Year Walk is an atmospheric journey through Swedish folklore with invent puzzles and terrifying horror elements. Year Walk requires minimal player input as you simply swipe left and right to look around you and occasionally walk deeper into the snowy forest. The games visuals lend a unique look to the world as you push through the forest and landmarks perceptually move past you, giving you the illusion of real movement. Add superbly implemented sound design, with subtle crunching of snow beneath your shoes a definite highlight and you have a game that sells its atmosphere. Year Walk refreshingly doesn't instruct you, instead allowing you to discover the mysteries and terror for yourself. You'll wonder the meaning of something only to recall an earlier discovery that reveals the next objective, a satisfying nuance that most games ignore. Year Walk is also surprisingly scary for a game you play on an iPhone, building up tension and atmosphere for long stretches of time before a startling image or sound forces you to hurl your iPhone across the room. It's an incredibly impressive feat for a deceptively simple iOS game.
Year Walks puzzles are rewarding and challenging, oftentimes requiring pen and paper note taking and abstract deduction. The puzzles can be inscrutable and thus frustrating but it's usually a result of over thinking the solution, something a small break would reveal. The mythology heavy story is purposefully vague and obtuse forcing you to reanalyze and recontextualize it after every new discovery. The game even creatively takes advantage of the platform it's on, though I wont divulge more than that for fear of revealing too much. Suffice to say the game is filled with hidden depth that transcend the single app and can be further explored if the player is so inclined. Year Walk was a deeply uncomfortable game to play in a single night, the skin-crawling tension and wonderful sound design made every new obstacle a possibly terrifying encounter.
(4 out of 5)
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