Big Walk Review Summary

Excellent co-op with engaging puzzles and a relaxing atmosphere, but poor audio settings, frequent crashes and freezes, and no matchmaking requiring external pairing.

Outstanding overall quality: The overall game quality is highly praised, with many calling it a masterpiece or an outstanding game. Players find it consistently fun and wonderful.

Excellent with friends: Playing with friends is a core strength, with players highlighting the fun and social aspects of hanging out and chatting. The game is described as exceptional and immersive in multiplayer.

Engaging and balanced puzzles: Puzzles are highlighted as engaging and well-balanced, with a satisfying difficulty curve that encourages thinking without being too hard. This balance makes puzzles accessible to a wide audience.

Charming and relaxing atmosphere: The game consistently receives praise for its charming and relaxing atmosphere, with players describing it as cute, cozy, and peaceful. This creates a great environment for playing with friends.

Great audio and visuals: Audio design is top-notch, with excellent sound effects and music. The graphics and environment are also praised for being beautiful and atmospheric.

Voice chat too quiet: Players frequently report that voice chat is too quiet compared to game audio and that there is no separate volume slider to adjust it independently. This issue affects communication and enjoyment, with many requesting dedicated voice volume controls.

Proximity chat range short: The proximity chat range is consistently described as too short, with voices becoming inaudible beyond a few meters. Players struggle to hear friends even when standing close, leading to frustration and poor teamwork.

Puzzles not challenging: The puzzles are considered too simple and lacking in challenge, failing to engage players who seek more thoughtful gameplay. This aspect of the game may disappoint those looking for deeper puzzles.

Cannot reconnect after crash: After a crash, players are unable to reconnect to their friends for an extended period, sometimes over an hour. This lack of reconnection support is a major inconvenience that disrupts play sessions.

Online multiplayer lags: Multiplayer sessions suffer from noticeable lag and stuttering, which can affect all players simultaneously. This performance issue makes the online experience difficult to enjoy.

Co-op puzzle exploration game: The game is primarily a cooperative puzzle adventure that emphasizes exploration, teamwork, and solving puzzles with friends.

Walking and talking core: Walking and talking are the core activities, creating a slow-paced, narrative-driven experience.

Proximity voice chat essential: Proximity voice chat with a very short range (around 15 meters) is the main method of communication, adding a unique layer to the gameplay.

Puzzles require teamwork: Teamwork and creative communication are vital, with puzzles designed to separate the group and require physical coordination.

Large open world map: The game features a large open world map with many puzzles and mini-games to discover, supporting up to 9 players.

Good performance on many systems: Many players report good performance on high-end, low-end, and mid-tier systems, with stable FPS and smooth gameplay on various hardware including Linux and Steam Deck.

Frequent crashes and freezes: Frequent crashing is reported, sometimes multiple times per hour, with some players unable to reconnect after a crash. Crashes occur alongside other issues like freezing and desync.

Low FPS and frame drops: Multiple clusters report low FPS and frame drops, ranging from 25 to 40 FPS, with specific mentions of drops during actions like raising hands. This is a widely reported performance issue.

High system resource demands: The game demands high resources, maxing out CPU usage and requiring substantial RAM and GPU power, even on systems with 24GB RAM. Players note it's very intensive.

Poor optimization overall: General feedback states that optimization is needed, with ratings as low as 5/10 and descriptions like 'not smooth'. This reflects a consensus on poor optimization.

Great with friends: Many reviews highlight the game as ideal for playing with friends, especially for casual, co-op, or group experiences. It is praised for relaxing sessions, walking and talking, and puzzle solving with others.

Highly recommended overall: A significant number of reviews strongly recommend the game, calling it highly recommended, worth buying, and giving it a 10/10 rating. These recommendations are general and not tied to specific features.

Audio issues hurt recommendation: Several reviews cannot recommend the game due to audio issues, particularly with voice chat volume or calibration. These problems are significant enough to warrant a negative recommendation until fixed.

Some outright negative reviews: A few reviews explicitly do not recommend the game, with one mentioning a refund. These are straightforward negative recommendations without specific reasons.

Connection issues present: Some reviews do not recommend the game due to connection issues, including crashes and problems reconnecting. The reviewer indicates they may update if these are fixed.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

Big Walk provides immediate enjoyment for players who join with friends, offering a relaxing, puzzle-filled cooperative adventure where the fun begins from the tutorial area onward.

Friction: no matchmaking for solo players; slow walking in earlygame for solo players; lack of individual audio sliders; no solo progression.

Unlock drivers: playing with friends enables the fun.

Social Co-op Enthusiast: Cooperative chaos with friends; laughing, exploring, and tackling puzzles together. Motivation: Social bonding, shared fun, and memorable moments. Stance: buy.

Relaxation Seeker: Slow, leisurely exploration with friends, enjoying the scenery and ambient chatting. Motivation: Relaxation, de-stressing, and easy social connection. Stance: buy.

Solo Frustrated Player: Unable to play as intended; would prefer solo or random matchmaking to experience the content. Motivation: Desire to play but blocked by lack of solo/matchmaking options. Stance: no buy.

On Windows, lower VRAM systems are mostly playable but mid-to-high VRAM setups show more mixed stability; Linux Proton compatibility is consistently positive.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Most players find the game playable with occasional FPS drops and minor optimization issues, though a few report crashes and audio problems.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. The game runs well for most players, with one negative review citing poor optimization and missing audio controls.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Reports are split equally between smooth performance and notable frame drops, crashes, or online lag issues.

Steam Deck: The game runs well overall on Steam Deck with proton, though a subset of users need custom launch parameters. The major friction point is poor accessibility options, particularly fixed small text and UI scaling, which can cause eye strain on the Deck's display. Minor graphical glitches are reported.

Linux and Proton: The game shows solid Linux support with most users reporting excellent performance and seamless multiplayer via Proton. However, a minority of users encounter launch issues requiring custom parameters, and minor graphical glitches are noted. Overall, compatibility is good with only slight friction for some configurations.

Multiplayer-only with no matchmaking: The game is multiplayer-only, requires friends to play together, and has no matchmaking or public lobbies. This forces solo players to find groups externally or request refunds, creating a significant barrier to entry.

Game just released: Multiple reviews mention the game having just launched, with players noting it is a day-one release. This indicates the feedback comes from early access or launch window, which may explain some bugs and missing features.

Poor audio settings and controls: Multiple reviewers note audio setting issues, including only one overall audio slider, no individual volume controls for players, and voice chat volume being low or fading quickly. The developer intentionally encourages in-game voice chat but provides limited control.

Variable playtime and group sizes: Playtime varies widely, from 2 hours to 10-20 hours for a single playthrough. Group sizes range from 3 to 8 players, with best experiences noted for groups of 5-8. The game is designed for extended sessions with multiple friends.

Unplayable bugs at launch: Several reviewers report the game is unplayable at launch due to bugs, including desync, freezes, network issues requiring retries or restarts, and persistent problems despite reinstall. Some have refunded due to these issues.