Big Walk

Walk received critical acclaim, with praise for its environment, puzzles, creativity, and social interaction.

• Title — Big Walk • Released — 4 August 2026 • Developer — House House • Publisher — Panic • Designer — * Stuart Gillespie-Cook • Nico Disseldorp • Michael McMaster • Jacob Strasser • Composer — * Sam Gill • Luke Neher • Engine — Unity • Genre — Adventure • Platforms — * macOS • Nintendo Switch 2 • PlayStation 5 • Windows • Modes — Multiplayer

• Illustration — Completion of puzzles requires players to use different methods of communication. Big Walk is a multiplayer co-operative adventure video game in which a group of players walk through an open-world environment. Players form a group of two to twelve in an online lobby, with the size of the group adjusting the content. Cross-platform play is also supported. The lobby host maintains save data, allowing other participants to join or leave. Each player is represented by a humanoid avatar with a segmented head, torso and legs. The objective of Big Walk is to complete puzzles. Many challenges involve teamwork and using novel methods to communicate with one another, including miming, singing or transmitting codes. Completion of a number of puzzles unlocks features that allow players to further navigate the environment, including a map room to plot travel or a train. Big Walk has a proximity chat system. The volume of players' voices changes depending on their location, becoming inaudible when a short distance away. A day-night cycle and darkness at night requires players to use torches and other light sources to see each other. When players are separated, they can communicate through leaving messages, using walkie talkies, or launching fireworks to signal their location.

The environment is an approximately 1:20 scale model of the Wilsons Promontory National Park in southeast Victoria, Australia. The vegetation is based on the region's native flora, and sound effects were designed using recordings from the area.

Big Walk was developed by Melbourne-based independent studio House House, creators of Untitled Goose Game. Starting during the COVID-19 pandemic, development took six years, and owing to the related lockdowns, team meetings were held in-game. Designer Jake Strasser stated the approach was to "give enough direction for the group to keep a good momentum, but relaxed enough that you're mostly just able to enjoy spending time with your friends". Around 80 to 100 3D models of plants native to the Wilsons Promonotory were created and placed in the environment according to Victoria's ecological vegetation class. The soundtrack was created in collaboration with artists Sam Gill and Luke Neher under the name AKSFX. The music was intended to be diegetic to the world and conveyed through objects such as speakers. Big Walk was announced during the December 2023 Game Awards, accompanied by an announcement trailer. An official gameplay trailer was released on 7 June 2025 coinciding with the Steam Day of the Devs showcase. Several publications identified Big Walk as one of the best games of the showcase. Matt Wales of Eurogamer praised the concept as "wonderfully distinctive". Adam Newell of Destructoid stated the puzzles seemed "wonderful" and "feels like a game where no two play sessions are the same". Following release, in response to criticism that the volume control features made "players' voices much quieter than intended even when very close by", the studio announced a fix would be forthcoming.