A warning precedes the latest adventure from House House. “Big Walk is a game about talking to your friends,” reads a screen the first time you boot it up. But, it continues, “No voice calls. No talking face-to-face. No looking at other players’ screens.” What it wants you to do instead is use the in-game voice chat, which allows you to speak to characters near your own, but quickly reduces them to a distant echo as you move further apart.

You play as a cartoonish and faintly ant-like troupe of spindly limbed creatures setting out on the titular big walk, a journey across an island of leafy landscapes and gentle puzzles. It is a journey wholly without explanation or back-story, which means that the tone is set by your group dynamic and that the only dialogue you need focus on is your own.

The label reflects a growing desire for light-hearted, low-priced, communication-driven experiences. Not every multiplayer game is friendslop, of course. The label applies to games where friends aren’t just present in your adventures, they define them. They rely on what developers call “emergent gameplay” — the unscripted consequences of deliberate design choices.

In Aggro Crab and Landfall Games’ 2025 release Peak, the only way you can play the game is with friends. The aim of the game is to get through five daily-changing climbs that lead to a summit where rescue awaits, but gravity isn’t the only thing standing between you and the top.