc. By walking towards the shiny objects. The game is rated E, but I think the main target audience is going to older and more mature audiences – around 15+ – because younger audiences tend to be more impatient and love action and drama and this game can be very confusing and slow at some points (but then it picks up almost immediately after, when you least expect it to!)
Some types of fun evoked by this game include sensation, challenge, and discovery. The game is very beautifully designed and is great for players looking especially for sensation and discovery.
The game mechanics are simple and only include walking, flying, viewing, and chanting the secret chant. At some points, the game makes the phone vibrate, and there are two touch controllers on the screen which help you control the player. The sand dunes and the desert sun are all beautifully pictured and the vast expanse and emptiness of the desert is evoked by the lack of direction in playing this game (they don’t even start you off with a particular objective!) All of this enhances the “sensation” type of fun because it makes a player feel like they really are in this beautiful desert, flying, climbing, and running around which is a captivating experience (although for me it was that as well as anxiety-ridden).
The “discovery” type of fun is evoked by this game because, as you walk around you discover new things about the desert around you. There’s a number of red flying flags floating around which grant you special powers if you can find and chase them. The desert is vast and the more you walk, the more you see unexplored areas that you didn’t know existed earlier. All of these elements add to the sense of discovery players feel when they enter this game environment.
The “challenge” type of fun is evoked in the way that the rules are hidden and players have to work to figure out what the goal is by walking, and then additionally try to fulfill that goal to advance to the next level.
Overall, this game successfully masters the types of fun it seeks to evoke. I don’t think I would play it again, as I hate “discovery” types of fun and always prefer a fixed set of rules to follow, but I can see why people love this.
