This post examines how “walking games” like Journey, created by thatgamecompany (and which I played on iOS), tell stories without any combat or violence that fundamentally shapes narrative delivery and player experience in other games like Call of Duty by Activision. By centering its design around peaceful movement and environmental connection, Journey encourages contemplation, connection, and emotional resonance.
Journey tells its story mainly through the act of walking. As players guide their robed figure across sweeping sand dunes and toward a distant mountain, the game communicates only through visual storytelling and environmental design. When I played this game, I noticed that the mechanics of walking are deliberately designed to evoke emotion. The character’s graceful movements across sand, sometimes struggling uphill, sometimes sliding joyfully downward, communicate the emotional arc of the journey without requiring spoken word. The walking forces players to engage with the environment and really take in their surroundings rather than dominate it or relegate it to the background. When another player appears in the game, the only means of communication are movement and musical notes, connecting the players intimately and peacefully.
In stark contrast, Call of Duty uses violence as its primary narrative vehicle. When I played this game on PS5, I saw that it placed players in high-stakes combat scenarios where progression comes only through successful application of force. Applying the MDA framework, Call of Duty’s mechanics of shooting, taking cover, and tactical positioning create dynamics of risk assessment and strategic planning. The resulting aesthetics of tension and accomplishment makes it so that violence is the language through which the game communicates with players.
The exclusion of violence in Journey fundamentally transforms how its story unfolds. Without combat, players focus on environmental storytelling, and its effectiveness stems from what it removes from the traditional game formula. Playing Journey after experiencing combat-heavy games like Call of Duty made me feel more relaxed and at peace. Rather than using violence to create a feedback loop where kills are rewarded, Journey emphasizes connection, exploration, and environmental storytelling. This shows that mechanics themselves carry ethical weight: choosing what actions to make available to players is itself a form of moral statement about how we should interact with worlds, real or virtual.
In conclusion, walking games like Journey demonstrate that walking teaches players to engage deeply with the environment and form intimate and vulnerable connections with other players, telling a calm narrative that is absent of any violence or combat present in many traditional games.
