Critical Play: Walking Simulators
After reading this article about the history of walking simulator genre, which says it “started as a pejorative to describe games that pissed off ‘hardcore gamers’ and blossomed into true art,” I wanted to check it out for myself. As someone who has never played video games (ok, I had a PS4 as a kid, but only to play Dance Dance Revolution and a Spongebob exploration game…doesn’t really count), the idea of a peaceful game that is easy to jump into sounded appealing. I decided to download The Sailor’s Dream because it was well rated, inexpensive (hey, this is my first walking sim after all — will I like it?), and available for iOS (I don’t have a gaming setup!!). Then the story unfolded.
…After a bit of exploration, that is. The game presents you with many locations to explore, the first of which being the “Secret Lighthouse.” You can weigh anchor, though, and set sail for many different locations that each float on the sea. The fact that you can explore in any order and move through each location itself as you choose was overwhelming at first. I found myself wanting to keep notes about where I had been and what I had learned. After a while, though, I became more immersed in the process and played the game more so as a form of forced meditation rather than a task with a specific goal. It took a bit to not feel frustrated by my lack of purpose, but once I was able to do so, I was able to appreciate the game much more.
My phone screen became a window into the world. The way the application glided around my screen made me feel like these islands and buildings were all around me and that I just had to position them into my view. The music became hypnotic. At one point I muted my phone, slightly irritated by the repetitive songs. Quickly, though, I turned it back on. Without it, the game lost its meditative effect, which to me is its biggest strength. The presence of sound also allowed for interaction with the strange musical toys hidden in some of the buildings.
Though the story is broken apart into different locations, recurrent characters and themes appear. As a player named Andrew Webster noted, “it’s almost as if someone took a story, ripped it apart, and scattered the pages in the water.” I couldn’t state it better myself. The young girl with her desire to be a sailor. The peaceful cottage destroyed by a terrible fire.
I’m not sure this genre is for me. I keep so busy that it’s hard to just sit and explore a game. I prefer to play games with other people than alone. I’m an extrovert at my core. But I think that when I have a day where nothing needs to get done and I feel like having some “me time” I’ll pick up this game again. It really does make you slow down.
