Casual/relaxing walking simulators?

Given that many people say they play games like Farming Simulator because they find it relaxing, I would've thought there would also be a market for relaxing walking games where you just walk through a landscape; but I can't find many. I used to play "The Hunter" just to walk around and explore, so I would think other people might enjoy the same type of thing. Anyone know whether there's a market for this type of "game" ?

 

It's definitely "a thing" remembered hearing that term a lot a few years or so ago.

At first it was a "slam" of some "empty" games but some players enjoy just walking and looking around. Just exploring in itself is enjoyable. Also could be a form of sightseeing I suppose.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/8asq9k/what_are_the_best_walking_simulator_games_youve/

 

Afaik Assassins Creed: Odysee has an exploratory mode. Dayz is rightfully called a walking simulator by many. Personally I've found Kingdom Come: Deliverance to be the most immersive and rewarding hiking experience (also has the best graphics engine for this kind of thing imho). Fair warning though: in all of these you can still get attacked and/or die. I remember being impressed by the realism of KCD when fairly early in the game I went for a walk in the woods, stumbled and fell down a slope, broke a leg and bled to death.

 

I've also heard that quite a few people play the Hunter and don't hunt, but rather shoot photographs of animals and enjoy the scenery.

Probably a pretty small market as that's a niche within a small niche game, but obviously it's something some people do want. Gotta keep in mind though, the Hunter is like top of the line in realistic outdoor 3d worlds. It is a AAA studio.

I always thought orienteering would make a fantastic game.

 

Eh who knows, but it does exist as a market. I have a game on my 'wishlist' (bookmark list) on Steam which I thought a casual gamer in my family may like.

East Shade: https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade/

By compose painting, they mean use an in game screenshot thingie, but yeah it's unique. I think it's like a non-violent quest / explore / open world type of game, where a quest isn't go chop someone up, but go get me a painting of a lake.

 

oh wow, one of the devs on that was active in forum. I remember some of the screenshots.

 

I liked The vanishing of Ethan carter, though the VR controls are rubbish

https://store.steampowered.com/app/457880/The_Vanishing_of_Ethan_Carter_VR/

Does games like SOMA count (you cant shoot or do anything more than walk or interact with certain objects in game). Love SOMA.

 

Oh Ethan Carter was good. I played the redone version (not VR) and the graphics and environment were amazing. They used a photo to 3d technique, and the world really is great to just wander around and really look at.

 

I treat almost all games like walking simulators, I just love to get sucked in by the world. Like when first Metro 2033 game came out, I could walk around the stations and just look at the details.

 

Just thought I'd link to eastshade thread on these boards: https://forum.unity.com/threads/now-released-eastshade-a-game-about-exploration.251469/

One man show, really beautiful work.

He had a thread about ssao in general a few years back with some beautiful screenshots i still remember. The art was so unique I couldn't figure out what genre of game they'd go in. The art itself was too good to not be in a serious game, but it didn't fit traditional RPG needs.

A walking sim where you play a painter... it all makes sense now.

 

Oh, nice, I remember seeing this thread years ago then forgetting to ever follow up on it. I'm glad to see it actually became a released thing

 

Even Witcher 3 can be considers as walking simulation. Specially in story mode.

Or Minecraft. No need to build, but just look for cool landscape variations.

But I see many games are more walking simulators, rather a game that it suppose to be. Specially when Open World is current trendy. Variation and unique of worlds is separate topic however. Defines how interesting/boring exploring is.

See for example early No Man's Sky.

 

He should add VR, seems like a perfect fit

 

yeah and it looks like he made a pretty penny on it too. Safe to say he cleared a quarter million usd, probably much more. Good for him.

 

Thanks to everyone for their responses, although I was asking about games that are nothing but exploring, like an interactive form of those popular "relaxing sounds of nature" Youtube videos. I realize there are many games labeled "walking simulators" but all of those have other gameplay elements (usually a lot of other elements) rather than just exploring for its own sake. Even "Dear Esther" had a narrator who explained the backstory, which was the main focus for most people (either figuring out the plotline or just appreciating the good writing). Are there any games which only have an environment to explore, without any traditional gameplay elements?

 

Proteus comes to mind.

 

I think that's just because the context is "a game". As far as I know a WS has that meaning... a game where you walk around exploring while a story is being told usually by audio narrative.

It's so easy to add some very basic mechanics is probably why it is hard to find 100% pure walking looking only experiences.

Add 100 things to find and collect. Simple and now adds a bit of depth. Add a narrator telling a story so people can just relax walk, look and listen to a story being told. Add some simple quests such as "Find the Large Rock of Flatness" and "Find the river" perhaps followed by "Find the bridge leading over the river" etc.

I think this would still be just a Walking Simulator super casual relaxation game by most people.

Basically I think most devs think there should be some point to it some way to make it unique.

 

Yes, that's the type of thing I was thinking of. And Steamspy says it sold 200,000 - 500,000 units.

 

Well, sure, a goal of some type would make it a "game" by most people's definition (although TotalBiscuit decided "Dear Esther" wasn't a game even though there's technically a goal). But I was thinking of purely relaxation-oriented "games" (or whatever term you want to use) where the goal is just to wander around and unwind. "Proteus" would be that type, since any goals are either self-determined or discovered only by exploring the landscape.

 

There is a game... I can't remember the name because its a weird name. But its low poly procedural gen world and you just fly a bird around endlessly and it changes colors and has chill music. That is all there is to it. No goal at all.

Great idea, but the flight control was too simple for it to be fun. At least for me. But it looked like that developer had made a couple games like that. Dunno if they sold much at all. I bought a copy at least, and I hardly ever buy games. So maybe that means something.

 

Are you thinking of "Fugl" ? https://store.steampowered.com/app/643810/Fugl/

 

yeah thats the one. Pretty cool idea, sort of like a game i wanna make, but i think the character control needs a lot more nuance to really make it work.

 

ABZU is pretty relaxing. THere's a little bit more to the game than just exploration but not much. The game is 99% just traversing the environment and enjoying the view.