How walking simulator games tells a story: Critical play ofTacoma

In the investigative walking simulator, Tacoma you are tasked with finding out what went wrong with the Tacoma space station. The game features an AR recording system that replays the actions, dialogue, and some computer screens of the 6 former crew members. Most of the recordings feature multiple conversations happening simultaneously, so you must listen to the same recording from different locations to get the whole picture. Like many other walking simulator games, TacomaLike many other walking simulator games, Tacoma uses story fragments and the environment to tell a story.

The earliest recording in the game features the ship’s crew throwing a party that was interrupted by a collision that took out most of the ship’s vital systems. This recording only tells you what happened, but not have the crew resolved it. Each recording is a story fragment that is tied to a specific location. Players will discover these fragments in an achronological order and must piece together the original narrative. To prevent the player from stumbling upon the plot’s resolution, the game also creates locked doors that only open after gaining information from the story fragments.

Along the tight corridors of Tacoma, players can often find books, posters, games, or any other traces of the characters who have once inhabited the space. This not only gives the atmosphere of the space being ‘live in’, but also give story vignettes that complement the main narrative. One notable example from my playthrough is a dartboard with a photo of the president of the company running the station, which shows the crew’s disdain of the company.

All in all, walking simulators aren’t actually about walking. They are about learning a story that is embedded in a virtual space and reordering the information in chronological order.