Game Changers 2016: Reinventing Storytelling Through Video Games Exhibit

Year Walk

Oculus Rift
[screenshot]

Release Date: iOS - February 21st, 2013; PC - March 6th, 2014; OS X - April 3rd, 2014; Wii U - September 17th, 2015
Genre(s): Adventure
Rating: Teen
Developer(s): Simogo
Publisher(s): Simogo, Nintendo
Version(s):
Price: Steam - $5.99; iTunes - $3.99
Website: http://simogo.com/work/year-walk-ios/
 

Overview

Årsgång, or Year Walking, is an ancient Swedish form of divination whereby a person performs a complicated ritual in order to catch glimpses of the future (Kuusela). This ritual is important because it is responsible for “temporarily” removing your Christianity and allowing visions of “supernatural beings” (Kuusela). The game Year Walk brings this folklore to everyone as we follow first Daniel Svensson as he sees a disturbing glimpse of the future and then Theodore Almsten as a man from a much later time who is fascinated by the concept of Year Walking.

In an interview with Simon Flesser, co-founder of Simogo and developer of Year Walk, he describes it as a “natural evolution” of their other games, with a focus on “powerful” emotions compared to something more cheerful (Shilling). Removing all aspects that make it feel like a game (except for a loading progress bar to reassure users) is an intentional move on Simogo’s part because they wished “to keep it as a very beautiful, short story experience…” (Shilling).

Overview Sources:
1. Tommy Kuusela (Stockholm University, Sweden) “Swedish Year Walk: From Folk-tradition to Computer Game”https://www.academia.edu/6624109/Swedish_Year_Walk._From_Folk-tradition_to_Computer_Game
2. Chris Shilling “Year Walk Interview”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-reviews/9889675/Year-Walk-interview.html

Researcher: Ellen Najera-Hohlbein

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