#YEAR WALK SWEDISH TRADITION MOVIE#

The calling card of the game is that it’s meant to be a puzzle solving game. Fortunately the Wii U gamepad serves as a wonderful map, among other things. The game area is relatively small, so navigating the town isn’t a problem. You can move up and down into new areas as well, often moving into background or foreground. You move left to right, like you would in a 2D game, but from the first person perspective. My only criticism is that it’s far too simple. A Simple Puzzle GameĪs a game, you know, with mechanics and stuff, it works really well. History lesson over, this is why the game’s ability to captivate the player is so strong.

It was then redrafted to fit the new medium.

#YEAR WALK SWEDISH TRADITION MOVIE#

The game was originally intended to be a movie as it started out as a film script. Together, the visuals and music pair beautifully with the storytelling, and then I found out why. The best description I can give it is that it’s a mix of old ballerina jewellery box tunes and circus-fare music played through an old wind-up record player. It does start off with music though, and although cheerful, it has a menacing undertone. In terms of sound, it’s not filled with a lot of music, but relies heavily on ambient sounds that gives it its eerie and goosebump inducing vibe. That old grainy film with cut-out characters that look like they were cut by Tim Burton or Neil Gaiman. Visually it reminds me of an old projector film meets pop-up books.

It’s almost the perfect blend and makes me wonder why I haven’t seen more of it. How the developers accomplished this is through their choice of visuals and sound. Sort of like hearing an odd noise outside, and instead of calling the cops, you grab a frying pan or knife to see if someone has jumped into your yard. What it also does well is that despite its unsettling aura, it feeds your curiosity, even though you know nothing good will come of it. Rather, it succeeds in making you feel uncomfortable and unsettled all the time. I must mention right now that although the game has many creepy moments and is based on a fairly unsettling piece of folklore, the game itself is not a “scare your head off” horror. Regardless of what she says, he performs the ritual and begins his haunting tale. A man visits his sweetheart at the town windmill, where she tells him that his plans for the Year Walk is dangerous and that he shouldn’t do it. It starts off as a seemingly sincere and beautiful game that takes place in a small idyllic Swedish hamlet. In order to be successful, they would need to outwit the creatures and surpass their temptations. However, there’s a catch, the person would face great evils from the creatures of the night. After midnight, the person would leave their house and walk to the nearest church, where they would, allegedly, meet the Church Grim (a goat-like man priest thing) who shows them their future. According to folklore, which is included in the small but insightful encyclopaedia provided in the game, Year Walkers would starve themselves for a day and remain locked up in a dark room until the stroke of midnight on a special day like Christmas or New Year’s Eve. The purpose of a Year Walk is to see your future or what you will achieve in the following year. Without giving too much away, Year Walk is game that expands on an almost forgotten Swedish tradition called the Arsgang (year walk).

Year Walk is one of them and can easily be an incredible experience or a dull one, depending on what your interests are. Some games are, after all, meant to be experienced without expectation and be a complete mystery. Most of the time I’m lucky enough to not have to review them as they’re very difficult to summarise into words. The walk starts at the statue of Moa Martinson at Grytstorget on December 31, 16:00 (4 p.m.).Every now and then I come across a game that surprises me in ways that I never would expect from a video game. “It will be a fantastic sight with all the torches and the Norrköping Light Festival’s light installations, truly a feast for the eye and the mind,” says Carita Nordh, Events Coordinator at Upplev Norrköping. It takes about two hours to light the 6,000 lights. The atmospheric walk on New Year’s Eve takes you through the illuminated Industrilandskapet (Industrial Landscape) on a road lined with torches, lights and choral singing. Up to 40,000 people choose to walk the New Year’s Walk in Norrköping during the final hours of the year – a cherished tradition since 1999.

Year walk swedish tradition