For my critical play, I played What Remains of Edith Finch, developed by Annapurna Interactive, on the iPhone. This is an adventure walking simulator for an audience of explorer gamers ages 12 and up, due to themes of death. Throughout What Remains of Edith Finch, the player plays as the titular character, and explores her old family home, walking through the house and discovering secrets about her deceased relatives. While there are some mini-games throughout the game, walking is the main mechanic, and atmosphere and narrative are prioritized to create the gameplay. I argue that What Remains of Edith Finch uses walking to tell a story by guiding players through backstory and narrative both chronologically and spatially. Additionally, the walking mechanic encourages players to pace the story how they want, putting power in the player’s hands.
What Remains of Edith Finch’s use of walking guides players through a narrative chronologically as well as spatially. As the player walks through the Finch property, the screen is populated with text to reveal backstory, and we hear Edith speaking to herself, corresponding with the text. Walking grounds the player in the story, and sets the chronological timeline, which aligns with the narrative “wave” described in class. The start of the game has the player walking into the property, while the character, her motivation, and the setting are established through textual and audible backstory. In the first several minutes of walking, the player learns that Edith’s brother has gone missing, and another one has died. It’s her first time back to the property in around 7 years, and her mother has given her a key, so she will use it to explore. Some of the backstory from the beginning of gameplay is displayed below:
As the game progresses, walking and space is used to delineate “levels” between different rooms of the house, which progress the narrative forward by acting as the struggles, or rising action, of the narrative wave. Most rooms contain artifacts that reveal backstory explaining one of the Finch relative’s life and demise, as well as a minigame to reveal this explanation. These artifacts are spread throughout the room, encouraging the player to walk around to discover this narrative. Below is an example of one minigame that reveals Barbara Finch’s life as a child star and early death, creatively through the use of a comic book:
While the walking mechanic establishes a timeline of the narrative, it also provides spatial information to the story. It does so by spreading the story spatially, so that it requires the player to move around and associate different plotlines to different areas. In What Remains of Edith Finch, backstories of different relatives are revealed in different relatives’ rooms of the house. For example, Barabara Finch’s backstory is revealed in her bedroom, Walter Finch’s in the underground bunker where he spent most of his life, etc. In this way, walking enriches the story by providing the player with more information about the narrative and allowing them to create a mental map of the story. This also creates the embedded nature of this story, as players are responsible for finding clues and uncovering the story behind the Finch family.
Furthermore, walking encourages players to pace the story how they want which puts the power in their hands and provides them with the three main necessities according to self-determination theory. In What Remains of Edith Finch, the walking mechanic allows the player to wander around the Finch property in their own time, however they would like. While there are hints that guide the player through specific rooms, the player is ultimately responsible for whatever route they take. Because of this, they are able to pace the story as fast or as slow as they wish. This power gives the player autonomy, the first need for self-determination, since they are free to choose their own adventure. The walking mechanic also provides competence for the player, as they navigate the Finch property and become more familiar and comfortable with the story, gameplay, and environment. Lastly, the walking gives the player relatedness, since it puts the power in their hands to find the clues that reveal backstory, and piece the Finch family story together. Each clue found by walking adds a little piece to the puzzle and connects past clues, creating relatedness, the last need in self-determination theory.
