Month: February 2018

Video games that attempt to convey an experience or historical moment effectively must balance historical authenticity with engaging, accessible mechanics. Walden, A Game attempts to virtually represent Henry David Thoreau’s experience of living off the land at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts in the 1840s. The game does this by allowing the user to play as Thoreau and partake in many of his experiences portrayed in his book, Walden, and also includes many excerpts from the book, which Thoreau’s character recites throughout the game.

Walden, A Game is effective at creating a historically authentic experience while also engaging the player. The gameplay itself can draw the player out of the immersive experience at times. The food mechanics, which involves picking fruits, growing vegetables, and hunting, can seem clunky. Ralph Waldo Emerson serves as your spiritual guide throughout the journey, and even places inspirational books throughout the woods for you to find. Arguably the strangest mechanic is your inspiration meter, which you must keep at a high enough level that you can continue to write and reflect. While these mechanics can detract from the authenticity and immersion of the experience, they make it an engaging, challenging game that keeps the player interested. The game is not perfect in either of these aspects- It is not as challenging as many “survival” games, and its clunky mechanics can break immersion- but the balance the developers strike between them keeps the game interesting enough that the user plays long enough to absorb the historical message of the game: Thoreau’s experience and the fundamental tenets of transcendentalism.

Walden does a fantastic job of situating Thoreau’s whimsical prose in a well-designed and visually appealing context. The game combines the low barrier to entry of an audio book with the immersion and flow of a video game. Walden: A Game manages to make Thoreau more than just accessible but actively engaging as well. The environment begs the player to explore every nook and cranny with rewards like quotes, books, and nature facts. The player also uncovers a series of mini games, each of which provide the player with a useful resource. These resources provide a sense of progression and purpose. While it might not attract every kind of game, it should appeal strongly to players who like to manage their resources and explore virtual environments. The game also doesn’t overstay its welcome. Whereas Thoreau has a tendency to digress, Walden: A Game only takes twelve in game days. Games like these can quickly become repetitive to the point of feeling like a grind, but Walden opts for a small play-space so that it can be well saturated with collectibles and activities. The resource system provides a goal, but it doesn’t become over complicated or stressful. All the while, Thoreau’s prose and the beautiful environment make the game a real treat.

Regardless of its merits as game, does Walden deliver on its goal: communicating the essence of Thoreau’s account to the player? I think so. Walden: A Game manages an impressive balancing act between game and academic work. There’s enough fun to keep the player from getting bored, and part of that is thanks to the unobtrusive way Walden communicates its source material. The narration is pertinent, brief, and doesn’t take control away from the player, who is free to continue walking through the environment. Crucially, the developers did not bend the story beyond recognition to make a more widely appealing game. Plenty of people will think that Walden: A Game is just as boring as the book, but the goal of the project is not to make Walden a mass hit. The two major goals are to give those who already have experienced Walden a new way to interact with the work, spurring new thoughts, and to invite those who do enjoy the game to dig further into Thoreau’s Walden.