Big Walk Review — Is It Worth It in 2026?
Big Walk review roundup: Metacritic 92, IGN 89, what critics agree on, Steam player sentiment, and who should (and shouldn't) buy this $19.99 co-op walker.
Big Walk Review — Is It Worth It in 2026?
Big Walk is one of the best-reviewed games of its launch week. The Metacritic aggregate sits at 92 on PC, IGN scored it 89/100 with a "Clever co-op puzzle adventure that uses communication like no other" verdict, and Steam shows over 10,000 recommendations in its first week. But a 92 doesn't mean it's for everyone — this is a co-op-only communication game with no solo mode. Here's the full picture before you spend $19.99.
Here's what you'll learn:
- Every major review score for Big Walk
- What critics agree on (the communication mechanic, the world, the puzzles)
- The two criticisms that keep coming up
- What Steam players are saying in week one
- Who should buy it — and who should pass
Official resources: Steam store page · IGN review · IGN game page · Metacritic · Wikipedia
Big Walk Review Scores: The Roundup
| Source | Score | Verdict summary |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic (PC aggregate) | 92 | "Must-Play" aggregate range on launch |
| IGN | 89/100 | "Unlike any other co-op game around" |
| Steam players | Overwhelmingly positive (10,000+ recommendations, week one) | Communication-driven co-op done right |
The 92 Metacritic aggregate puts Big Walk among the strongest co-op releases of 2026, matching the reception of House House's own Untitled Goose Game (which sits in the high 80s range on Metacritic).
IGN's review (August 2026) is the best single write-up of how the game feels — its group spent nearly 20 hours wandering, losing walkie-talkies off cliffs, and developing a private language for the puzzles. It captures why this game clicks.
What Critics Agree On
Across the reviews, three things come up over and over:
1. The communication mechanic is genuinely new
Big Walk's proximity voice chat has real physics — voices fade with distance, echo down corridors, muffle through walls, and crackle through walkie-talkies. On top of that, the game actively removes your voice at key moments, forcing you to fall back on gestures, laser pointers and flares. Critics agree this is the game's core innovation: "the puzzle is communication" is the recurring line. IGN called it "as if we were all physically in this virtual space together."
2. The world is a character
The open-world Australian bushland — beaches, desert, cliffside, a day-night cycle with pitch-black nights — drew universal praise. The world is hand-crafted with no HUD, no quest markers, and no objective. Reviews emphasize that getting lost is part of the design, not a flaw.
3. The puzzles are sharp and fair
The puzzle designs (mazes, pegboards, synchronized button presses, music-matching, coordinate hunting) are "always sharp, and always fun" per IGN. Puzzles scale for 2/3/4-player groups, and the bean/gourd → key → key-cutter loop keeps each area readable.
The Criticisms That Keep Coming Up
No game scores 92 without some honest caveats. The recurring complaints:
- Co-op only, full stop. No solo mode, no local co-op, no Xbox version. If your group isn't available, the game isn't either. This is the #1 "not for me" reason in reviews and Steam discussions.
- Pace is slow by design. There's no combat, no urgency, no quest log. Players who want a "game" with systems to optimize may bounce off the walking-first design.
- Host-dependent sessions. Player-hosted sessions mean connection issues and lag trace back to whoever's hosting — a recurring support topic in the launch window.
If you're thinking about buying Big Walk to play by yourself or with strangers you'll never coordinate with — don't. It's a game that only works when you have a group willing to talk. That's the entire design.
What Steam Players Are Saying (Week One)
Steam's first-week recommendation count passed 10,000 with an overwhelmingly positive rating. Common themes in player discussions:
- "It's Untitled Goose Game's studio doing a walking simulator that's actually co-op" — the most common one-liner
- Groups report the hang-out moments (sunsets, kicking binoculars into the ocean, getting lost) as the highlight, not the puzzles
- The night cycle is a divisive feature — some love the tension, others find it frustrating when you lose your flashlight
- Join Codes and crossplay are called out as working smoothly across PS5/PC/Switch 2
- The launch-window connection issues (host timeouts) are the most common complaint, with the framerate of the host being the usual culprit
How It Compares to Untitled Goose Game
House House's previous game, Untitled Goose Game, was a chaotic comedy-stealth sandbox where you played a horrible goose. Big Walk shares its DNA — the same Australian studio, the same love of small physical interactions, the same artful silliness — but it's a completely different genre:
| Untitled Goose Game | Big Walk | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Stealth comedy sandbox | Co-op walking/puzzle adventure |
| Players | 1–2 (local) | 2–12 (online only) |
| Core loop | Cause mischief with a goose | Solve communication puzzles with friends |
| Tone | Chaotic prankster | Warm, hang-out focused |
Fans of the goose should know: Big Walk is calmer, bigger, and built entirely around cooperation instead of mischief. The shared House House DNA is visible in the character design and the deadpan humor, but the pacing is completely different.
Who Should Buy Big Walk
Buy it if: you have a regular co-op group (2–6 players), you enjoyed Untitled Goose Game's sensibility, you like games where the journey matters more than the objective, or you're a PS Plus Essential subscriber (it was free in the August 2026 monthly lineup).
Skip it if: you play alone, you want combat or progression systems, you need an Xbox or Game Pass version, or your friend group never coordinates voice chat.
At $19.99 (with a $14.99 launch-week discount on Steam), it's priced like a weekend game — but groups report spending 10–20 hours across multiple sessions, which makes the value strong for the right audience.
FAQ
Is Big Walk worth it? For groups of 2–6 who like communication-driven co-op, yes — Metacritic 92, IGN 89, and a first-week Steam rating of overwhelmingly positive at $19.99. For solo players, no — there's no solo mode.
What do critics think of Big Walk? Strongly positive. Metacritic's PC aggregate is 92, IGN scored it 89/100, and reviews emphasize the proximity voice chat and communication puzzles as genuinely new.
Is Big Walk good? Yes, by every measure — but "good" comes with a big caveat: it's co-op only, and the pacing is slow and wandering by design. It's excellent at what it is.
How does Big Walk compare to Untitled Goose Game? Same studio, completely different game. The goose is a 1-2 player local mischief sandbox; Big Walk is a 2-12 player online co-op puzzle-walker with no combat. The humor and character design share DNA; the gameplay doesn't.
Who should play Big Walk? Groups with a regular session time. If you have 2-6 friends who talk on voice, Big Walk is one of the best co-op experiences of 2026. Solo players and Xbox owners should pass.
Is Big Walk free on PS Plus? It was one of the PS Plus Essential monthly games for August 2026 — PS5 subscribers could claim it at no extra cost during that month.
Related Guides
- Big Walk Guide — Everything Before Your First Walk
- Big Walk Price & PS Plus Free Month
- Big Walk Multiplayer & Co-op Guide
- Games Like Big Walk — Similar Co-op Games
- Big Walk Walkthrough — Complete Guide
Last updated: August 12, 2026.