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Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association
Thoughtful Snooping: Agency, Affect and the Walking Simulator
Key insights
6 takeaways- 01The 'walking simulator' genre has transitioned from a derogatory term to a commercially and critically successful category that leverages immersive, affective storytelling to explore queer narratives and non-normative play.See it on page 2
- 02Ludic 'snooping'—the mechanic of examining personal spaces and belongings—simulates intimacy and character identification by allowing players to piece together narratives through environmental objects, as seen in titles like Gone Home (2013), What Remains of Edith Finch (2017), and A Normal Lost Phone (2017).See it on page 4
- 03The snooping mechanic inherently complicates player consent, as games often force players to violate a character's privacy to progress the narrative, raising ethical questions about whether true intimacy can be achieved without mutual agreement.See it on page 7
- 04Walking simulators subvert hypermasculine gaming norms by prioritizing slower, contemplative movement and 'queer' forms of play that resist traditional, goal-oriented gameplay structures.See it on page 3
- 05While many critics label these titles as 'empathy games,' scholars argue that this framing is often problematic and reductive, suggesting that designers should instead move toward frameworks like Donna Haraway's 'becoming with' to foster mutual valuation rather than possession.See it on page 12
- 06The use of multimodal storytelling, such as voice-acted journals in Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch, serves as a poetic device that defamiliarizes player expectations and deepens the emotional connection to virtual characters.See it on page 6
Summary
Loading… The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association Thoughtful Snooping: Agency, Affect and the Walking In the past decade, "walking simulator" has evolved from an insult to a critically and commercially successful genre of games. Through subversive mechanics and an emphasis on immersive, affective storytelling, these games are well-situated to explore LGBTQ+ narratives and queer forms of play (Ruberg, 2019).
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