A Big Walk Bonanza: The Besties on House House's New Game

The hosts of The Besties—Griffin McElroy, Chris Plante, and Russ Frushtick—gather to discuss Big Walk, the new game from Untitled Goose Game developer House House. Their central argument is that Big Walk is not just another "friend slop" multiplayer game, but something stranger and more specific: a game about the loneliness and joy of actually being in a physical space with friends, built entirely around the mechanics of communication and separation.

What Big Walk Actually Is

Big Walk is a first-person online multiplayer puzzle game where players control bird-like characters exploring a large open world. It requires at least two players and cannot be completed solo. The puzzles range from simple tasks (throwing a ball into a hoop 15 times) to complex coordination challenges (hot-potatoing a ticking time bomb across the map). But the game's defining feature is that voice chat is proximity-based—if you're behind a wall, your friends cannot hear you. Players also have access to tools that facilitate communication: walkie-talkies for long-distance chat, laser pointers for pointing, flare guns for signaling location, and semaphore-like arm gestures.