Gone Home Group 4 Exercise
“The subculture of “speedrunning,” demonstrating mastery over
controls at its highest levels, is mostly inimical to the walking simulator:
while technically possible to speedrun a walking sim, such demonstrations
provide no real value for practitioners or viewers and are rarely seen. Simply
put, you cannot become better than someone else at a walking simulator, and this lack of a mechanism for dividing elite from noob might be what’s really behind some critiques complaining about the lack of gameplay”(121).
Reed et al argues that that there is no beating other players in walking simulators. Traditional gameplay mechanics like speed running are not as applicable to games like Gone Home. This is the cause for many of the critiques about walking simulators and why many gamers don't consider them to be real games. (121)
This quote caught our group's attention because it summarizes what makes walking simulators special and provides a unique interpretation about the genre.
Group 3:
LIke other walking simulators, Gone Home is still indeed a game with a start and an end, but the intention is not for players to "try their best." Rather it is to just play and take their time. The slow walking, with no sprint button, in addition to the extra fluff and lore around the map, slows down the player's pace and implicitly discourages speedrunning.
Group 2 Image: The concept of playing the game slowly is also seen in the design of the map. The map does not contain any goals or quest for the player to complete. It only shows destination for the player to explore.
Group 1: Because Gone Home is a walking simulator, the concept of speed running is harmful to the experience as the game encourages reflection and exploration.
