Pattern
This isn’t really a game. It is more of a work of art and a story.
There is hardly any game play. There is a small stamina mechanic, but you are mostly just able to explore the environment. At least for me, this was more about slowing down and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
There aren’t that many areas either. There are only four. But they are all very, very lovely to wander about in.
The other part of this is the story. To summarize (minor spoiler warning?), The game developer talks about his experience creating games and art, and talking about what it means to him. It isn’t too long, but it is a very nice read.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Walking Simulator Relaxing Games.
Not bad, but full price is too expensive. Get it when discounted.
The game is procedurally generated, but the in the end you will always cycle the same 4 different environments + the room, more variation would be better or at least making the order in which the levels appear more random.
Another simple feature that I would like to see implemented is an auto-walking key, like what you have in Meadow: you press F and the character just walk by itself, freeing you of the need to keep pushing the W button, which is a bit annoying.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1
ENCOUNTER
You have fallen into a surreal and haunted underground neighborhood. Discover its origins and escape with your life - and sanity - intact.
OBSERVE
Remember that hallway you found at your workplace or school? The one you didn’t realize was there before. Nobody ever goes there, it has no windows, and it seemingly has no purpose. The lights might be on, the floor is usually clean, but it exists for nobody.
This transitional place is the lifeblood of Anemoiapolis: a world with no sunlight and no humanity, buzzing with fluorescent apathy. It does not care about you, yet it watches intently.
SURVIVE
Experience the dungeon-like malls, pools, hallways, and basements of Anemoiapolis in first person. Utilize platforming and puzzle solving to navigate the barren commercial catacombs. If you start to feel complacent, you might not be ready for what’s around the corner.
ABOUT
Anemoiapolis reflects the experiences of a developer who grew up among empty buildings in Midwest USA, and who is currently processing our world of empty buildings brought on by COVID-19.
Expect critiques on mindless consumerism, feelings of impending doom, and eerie “mallcore” aesthetics.
Soundtrack by JORDANN and 4REST
Read More: Best Walking Simulator Experimental Games.
ENDLESS BECOMING - APARTMENT
This is less of a game and more of a ground to find feelings. Personally I’ve experienced multiple emotions from this game, everything ranging from sadness, longing, nostalgia, unease, and dread. I love games like this, games that play off of Liminal Spaces and forgotten memories; feelings that can only be described during a state of loneliness so absolute, that you get this feeling as if the ground underneath you could split open and swallow you at any moment and no one would ever know.
While i don’t recommend this game to everyone I found it as a relaxing and Beautiful reflection of feeling.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Walking Simulator 3D Games.
Played on HP Reverb G2
Although WMR isn’t officially supported, I was feeling too lazy to hook up another headset, so I gave it a try. The Oculus control scheme matched the Reverb G2 perfectly. The application is exactly what it says- a virtual art installation and a walking simulator. The environment was interesting, artistic, and well designed. A lot of the elements were repetitive, but there was enough variation to keep my interest. It also had plenty of in-game menu options to tweak controls, audio, video, etc. If you enjoy casual VR experiences, this is worth the download.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Shutter Stroll
Explore hundreds upon hundreds of vibrant islands to take a break, breathe deeply and snap beautiful photos with your camera. Lose yourself in the moment while hunting for that one photo you’ll remember forever. Take your time.
_Camera in hand, you set out to capture a moment.
To walk where no one has walked before._
Key Features
-
There is no goal: Take as many or as little photos as you’d like. You won’t be graded, only you decide what makes a good photo.
-
Relax: Get lost on vibrant islands, take it slow or explore every nook and cranny of these generated spaces.
-
Make it yours: Use a myriad of camera settings and filters to make every picture your own. Share your images or visit islands others have photographed before.
soundStrider
You will want two things: your headphones, and to read the game’s manual before playing.
Even then, this isn’t for everyone. If it is for you, you’ll find a hypnotic soundscape worth exploring.
I would describe it as an audio-only walking simulator; there are minimal graphics (as you can see in the screenshots), but you can even turn them off completely and play only by sound. There are waypoints that you can hear, and you can walk from one to the next on a trance-like journey, finding strangely relaxing varied soundscapes. There aren’t many games like this; of those somewhat similar that I played, it reminded me most of Proteus – but the focus on audio is of course much higher here.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Errrrrm, okaym well the ‘game’ does what it says you walk around and noises occur. pressing buttons on the controller did stuff and if I;m honest I have no clue as to what I was doing.
One big thing missing currently for a game that the Visually Impaired can play is Text to Speech in the menus. I dug around with my maginfier in hand and found a list of random settings, but no real accessibility options page.
I got in game and walked around randomly heading towards some sounds. Arrived at a sound and nothing seemed to happen, is this sound a ‘breadcrumb’? it got louder and more annoying as I approached. Found a button on the controller that made a boing noise.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Proteus
Proteus provides a uniquely calming introspective meditative experience.
Whenever I’ve had a stressful day,
I can come to one of the islands, go to a scenic view, and watch the sun set and moon rise.
I can enjoy the bliss of spring, the energy of summer, the mystery of autumn, or the oblivion of winter.
Proteus is also very relaxing to listen to while you sleep,
whether paused, or allowed to change from day to night.
Many magical secrets await, strange creatures and encounters, pixelated and yet primal.
– Real player with 1068.6 hrs in game
This is a lovely little walking simulator, and is more of an experience than it is a game.
First things first, the soundtrack is ace. Depending where you are you’ll get different music, such as standing near trees with falling leaves, atop a mountain, or near the old towers. The spring daytime music, and the autumn night music are my favorite ones by far.
