Reviews

Big Walk Review

Darryl McNeil, Bryan Davila

14 Sep 2026 • 8 min read

Big Walk promotional image from House House press kit

Introduction

Big Walk is an open-world co-op puzzle game released in August 2026 by indie studio House House. You, and up to 11 of your friends, are dropped onto an island and, shockingly, have to go on a walk. Communication is a key part of the experience, as all communication must be done over the proximity-based voice chat built into the game. As you walk around and explore the gigantic world that you find yourself in, you'll put your friendship to the test as you are required to work together to solve puzzles and progress.

I also want to preface this article with some information specifically related to my playthrough, as the game varies depending on how many players are in your lobby. My playthrough of Big Walk took place through several sessions over the course of about 3 weeks with 5 total players on the 4+ players setting for the game world.

I'll attempt to break down the aspects of the game into individual categories and assign a score out of 100 based on certain entirely subjective criteria. The criteria I'll base my score on can be found here.

Spoiler warning

While I try my best not to spoil puzzle solutions or other major parts of the story/gameplay loop, it is hard to write an in-depth review without doing so to some extent. If you have not played the game and do not wish to have aspects of the game revealed to you ahead of time, do not read this review.

Gameplay

Big Walk is a large open-world exploration-based game. The core of the gameplay loop requires players to obtain little doll-looking items that have to be placed into cases to unlock access to a key. This key then provides you with some way to continue through the game and access the next location, for example, the chairlift gets unlocked once you unlock the green tower's key.

The chairlift, a convenient way to get around the Big Walk island — The chairlift, a convenient way to get around the island

In order to obtain these dolls, you'll have to work together with your friends to solve various puzzles around the map. These puzzles vary in complexity, some being doable with only two players and some requiring a full 4 (if you're playing on the 4+ party size) to complete. They can vary from platforming challenges that require you to carry your friends on your head to communication challenges that require you to convey a specific message without the use of your voice. Ultimately, while the variety is good for puzzles, I do wish it had included more puzzles that were built to require 4 players.

Players in a field, holding multiple items (from House House press kit) — Players in a field, holding multiple items (from the press kit)

As you explore the world, you'll encounter various items that you can use to both communicate and explore. Each player can carry exactly one item at a time, puzzle dolls included, so you'll have to plan around exactly what tools to bring with you and what to leave behind. Having to make these choices when deciding to split up from the group really helps make the game feel much more immersive.

Gameplay Score: 18/20

Design

Big Walk features a somewhat realistic island littered with colorful little puzzle rooms for you to walk around and find. This contrast might seem a little weird at first, but when it comes to actually playing the game, being able to clearly distinguish the areas that you need to visit to solve puzzles is fairly helpful. Ultimately this contrast helps to fulfill the game's purpose of being a relaxing walk through a natural world whilst maintaining the ability for players to find the next location to visit without much issue.

Players stacking on top of each other on the beach at sunset (from the press kit)

The world design itself is incredibly effective when it comes to contributing to its theme of collaborative exploration. The world is large enough that it incentivizes larger groups to split up and plan around the separation, making exploration feel more like a strategic choice than something done aimlessly. Additionally, Big Walk mostly manages to avoid the feeling that you're traveling to any specific point of interest for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Given that one of the core principles of the game is to go on a "big walk", this is an incredibly tough job to execute successfully from a design standpoint.

The monorail, one of the methods of traveling across the island

I do think that the inclusion of the unlockable monorail train felt a bit disappointing, mostly due to the fact that it isn't all that much faster than walking. I think the game would benefit from this being a bit more of a shortcut, but it's not a major issue as far as gameplay enjoyment goes.

Design Score: 18/20

Music

The music in Big Walk is probably the area I think the game falls short in the most. The music is mostly simple tracks that at times almost feel like ambient noise, the exception being the more complex tracks you can listen to via the radio item in game. While I certainly enjoyed the minimalistic tracks, I think that after a while they can start to feel a bit repetitive, which definitely makes the game feel a bit boring at times when you're walking around to find new puzzles or objectives.

Music Score: 7/10

Lore

As Big Walk is a highly collaborative game, fellow site author and one of the players in my session's group, Bryan Davila, has done the write-up for this section.

As mentioned earlier, Big Walk is a very collaborative game, and this is kept at the core of the game throughout its entirety. You and your friends (or morons) are together from the very start, deciding where exactly to begin your search for your cherished dolls and which tower to call home for the time being.

One teammate holding a button to allow the other to place the doll in the box

Your Big Walk journey isn't as straightforward as finding dolls, new towers, and then moving right on. House House ensures that you encounter different experiences that keep you and your group both interested in what's next and curious as to what roles certain areas of the map may play in the future. With these experiences tied into the design and overall lore of the game, it personally kept me from finding a time in the game where I found myself bored or empty-minded about what could come next.

Lore Score: 9/10

Controls

_{NOTE: I played this game with keyboard and mouse controls, and the following is based on that.}

I am a huge fan of the way that Big Walk's controls function as far as how they add to the core gameplay loop. The controls in most games are generally seen as more of an afterthought unless they are particularly cumbersome, but the amount of freedom you have with your ability to manipulate your characters to communicate non-verbally really makes Big Walk feel unique.

Control Score: 10/10

Difficulty

Part of what makes Big Walk an enjoyable experience is the fact that while it is a puzzle game, none of them are so hard that the merry band of morons composed of myself and my friends got truly stumped on any particular one. Additionally, none of them felt too easy either, every puzzle required some degree of collaborative thinking and problem-solving, which kept the game interesting.

A puzzle requiring everyone to stack on each other to reach a button (from the press kit)

Big Walk also includes specifically difficult challenges for those who want to push their teamwork to the absolute limit, these challenges are denoted by the dolls that you get as a reward being purple instead of red. These challenges are only necessary if you're gunning for 100% completion, though, so don't worry about being locked out of beating the game if you find these ones too hard.

A puzzle with a soundproof wall preventing audible communication (from the press kit)

I would honestly say that the biggest component of difficulty in the game is the fact that if you get separated from your crew, it can be a real pain to figure out how to reconvene with the group due to the limitations of proximity voice. There are items in the game that allow you to communicate and reconnect with the team over long distances, but to have these items, you limit your capacity to carry other things. I think the fact that you can genuinely get lost in the expanse of the world is such a fun and thematically appropriate way to add a level of challenge to the game.

Difficulty Score: 10/10

Overall Quality

Throughout my playthrough, I found Big Walk to be effectively free of any sort of bug or quality of life issues. Almost everything that could possibly make the game frustrating to an extent can be alleviated by an item, like item carrying capacity being made easier by the addition of multiple backpacks / hip holsters to carry extra items on you.

A player holding a key over their head on the beach

There are also many side objectives and achievements to keep you and your friends entertained beyond just beating the game. There are a significant amount of extra puzzles, meaning that during a normal playthrough you can skip ones you find particularly hard without worrying about not being able to complete the game. This also adds a challenge for groups that want to do literally everything, as there is a unique ending for groups that complete 100% of the puzzles.

OQ Score: 20/20

Final Thoughts

Big Walk is an incredible game that will keep both you and your friends invested for the 8-12 hours it takes the average group to complete the main game. In an era of co-op games being so frequently produced to the point where they're referred to as "friend slop," Big Walk is a giant breath of fresh air. At a price point of only $19.99 USD, the game is a total steal that I cannot recommend picking up enough.

Overall Score: 92/100

_{All images used in this article were sourced either from the Steam Store, press kits, or personal screenshots taken from the game.}

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