I played an hour of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter for my critical play analysis. This game is a walking simulator developed by The Astronauts and is available on multiple platforms, though I played it on my PC. I could tell that the game was not intended for kids due to its dark premise and gory scenes. The target audience is people 17+ who are looking for a mystery story with some horror elements. The game centers on Paul Prospero, a detective who has supernatural encounters and explores a rural town to solve the mystery of Ethan Carter’s disappearance. The game combines atmospheric exploration with puzzle-solving and environmental storytelling.
Central Argument
In The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, walking is central to uncovering the story. I felt immersed in the haunting narrative of loss and discovery. The game’s world is visually stunning, with beautiful forests and an eerie, abandoned town that reveal pieces of the story as I investigated. Through simply walking, I was slowly unfolding parts of the story with what I saw in the game’s environment. Scenes also flashed based on where I decided to walk. Instead of relying on combat or time-sensitive action, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter uses exploration and environmental storytelling to portray its mystery. There was occasionally a narrator too, which further immersed me in the experience. Walking, in this context, becomes a tool for discovery and emotional engagement.
Analysis
The game’s world itself is a key narrative device, thus it employs environmental storytelling. As described in the article Game Design Narrative Architecture, environmental storytelling allows the game to “speak” to the player without relying on direct exposition. During my gameplay, I saw this technique demonstrated effectively. When I, from Paul Prospero’s perspective, entered the forest, I walked for around 7 minutes until I came across a murder scene. When I walked closer, I was prompted with investigative questions and ultimately tasked with reconstructing events surrounding the crime scene by examining the environment.
The bloodstains, untied rope I found earlier, and other pieces of evidence told me parts of the story without any explicit dialogue or narration. This exemplifies how narrative architecture can use the physical design of virtual worlds to communicate a plot and emotional context.
Another course concept covered that contributes to the success of walking simulators is player agency. With player agency, there is freedom for players to explore the world at their own pace. The slow, gradual walking pace also sets the pace and plays an active part in the narrative experience. Unlike games that are not walking simulators, I was exploring and uncovering the story in a non-linear way. I felt that this autonomy deepened my connection to the mystery. I didn’t feel like I was playing as Paul Prospero; it just felt like me in the game setting. What I viewed was conditional upon what I walked by. For example, when I was walking by an old rail car, a vision flashed on my screen.
Ethics
In my experience playing violent games like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty, I recognize that violence is central to the gameplay and narrative. Violence drives the story forward, and immediate conflict, life-or-death scenarios, and survival mechanics are built into the game’s design. For example, in Call of Duty, the objective of the game is often to get more “kills” than the other team or to be the last survivor in an arena. These games use violence to evoke intense emotions like fear and excitement.
In contrast, walking simulators like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter exclude direct violence from gameplay. Instead, they focus on exploration and environmental storytelling. Although The Vanishing of Ethan Carter had elements of violence in its premise, it isn’t sensationalized or used to maintain player engagement. This absence of violence built into the mechanics allows the players to explore deeper emotional themes like grief and trauma through introspection and discovery. Without combat, the game encourages players to engage with the story on a more thoughtful, reflective level. This design highlights the emotional effects of violence rather than the act itself.
