4 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
    1. As in adventure games, players of walking simulators strive to recreate the “ideal walkthrough,” the preexisting story that must be uncovered step by step through the player’s actions. But in these games, the next step is not occluded by puzzles: rather, it’s generally made so obvious it’s impossible to miss.

      Outlandish: It's more than easy to lose sight of what you're doing and not realize what the game is going for, I remember when I tried to play video games as a kid I wouldn't realize what I was actually supposed to do and then get mad when nothing was going my way. I felt that way when playing Gone Home at times.

    2. While the game attracts attention for its centering of a queer narrative, the distance of the avatar from that narrative invites critique:

      I think it's interesting to see how participating in a walking simulator game allows you to view a story from a completely different perspective that you might be used to. In terms of Gone Home, the player is detached in terms of knowing what has been happening in their home and family across the time period they have been gone, that presents the opportunity for judgement and other emotions to arise.

    3. To call something a “walking simulator” became not just a complaint about pacing but an existential fight for survival, spiraling to include larger and larger questions of who gets to be a gamer and what should be “counted” as a game (Chess and Shaw 2015). Real games are difficult, goes this argument: you can die in them; you can take “real” actions (i.e., shooting and loot collecting, not walking or investigating). Real game heroes are powerful and effective. An ugly corollary to this argument, advanced by some, was that “real games” shouldn’t be about the disenfranchised.

      When I read this portion of this passage, I was wondering what was the point of being so hateful towards alternative types of media? I feel that It is odd for gamers to be so affected by different types or games entering the gaming sphere. Shouldn't they be happy that something they love is gaining more traction and new ideas are being implemented?

  2. Jan 2026
    1. Computer-based journey stories offer a new way of savoring exactly this pleasure, a pleasure that is intensified by uniting the problem solving with the active process of navigation.

      I think it's interesting to see how the diversification of mediums in terms of journey stories, has allowed for society expand their mindsets, beliefs, and understanding regarding their capabilities and more. Individuals can take control of their 'destiny' just as those in the journey stories they read. All in all, agency really has taken on a new form with every iteration of journey stories.