Hail Gourd

If you're planning on playing Big Walk, there may be some slight spoilers down here but I'll try not to ruin the fun.

Day 1

Set forth on a Big Walk last week. I awoke in a mysterious long red hallway that led out to an opening inside of what is basically a giant playroom with a tree in the middle. Four pals were waiting for me. This home base serves as a tutorial grounds for you and your friends to learn the mechanics of Big Walk, the new game created by House House. These guys also made the Untitled Goose Game. They're a video game company from Melbourne, Australia.

I was pretty much hooked on the game as soon as I jumped down to join my friends. Along the walls were images of control instructions. As I started practicing how to move my arms, one of them picked me up and carried me around above their head. I immediately needed to learn how to do the same because it looked hilarious. I ran over to this big yellow jungle gym type looking structure in the room with other control instructions. You can pick up these balls bigger than your head and give them a squeeze. They light up and emit a glow. I learned how to toggle switches on and off. How to crouch and sit down. How to type messages if needed. It was all very silly and free flowing. We were just playing and hanging out in the tutorial room and it was already a blast.

One of my friends, Rachel, was having audio issues at first so we spent a lot of time goofing around in there. Then Joey took off running to the exit and I had to follow. Down another red hallway and a set of stairs. I felt giddy. And there it finally was. The opening to the island. It looked so amazing. I tried telling Joey we shouldn't touch the dirt yet without everyone but he jumped off immediately so I followed lol. We sat there looking out at the view. I'm not sure if this island has a name or not but it's beautiful.

We ran back inside and then everything started working. But before we set off we all stacked up on each other and tried to climb in the tree. I think I jumped from a poor angle and missed. I'm pretty sure we can get up there. But the anticipation was too much to try again so we all finally ran outside to start walking. The exit brings you to an elevated landing point. We all jumped off the cliff and bounced around to the ground. We were off. The world was ours to explore.

Once out hiking around the island you are pretty much on your own. You'll run into new items and landmarks that catch your eye. It's up to you to figure out what directions to go and what actions to take. The objective of the game is essentially to just figure it out. Solve puzzles and hang out with your friends. The game's essence is all about wonder.

Here's a gameplay trailer that goes into all that a little more:

One of the first things we noticed was how quick the day cycle can go. And once the sun goes down it can get pretttty dark on the island. Using those lightballs was essential. I wonder if the days move so fast because the planet itself is smaller? I'm not entirely sure. There are many mysterious things about this place.

Immediately we found a puzzle. There was this red gourd-like looking thing stuck in a clamp high up on a crane. We had to stack up and click this button to get it out. The crane shout out confetti and the vice started un-tightening. The gourd thing almost looked like one of our heads. It fell down and we picked it up. All of us were pretty confused on what the hell to do with it. But we figured it was important so we carried it with us.

Then we came to this building that was lit up in the night. There was a giant paintbrush and a mirror with a palette of colors on the wall. We started painting each other's bodies here. Not like that ya freak. Our characters are built like weird snowmen. You get a color on the bottom, middle, and the top. John now looked like a bumblebee (he's in the top image of this post). Nora painted Joey all brown. He kind of looked like a poop.

Then we headed up this hillside to this red structure that served as a lookout point. There was a telescope and a button. Looking through the telescope I saw that when we pushed the button, there was a glass box across this valley that lit up and opened. There was another gourd thing inside. So two people went to the other side and got that as we watched and opened it up for them. Now we had two of these gourds and still were clueless on what to do with them.

From here we headed out past the paint studio from before to go see the ocean. On the way we found another weird structure on the ground that looked kind of like the base of a lighthouse or something just with no building around it. Inside we were finally given the answers on what to do with the gourds.

There were four or five gourd-shaped slots under these glass barriers. I can't remember exactly now. One person had to click a button to open them and then we placed the gourds inside which once completed delivers a super satisfying sound. There's also a key locked up here. It was clear that the gourds contain some type of energy in them and we needed to collect the others to release it.

We were able to do that and then some on our first night playing. We were basically just running around and finding new puzzles to beat. Some puzzles separate you from your team and you have to find new ways to communicate. Some puzzles have timed objectives. Some puzzles require you to do your best Damian Lillard impression by shooting items into a basketball hoop to build up energy:

It was all very fun and entertaining. One of my favorite parts of day 1 was after we got the first key and unlocked a pathway around the beach using this red bridge. We discovered a radio and unlocked the first radio station. Now we could have music on our hike. The only issue is it means you might not have room to carry other important items. But I tend to think the radio is essential. I'm trying to be the honorary vibes guy on the hike. I'm determined to unlock the other stations.

