“The Vanishing of Ethan Carter” Shows How Walking Simulators Can Be Fun

How Do You Make a Walking Simulator Interesting?

By David Curry on November 12, 2014 at 11:46am

"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" shows there is a way to create a “walking simulator” that is interactive and challenging, while revealing a gorgeous and story-driven experience. The term walking simulator was first coined on Steam, and has become a reference for all games where walking is the thing you’ll be doing for most of the game.

We have seen games like "Dear Esther," "Gone Home," and "Lifeless Planet" either focus too much on the story, visuals, or not take into account the desire for the player to interact. This, for some players, is fine, but for others it is too much of a disconnect – making it feel like a walking virtual simulation more than a video game.

Take "Gone Home" for example – the story of "Gone Home" is impressive on multiple levels. It has a great build-up and allows the player to follow a simple narrative, along with great music, but there is a complete disconnect on a gameplay standpoint, which makes it easier to watch a Let's Play than experience for yourself.

This is partly due to the fact "Gone Home" has no replayability in the video game sense. In the movie sense, it offers a compelling story you may want to listen to again, but there is no difference in the end-result, or challenge getting to the finish point.

Marrying Mechanics with Story

How does The Astronauts - the team behind "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" - pull the experience of being a walking simulator off? Well, it adds a level of challenge to the game, and bonds it with the storyline to make it all the more satisfying.

The entry into the game [spoilers], reveals Ethan Carter is a young boy who has awoken some sort of supernatural in his town. His family, confronted by news he has awoken this demon, all turn towards sacrificing Ethan as payment to the demon.

You play as a detective, following the murders in the small town. You find pieces of evidence, solve puzzles and replicate scenes, in order to figure out the mystery killings, all the while searching for Ethan. The story has an excellent few stories and an interesting ending, sure to please fans of creative storylines.

Creativity for Everyone to Experience

Some developers like to create games from the ground up to look pretty, convey a message or show off some visual or vocal art, but the truth is these games are inherently flawed. The job of a game developer (or indeed, game studio) is not to satisfy the need of the self, like other creative mediums, but to satisfy the need of millions.

There are people who will sit through simulations while the story unravels; watch the best visual art ever added into a “video game”; even just to listen to an amazing soundtrack, but the vast majority of gamers want a voice, they want a feeling their decisions or presence in the game has been enough to push it to end-state.

"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" proves these beautiful narratives, gorgeous visuals and brilliant soundtrack can work with interesting and challenging puzzle mechanics, which test the mind and keep the player interested in what is happening on screen.