Year Walk Reviews

A true masterpiece. It achieves so much, with so little. Do it. Play it.

If u're looking for a quick puzzle game with easy access info on some Swedish folklore and some eerie atmospheric background music to go with it, this game meets ur criteria! First off, absolutely beautiful background music! i turned it all the way up with headphones in a dark room to set the scene- and I'm glad I did. it's a great game to play during the night if u're up for smth creepy before bed. there are some cases of startling changes in the music to keep u on ur toes, and the graphics read like a child's storybook, which I found all the more compelling. This game is packed with all kinds of interesting lore that any creepypasta-enjoyer should find reason enough to give it a go. the puzzles are pretty fun the first and second time around, and u'll probably end up playing through multiple times just to experience all the different aspects of the game. after a while, once u're familiar with all the scenes and puzzles, it starts feeling more like a race against time to see how fast u can complete a run-through in, if that sort of self-competitiveness is ur thing. I thought it was great how much u can learn just from reading all the things written within the game about Year Walking, and especially how the creepy aesthetic was realistic in the way that isolating without any food or water for a day, and then walking around at night would probably make u see increasingly messed up and "off" things in reality too. i felt like the game did a great job at capturing the types of things people see as they become more paranoid of their surroundings due to sleep deprivation, which is why i think the game is best played at night when running on little sleep. definitely makes for a better and more unsettling experience! If u're looking for a game with thought-provoking and mind-boggling puzzles, this one probably isn't it, but I'd still say to give it a chance anyway more so for the story and graphics than the puzzles. if u do end up playing on little sleep, maybe that'll give u a harder time with the puzzles. my favourite puzzle was the matching music notes one, felt super satisfying realising how good my ears are at recognising matching notes 9/10, awesome soundtrack !! cool graphics !! interesting folklore !!

The game has an interesting premise, good art, and good music. Its a puzzle game and lack many other gameplay elements other than world traversal and clicking on certain objects or items, but I feel that it is almost necessary to put the player in a state of mind that matches the character they play. It is a very short game but good enough that I still think about it from time to time even years after.

This game is such a perfect example of a hidden gem. 10/10. Year walk is a really great introduction to the weird dark world of Swedish folklore, and normally horror/puzzle games are not my jam but this game really stands out with its incredible art, atmosphere, and storytelling. Every few years I find myself coming back to year walk.

[b]Year Walk[/b] attempts to introduce players to the tradition of Year Walking by immersing them in a simulated experience. In that regard, the game succeeds—I now understand the tradition and found learning about it enjoyable. However, as a game, it largely fails. It presents itself as a point-and-click adventure, but the puzzles simply aren’t strong enough. One puzzle relies on sound, yet I still don’t understand how I managed to solve it. Two others abruptly introduce unique interface mechanics not used anywhere else in the game, creating unnecessary frustration. After struggling through those, the remaining puzzles provide no challenge whatsoever. The game also forces excessive backtracking across the map, which mostly feels like a waste of time. Visually and aurally, Year Walk is more successful. The stylized spooky animation pairs well with its eerie soundtrack, creating an engaging horror-inspired atmosphere. For a short game, the experience of tromping through the snow is enjoyable enough. Beyond just replicating a Year Walk, the game introduces post-game content that requires yet another "fourth wall" leap of logic to uncover. After that, players must sift through 25–30 journal entries to complete the pseudo time-traveling story. This portion actually provides a compelling character to connect with, leaving me wondering why the developers didn’t incorporate it into the main game. Overall, Year Walk feels like a promising concept that lacked sufficient development, particularly in its gameplay elements. The most compelling parts of the story seem tacked on at the end, as if an editor tried to fix it but ran out of time. I give Year Walk a [b]2 out of 5[/b]—its saving grace being that it doesn’t take long to play. Ultimately, you're only slightly better off playing this than reading the Wikipedia page on the same subject.