At the end of our first night exploring the island we actually were able to unlock a second key that was located at the top of this giant red cone. This place was actually structured like a real light house kind of. Or a radio tower. We also found a couple walkie-talkies, laser pointers, and flashlights at this point. We didn't end up using the second key though. It was a good stopping point for us.

Day 2

Okay I thought the first time playing was crazy but day two really ramped it up. This time my other buddy Jared joined us so we had a total of 6 little dudes running around getting into shenanigans. You can actually have 12 people play at once which sounds ridiculous to me. There is already so much talking and yelling involved that I don't think my brain could keep track of 12 of us. On the other hand it's also like I kind of what to experience it at some point just for the chaos. And because seeing 12 of us stacked high would be incredible.

This was fun though because we got to introduce Jared to all of the other mechanics of the game. We started off by using the second key we unlocked and opened this door that led us to a room which held a mini-model of the island where we could see the layout of everything and where there were puzzles for us to accomplish. We could even climb around on it. The island is hella big apparently and there are some crazy spots we'll have to get to. We also earned a map and compass in this room.

From here we planned to locate an area of the island we hadn't been to. First though we went back to the paint studio so Jared could get a fresh look. Then we went for a swim in the cove back by the first gourd deposit/key area. Watching everyone swim around was really goofy looking. It's like whatever creatures we are are unable to swim on our bellies. You pretty much stay in walking position but you're swimming in a way that makes it look like you're drowning. We swam out as far as we could and then tried to jump and glitch our way up some rocks to this cave hole. Surprisingly it worked for a few of us. Myself and Rachel were not one of them.

As I swam around by the shore some more out of nowhere a bright glowing bullet shout out past me releasing a GIANT cloud of yellow smoke. I couldn't see anything. Nora had found a flare gun up there. This would become insanely useful later.

Then we moved out to the new area of the map that we hadn't explored. Along the way the greatest thing happened. We ran into a stage that had giant orange speakers. There were lawn chairs scattered in front of the stage. John figured out we could plug the radio into the speakers so we were having a little vibe session. If there were beers on the island we could pick up this would be an awesome spot to drink them.

Jared was carrying a gourd at the time so he did what all should do and raised it high above his head as he stood up on stage.

Then we began worshipping gourd. For gourd is our guiding light. All hail gourd.

(You can see that at the top image)

Then we all started sitting in the lawn chairs and launching ourselves into the air with them. Trying to stack multiple chairs of people on each other. We probably did this for like 20-30 minutes lol.

These mundane moments are where Big Walk really shines. They aren't essential to the story or making progress but in my opinion the real progress are the memories and laughs we make with our friends along the way. <3

From here we embarked on a mission of solving puzzles. It was clear they were becoming more and more intricate. We've barely scratched the surface of this place so I can only imagine how challenging they will become. The terrain of the island is also pretty gnarly and becomes a bit of a jungle which makes it hard to see without a flashlight at night. Without diving too deep into things, we were able to get 6 more gourds and unlocked a new key–which opened up something unbelievable. A goddamn chair lift.

This where shit got wild.

At this point I have one of the walkie talkies. Jared and I rode the opposite way as the others. Joey is speaking to me through it talking about all this cool shit he sees at the other end. So we start riding the other way to catch up. Jared is holding a box with numbers that is for a different task that we haven't completed yet and I don't want to spoil the trick. Anyways. He accidentally jumps out of the ski lift onto this cliff. So I do the same so he doesn't get lost.

The thing about this game is that if your item is in your hands and not in a backpack or holster, they go flying if you jump from high up. As I landed my walkie launched from my hands and bounced around right to the edge of the cliff. Before I could get off my ass it flew down the cliffside into the abyss. We both jumped after it. His box went rolling down the hill but I was able to catch it. The walkie nowhere to be seen. We were laughing so hard.

Hey, at least it wasn't the radio.

Speaking of the radio. The music in this game is so awesome. We haven't heard it all yet because you need to find the other radio antennas to unlock the station. But from what we have been able to hear man I love it. It's very ethereal and ambient at times and makes the whole experience feel at harmony. Something about being on this island, listening to tunes with friends and solving puzzles in the strangest manner is so peaceful. Even when we're yelling about what to do or where to go or asking where the hell did Rachel and John go!

The soundtrack is made by aksfx, a producer who is also from Melbourne. I haven't listened to all the music yet because I want to unlock them naturally, but they are available on YouTube and Bandcamp. And probably other streamers. Below is the music of the first station we have unlocked titled Radio: Lobby. It consists of three songs; "Motif," "Leitmotif" and "Refrain." I set the video below to start at "Refrain" because it bangs but please listen to it all if you like.

I'm already yearning to go walking again. Gourd is calling.