In section last week, I played a tabletop RPG where the goal was to obtain a glowing magical stone by fighting skeletons and unlocking doors. At the time, the structure of the game encouraged us to be creative, but ultimately, use violence as our go-to mechanic for solving problems. But once I read about the impact of walking sims on game design, I started thinking differently. I hadn’t really considered how games could tell meaningful stories without combat or puzzles. That’s what led me to Babbdi — a game that throws out all the usual mechanics and still manages to build something strange, reflective, and unexpectedly powerful.
Target audience: Indie game fans or players interested in non-conflict games
Game: Babbdi
Creator: Lemaitre Bros
Platform: PC (free on Steam)
Walking as the Main Mechanic (and that’s sort of the point)
In Babbdi, walking is how you start to make sense of the world around you. Technically, there’s a red exclamation mark that nudges you in a general direction, but it’s vague enough that it doesn’t feel like a strict objective marker. Most of the time, you’re moving forward because something caught your eye — a flickering light, an abandoned stairwell, or a weird dog-headed person muttering in the corner. The environment doesn’t hand you answers, but it encourages curiosity.
The movement itself feels a little clunky at first, and that awkwardness becomes part of the experience. You’re not meant to feel slick or powerful. You feel like a stranger in a space that doesn’t really care if you’re there. But as you keep exploring, you start to find tools — a crowbar that opens up shortcuts, climbing picks that let you scale walls, even a motorcycle so you can move faster. These aren’t just upgrades — they reshape how you move, which in turn reshapes the story you’re able to uncover. It’s like the game is implitcly telling you: you won’t change the world, but you can find new ways to move through it. And maybe that’s its own kind of progress.
(Rode my bike aimlessly)
So… What’s the Story?
That’s the weird thing. There kind of isn’t one. I think? And, if there is, it’s up to your interpretation. You are meant to piece things together from all the things you might run into. Perhaps, a subway map with no working trains, an apartment filled with bunk beds and no people, only creepy eery characters who say things like “There’s nothing left here anymore.” (;-;)
It reminded me a bit of those dreams where you’re wandering a city that looks familiar but off. Where you’re not necessarily running from someone, but trying to understand why everything feels so heavy/confusing. I think the lack of a clear plot in Babbdi is what makes it work. It definitely mirrors how it feels to be lost; wanting to escape something but not even be sure what you’re trying to escape. At some point I ended up leaving the city on a train that finally appeared at the station. It felt satisfying, but not victorious. More like, “Okay… I guess I’m done here.” Unlike other games, where defeating someone or leveling up gives a sensation of accomplishment. Babbdi, somewhat achieves a different feeling– autonomy.
(Moved a ball. Led me nowhere)
Babbdi vs. CombatGames
Like I said, the section game we played relied on violence to move the story forward. The enemies were what made the plot happen. If there hadn’t been a skeleton guarding a door, there wouldn’t have been much to do. That kind of design makes sense — it’s dramatic, and it rewards teamwork and strategy. But it also makes violence feel like the default.
Babbdi completely changes that. You’re just trying to understand where you are. And strangely, the tension is still there. I felt anxious when I turned corners. I kept waiting for something to jump out, even though I knew nothing would. That tension came from the environment and from not knowing why the place felt so wrong. The lack of violence didn’t make the game feel empty. If anything, it made every choice feel heavier. I was deciding where to go next with no guide, no weapon, and no guarantee that anything would make sense when I got there.
Ethics of Absence
There’s something really thoughtful about a game that refuses to give you violence as a way out. You’re not the hero. You’re not there to save anything. And because of that, the game becomes more about you — on how you feel, what you pay attention to, what you think about while you’re walking, and what do you do. A lot of games make you feel powerful by giving you enemies to destroy. Babbdi makes you feel something else entirely. Not weak, but certainly not strong Just weird (at least me). And that’s not a bad thing. It made me realize I would hate to be in a place so gloomy. My experience with this game allowed me to learned more about me. Which I think that’s pretty rare thing for a game to do.
