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Simogo's Creepy Puzzle Adventure 'Year Walk' Now Available

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Apr 12, 2001
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Year Walk is the newest app release from Simogo, the developer behind hit titles like Bumpy Road and Beat Sneak Bandit.

yearwalk.jpg
Unlike the aforementioned titles, Year Walk is a first person adventure game set in 19th century Sweden, with a dark and creepy atmosphere. Here's how Simogo describes it:
Experience the ancient Swedish phenomena of year walking through a different kind of first person adventure that blurs the line between two and three dimensions as well as reality and the supernatural.

Venture out into the dark woods where strange creatures roam, on a vision quest set in 19th century Sweden. Solve cryptic puzzles, touch and listen in your search to foresee the future and finally discover if your loved one will love you back.
Click to expand...
Year Walk is more than just a simple game. The beasts and events of the world are chronicled in the Year Walk Companion, which is a separate reference guide app that Simogo has designed to go along with the main app.

Our sister site TouchArcade mentions that the Year Walk's muted colors and grainy overlay work well to create a suspenseful atmosphere, and that the game's "meditative mechanics keep you hooked in."

Year Walk can be downloaded from the App Store for $3.99. [Direct Link] Year Walk Companion can be downloaded for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Simogo's Creepy Puzzle Adventure 'Year Walk' Now Available
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/20/simogos-creepy-puzzle-adventure-year-walk-now-available/
jclo

jclo

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Stig McNasty

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Looks like an original piece of work. Well timed to ride the wave of dark Scandic crime TV/Films.
 
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japanime

japanime

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The video looks great. Reminds me a bit of "The Room," which is also a very nice (but too short) iOS puzzler. I'm sure I'll be trying this one if the reviews are positive.

I hope, though, that it isn't the sort of puzzle that can be solved in a just a few hours, like "The Room."
 
lazyrighteye

lazyrighteye

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Downloaded & read the companion while the game downloaded. Then played the game about 10 minutes before bed. Very interesting & immersive environment. Really pulls the user into its world, much in the way [say] Limbo does. Looking forward to exploring more than 10 minutes.
It's good to see more original, engaging and artistic content hitting the platform. We have more than enough fruity-colored, bedazzled games in the App Store.
 
D.T.

D.T.

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Wow, beautiful looking piece of work. I love when a game goes beyond just "game mechanics" and becomes an experience.

Neat idea with the companion app too.

----------
Renzatic said:
Wow. It's already out? I wasn't expecting it to show up for another week or two.

Bought'd and downloading!
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lazyrighteye said:
Downloaded & read the companion while the game downloaded. Then played the game about 10 minutes before bed. Very interesting & immersive environment.
Click to expand...


You'll both have to follow up once you've had a little more time with it :)
 
A

Artkin

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Jun 6, 2011
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Just finished the game. What a fantastic experience.

It seems easy to get stuck on a couple of the puzzles, but the lack of direction definitely adds to the creepiness and feeling of isolation, which is what Simogo seems to be going for here. The addition (and importance of) the Companion is ingenious as well.

While the game is quite short, there will definitely be multiple playthroughs.
 
D.T.

D.T.

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Artkin said:
Just finished the game. What a fantastic experience.

It seems easy to get stuck on a couple of the puzzles, but the lack of direction definitely adds to the creepiness and feeling of isolation, which is what Simogo seems to be going for here. The addition (and importance of) the Companion is ingenious as well.

While the game is quite short, there will definitely be multiple playthroughs.
Click to expand...


Sounds very cool. What would you estimate was the playtime [in hours]?
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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D.T. said:
You'll both have to follow up once you've had a little more time with it :)
Click to expand...

It's suffering The Room syndrome. I found it to be beautiful, atmospheric, interesting, clever...

...and very short.

I got to what I'm almost definite is the last puzzle in a little over two hours. But even with it being so brief, I still recommend grabbing it for the $4 they're charging for it. As long as you're in there for the experience, and aren't expecting it to last forever and a day, I think you'll be pleased with what you get.

Though I still haven't actually beaten it yet. That last puzzle I mentioned above? I can't figure it out. It's too damn surreal, and doesn't give you any feedback on what you're supposed to be doing.
 
C

Cougarcat

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I didn't think The Room was too short, at least for the .99 I paid. I did feel like it ended abruptly without a satisfying conclusion, however. How is the conclusion to this game?

(BTW, The Room will be getting a free update this summer that will bridge the game to its sequel, so my complaint should become a nonissue.)
 
Kaibelf

Kaibelf

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Renzatic said:
It's suffering The Room syndrome. I found it to be beautiful, atmospheric, interesting, clever...

...and very short.

I got to what I'm almost definite is the last puzzle in a little over two hours. But even with it being so brief, I still recommend grabbing it for the $4 they're charging for it. As long as you're in there for the experience, and aren't expecting it to last forever and a day, I think you'll be pleased with what you get.

