Target audience: Players interested in narrative games and walking simulators
Game: What Remains of Edith Finch
Developer: Giant Sparrow
Platform: PC (Steam)
What Remains of Edith Finch demonstrates that walking is not merely a way to move through space but a core narrative mechanic. Instead of separating gameplay from storytelling, the game integrates player movement with environmental design to communicate its story. The mechanisms of first-person movement and environmental architecture generate dynamics that shape how players progress through the game, ultimately producing aesthetics such as immersion, suspense, and the pleasure of discovery.
Walking as Narrative
The first way walking tells the story is by controlling the pacing of the narrative. The mechanism is the game’s continuous first-person perspective. Whenever Edith opens a diary or another family member’s keepsake, walking naturally transitions the player’s viewpoint into that character’s perspective. This mechanism creates the dynamic of seamless perspective shifts without relying on cutscenes or abrupt scene changes. Players simply continue walking, making each memory feel like a natural continuation of the previous one. The resulting aesthetic is a smooth narrative flow that keeps players focused on experiencing each family member’s story rather than observing them from the outside.
Smooth view transition from Edith to Calvin
The same mechanism also generates suspense. The mechanism remains the first-person perspective, which deliberately limits what players can see. Throughout the game, players only view the world through each character’s eyes and therefore know very little about the characters’ appearances. This mechanism creates the dynamic of withholding visual information until the designer chooses to reveal it. Edith’s pregnancy, for example, is only disclosed late in the game, quietly preparing players for the birth of her son at the ending. The resulting aesthetic is narrative suspense, as carefully controlled visual information creates anticipation and emotional ups and downs.
Walking also builds emotional intimacy between players and the characters. The mechanism is direct player control through the keyboard and mouse within the first-person perspective. Rather than watching events unfold, players physically perform every movement and interaction themselves. This mechanism creates the dynamic of embodiment, allowing players to temporarily “live” inside each character’s experience. The game even places players in the role of a newborn emerging through the birth canal. The resulting aesthetic is deep immersion and emotional resonance. Lewis’s story illustrates this particularly well: as players physically walk from his magnificent imagined kingdom back into the dark, damp fish cannery, they directly experience the contrast between fantasy and reality, making his depression and overwhelming sense of loss far more powerful.
Lewis’ fantasy
Environment as Narrative
Walking is equally shaped by the environment, especially the architecture of the Finch house. The mechanism is the house’s carefully designed layout, including narrow corridors, hidden passages, locked bedrooms, and constantly expanding structures. Small environmental cues, such as fallen wool on the floor and distinctive red guiding lines, further support navigation. This mechanism creates the dynamic of guided exploration, leading players toward the next story while maintaining a strong sense of curiosity. The architecture and narrative also reinforce one another; for example, after learning about Walter, players naturally understand that it is time to enter his room and uncover his story. The resulting aesthetic is a smoothly paced narrative that rarely interrupts exploration with confusion or backtracking.
A red woolen string guiding to the next room
Finally, environmental exploration transforms storytelling into an active process. The mechanisms include interactive objects such as diaries, keys, hidden switches, and richly detailed environmental decorations. These mechanisms create the dynamic of active discovery, requiring players to uncover stories themselves rather than passively receiving exposition. Decorative details also contribute to meaning-making. Books repeatedly appear throughout the house, with several mechanisms concealed behind bookshelves, encouraging players to interpret the family’s history through literature. For instance, the entrance from Walter’s room to Molly’s room is marked by Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, foreshadowing Molly’s underwater fantasy while matching the sharks, ocean imagery, and old-house paintings nearby. The resulting aesthetic is the pleasure of discovery, as players assemble the narrative themselves by carefully observing environmental details.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea at the entrance of Mooly’s room
Ultimately, What Remains of Edith Finch shows that walking itself is a storytelling system. The mechanisms of first-person movement and environmental architecture generate dynamics of smooth transitions, guided exploration, embodiment, and active discovery, which together produce aesthetics of narrative and discovery. The game’s narrative is therefore not simply presented to players; instead, it is constructed through every step they take.