The changing of the seasons is the focal point of proteus. Every season is portrayed so accurately and evokes a certain emotion. This will be different for everyone, or maybe you won’t feel anything at all. Spring time is one of the most relaxing seasons in the game, and one of the most colorful. It is beautiful to look at and the sound of the flowers falling from the trees never gets old. Summer is the most lively and exciting season. There are plenty of creatures to interact with, the weather is nice, and the whole atmosphere is just so energizing. Autumn is where things turn around as the environment becomes more sullen. All of the life and energy from summer is gone, and now what’s left is dying trees and very few creatures. Winter, the final season, is where you get a very weird mix of feelings. In a way it is eerie, and the soundtrack helps add to that. Walking along the dead trees in a snow bound land to the sound of a quiet monotonous track really makes you feel alone. To me it also evokes a feeling of nostalgia. It makes me remember how the dead land I’m in was just recently so full of life. It makes me think back to the flowers of spring and the creatures of the summer, and how I actually missed them. For the season I like the least it sure makes me feel the most.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Dear Future
I forced myself to finish it so you don’t have to.
TL:DR 8 hours of boring walking to uncover a lame story, and a non working multiplayer.
A walking simulator made for some college student art project, what could go wrong???
But the innovative sounding multiplayer component, plus the fact that it’s free, sucked me in. And the game, although minimalist, initially manages to feel well-designed and polished…
But notice how none of the reviewers seem to have played this for more than 30 minutes?
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
Photos of future ruins
Dear Future (Dear Future Production Committee, 2021) is an asynchronous massively-multiplayer photography game about exploring an abandoned city. I have been trying to write about it for several weeks and have found myself incapable of doing with any organization or distance. What follow, instead, are orchestrated recollections and half-formed conclusions of my time with the game. A half-step towards the understanding I’m searching for. A version with photos is available here .
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
We Are Open
The game concept is interesting but
-
it’s a little too messy with multiple people with the shopping lists around all at once, gets a little overwhelming tbh
-
those people move around a lot so even after you get the item, they have moved to the other floor and you have to go find them again lol, a little annoying ngl
-
the AI obviously knows where all the stuff are so it’s like impossible to try and compete with it at all really
-
each item for each person can only be fulfilled once by you or the bot so it’s kinda frustrating that you scramble to find the item only to return and see that the bot had already gave it to the person lol
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Enter The Backrooms
Honestly, the graphics look bad. But that doesn’t exactly make the game bad.
You see, I’ve lost interest in backrooms over the past few months. It became the same thing: mono yellow office rooms, more levels. It became too predictable after a while.
This game you see here called Enter The Backrooms, doesn’t do that.
It intentionally deviates a little from the wiki just to make this game a little more unpredictable. Honestly, I prefer games that deviate from the wiki more than games that follow into the wiki’s footsteps. I do not like games that follow the wiki for the backrooms much as it makes me feel like the backrooms aren’t a horror story anymore, but rather an adventure story. This game may be a wiki game, and I find this game an Adventure game more than horror. It is just my opinion, you can disagree with me, but I find this not very scary. Although this is not very scary, I never said this game is a bad game.
– Real player with 95.7 hrs in game
Enter The Backrooms is an example of what hard work and time aswell as effort can do.
The game is well made and gives off a unique atmosphere and already has given me chills aswell as small rushes of adrenaline while being chased.
Seeing a game based off the backrooms is amazing i’ve been looking forward to something like this.
Anyone who enjoys the backrooms should play this game for sure.
I cant wait to play more!
(Edit)
There are many different levels to go through ranging from level 0 all the way to level 11 and thats not even including the fact that more content is coming!
– Real player with 23.1 hrs in game
Stay in the Light
Not sure why the bad reviews, this game is sweet. I get sick of all the same old shoot em up games so it nice to see something different. The graphics are awesome and very fun game play. Cant complain about it being free either. Great job.
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
⡟⣡⡟⣱⣿⡿⠡⢛⣋⣥⣴⣌⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣌⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⠏⢼⡿⣰⡿⠿⠡⠿⠿⢯⣉⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣿⣦⣍⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿
⣼⣷⢠⠀⠀⢠⣴⡖⠀⠀⠈⠻⣿⡿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣛⣯⣝⣻⣿⣶⣿⣿⣿
⣿⡇⣿⡷⠂⠈⡉⠀⠀⠀⣠⣴⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣍⡤⣤⣤⣤⡀⠀⠉⠛⠿
⣿⢸⣿⡅⣠⣬⣥⣤⣴⣴⣿⣿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⡭⡄⣀⣉⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⡟⣿⣿⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⣈⠀⠀⠀⢀⣶
⡧⣿⡇⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣾⣿
⡇⣿⠃⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠛⠛⢫⣿⣿⣻⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢿⣿
⡇⣿⠘⡇⢻⣿⣿⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠙⠻⠏⠛⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣭⡾⢁
⡇⣿⠀⠘⢿⣿⣿⣿⣧⢠⣤⠀⡤⢀⣠⣀⣀⠀⠀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⣁⠉
⣧⢻⠀⡄⠀⠹⣿⣿⣿⡸⣿⣾⡆⣿⣿⣿⠿⣡⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠐⢡⣶
⣿⡘⠈⣷⠀⠀⠈⠻⣿⣷⣎⠐⠿⢟⣋⣤⣾⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⣩⠖⢠⡬⠈⠀
⣿⣧⠁⢻⡇⠀⠀⠀⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠟⠋⠁⢀⠈⢀⡴⠈⠁⠀⠀
⠻⣿⣆⠘⣿⠀⠀⣀⡁⠀⠈⠙⠛⠋⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠤⠚⠁⠄⣠
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game