Critical Play: Walking Simulators
Among the list of walking simulators, I played ABZÛ on Steam, a single-player adventure game where the player simulates scuba diving in the ocean and solves for puzzles. It took me over two hours to finish the entire game, which was in fact a fairly short amount of time. At first sight, I was amazed by the incredibly beautiful design of the game environment. The game is featured by strong aesthetics, while at the same time it has an embedded visual narrative about the balance of lives in the ocean. As the player character (a female character) dives deeper, she will see more different scenes including the peaceful ones and disruptive ones. In the end, she will restore life to the ocean and bring back the balance by destroying some pyramid-like devices which can take away energy from the ocean.
The game is mainly about the exploration of ocean space through diving, but it also involves many small puzzles to engage players and move them forward in gameplay. For instance, sometimes players have to find specific items and place them in a specific way in order to enter the next scene. These puzzles are relatively easy to solve so that players can still have a smooth experience of travelling in the ocean and enjoy the small challenges.
There are no other characters other than the player itself in the game; however, the player can interact with animals and fish. When you are swimming next to a dolphin, you can attach yourself to it and give yourself a break without the need to press any controls. This kind of interaction simply creates enjoyment for the players and lets them feel like they are in a real ocean. This was also one of the reasons why I finished the game all at once.
This type of walking simulators uses walking as a means for players to explore the spatial space as well as perceive a story through visual elements. Meanwhile, it has to include other elements such as small puzzles or minor tasks to move players forward in the game. Players’ ability to interact with the game world is another important element as it keeps the players engaged.
