Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Aug 19
House House Gives 90-Minute Big Walk Interview Inside Its 2026 Co-op Game
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Aug 19

House House Gives 90-Minute Big Walk Interview Inside Its 2026 Co-op Game

2 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Aug 19

Summary

  • A nearly 90-minute interview unfolded inside Big Walk, with three of House House’s five full-time developers walking the journalist through the game rather than speaking over Zoom.
  • Stuart Gillespie-Cook, Jake Strasser and Nico Disseldorp said the project began as a pandemic-era prototype built within 1 week around proximity voice chat, movement and staying together, not as an obvious commercial release.
  • The trio described six years of iteration on cooperative puzzles, sound-driven mechanics and endings, saying the game’s core challenge was preserving intimate group communication while scaling play for 2 to 4 players.
  • Audio became central after Shell in the Pit collaborators expanded the design with echoes, musical challenges and other systems, while House House also recently adjusted proximity-chat normalization after player complaints.
  • Big Walk was framed as a high-risk follow-up made possible by Untitled Goose Game’s success, with the studio saying it expected a niche response but has seen broader enthusiasm than anticipated.

Insights

How did a simple pandemic experiment evolve into a high-risk social game that tests the limits of human connection?
What hidden mechanics in Big Walk push players toward deep emotional bonds or intense frustration without using standard combat?