Big Walk takes me right back to why I started loving co-op in the first place. House House, the folks behind Untitled Goose Game, basically skipped the traditional puzzle structure and built a digital hangout that occasionally asks you to solve something together.

It's a co-op puzzle and exploration game, per Engadget's coverage, and from what I've played it has that same offbeat comedic timing the goose game nailed. Except now you're fumbling through the chaos with friends, so the comedy comes from the human interactions instead of a solo bird causing mayhem.

Engadget highlighted Big Walk alongside a few other indies, and the one that jumped out at me is a game about retro electronic repairs. That hits a very specific nostalgia nerve. I've spent more hours than I can count cracking open old consoles, tracking down a blown capacitor or a fried power supply. No AAA game has ever quite captured that hands-on fix-it satisfaction for me.

From what Engadget describes it sounds like it taps into the same zone as PC Building Simulator, just with more warmth and personality. I'd need to actually play it to know for sure. But the concept alone puts it on my radar.

The thing I like about this crop of indies is the creative confidence. These don't feel like games trying to prove they belong. They just know what they are. House House doesn't overthink why a co-op hangout game works. They commit to it.

I'm probably dating myself here, but booting up Uniracers or Earthworm Jim back in the day gave me a similar feeling. One creative vision driving the experience instead of a checklist of market-tested features. The indie scene still carries that spirit forward.

If you skipped Big Walk because co-op puzzles aren't usually your thing, give it a shot anyway. Nina and I were going back and forth on Final Fantasy enough recently that I needed something to decompress with. Hanging out in House House's weird little world was exactly the palate cleanser I needed.