Though I still haven't actually beaten it yet. That last puzzle I mentioned above? I can't figure it out. It's too damn surreal, and doesn't give you any feedback on what you're supposed to be doing.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. People go to a movie for 2-3x as much and it's over in the same amount of time, and in this case, you can pass it to someone you live with and they can experience it too. Well worth it.
 
D.T.

D.T.

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Renzatic said:
It's suffering The Room syndrome. I found it to be beautiful, atmospheric, interesting, clever...

...and very short.

I got to what I'm almost definite is the last puzzle in a little over two hours. But even with it being so brief, I still recommend grabbing it for the $4 they're charging for it. As long as you're in there for the experience, and aren't expecting it to last forever and a day, I think you'll be pleased with what you get.

Though I still haven't actually beaten it yet. That last puzzle I mentioned above? I can't figure it out. It's too damn surreal, and doesn't give you any feedback on what you're supposed to be doing.
Click to expand...

Kaibelf said:
Totally agree. People go to a movie for 2-3x as much and it's over in the same amount of time, and in this case, you can pass it to someone you live with and they can experience it too. Well worth it.
Click to expand...


Yeah, it's funny, I kind use movies (like going out) as a reference for cost, and even with a matinee, the wife and I will spend $13-15 for a couple of tickets, for about 2 hours of entertainment.

For $4, for the two of us to enjoy for 2-2.5 hours, seems like a deal :D

I think we paid $15 for Journey on the PS3, and it was a long day, single sitting (like maybe 5 hours?), but the experience was amazing, there's a decent amount of replayability, and using my movie price comparison, it was a steal :)

(Journey is HIGHLY recommended BTW, and try to avoid reading anything about it, pretty amazing)
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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D.T. said:
Yeah, it's funny, I kind use movies (like going out) as a reference for cost, and even with a matinee, the wife and I will spend $13-15 for a couple of tickets, for about 2 hours of entertainment.

For $4, for the two of us to enjoy for 2-2.5 hours, seems like a deal :D
Click to expand...

That's the way I think of it. It's not how long it lasts so much as how much you enjoyed it.

The only reason why I was disappointed in The Room was because I was having so much fun, I didn't want it to end. But hey, it was a good 4 hours, and I can always pick it up again a year or two from now and experience it all over again. That's a damn good bargain for 99 cents.

I think of Year Walk in about the same way. It's like an interactive storybook told without any words. It was fun, interesting, and cool. Creepy too, which never hurts. Even if it only lasted me so long, I really liked it, and can always play it again. I got more out of it than than the $4 I put in.

...though I can't say I've finished it completely, because I'm still stuck on that last puzzle. If anyone's willing to give me a little hint, I'd appreciate it. :p
 
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cosmic68

cosmic68

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Just a hint on the box with the dial will do me! I haven't got very far obviously!
 
cosmic68

cosmic68

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Renzatic said:
That's the way I think of it. It's not how long it lasts so much as how much you enjoyed it.

The only reason why I was disappointed in The Room was because I was having so much fun, I didn't want it to end. But hey, it was a good 4 hours, and I can always pick it up again a year or two from now and experience it all over again. That's a damn good bargain for 99 cents.

I think of Year Walk in about the same way. It's like an interactive storybook told without any words. It was fun, interesting, and cool. Creepy too, which never hurts. Even if it only lasted me so long, I really liked it, and can always play it again. I got more out of it than than the $4 I put in.

...though I can't say I've finished it completely, because I'm still stuck on that last puzzle. If anyone's willing to give me a little hint, I'd appreciate it. :p
Click to expand...

Which bit are you stuck on, as I've finished it (I think-there could be a third ending)? tell me where/what your stuck on and i'll try and gently hint it.
 
TuffLuffJimmy

TuffLuffJimmy

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So I finished the first quest, started a second one and did the thingy. I really enjoyed the whole story and the art was amazing. But I'm not really sure if I've actually completed it. The thingy I did in the second quest (intentionally being vague) still left a lot of questions. Is there more?

The style and especially music reminds me of Braid (also the ambiguous love aspect) are the two related?
 
furi0usbee

furi0usbee

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Great game

Great game. Just finished it. There was only one spot where I had to sneak a hint online. I won't spoil anything, but it was the part where the blood was dripping. If this game had a brief walkthrough where it held your hand for like the first few minutes, showing all the ways you can interact, I think that would have been great. But once you spend a few minutes with the game, you learn pretty quickly what you can do.
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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I love it when you're stuck on a puzzle that seems so hard, you're forced to hit up a walkthrough to complete it.

...only to figure out, it's about the simplest damn thing in the world to solve. That makes you feel like a real special kind of dumb.



....SEMI SPOILERS BELOW....


To all the people who've completed the game, I was stuck on the bit with the spinning faceted gem. The one where you can see a hazy image of the church and a small building cast in a green light inside of it.

Yeah. That really simple bit. I wonder why I didn't think to do what you had to do. I was trying to do this overly complicated thing, and it ended up being so much easier than I thought.
 
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