Big Walk Beginner's Tips and Tricks: Complete Guide

Big Walk Beginner's Tips and Tricks covers everything you need in your first hour — how to set your session size, control your character, use signal flares to regroup, manage the day-night cycle, avoid losing items when you fall, and progress past the red stairs to unlock the rest of the island. Read on for practical tips that make co-op exploration smoother.

Game Session Size

When you start a new game of Big Walk, you choose the number of players the session is balanced for: 2-Player, 3-Player, or 4+ Player. This choice directly affects how puzzles are scaled — a puzzle that needs 3 players in a 3-Player lobby may only need 2 in a 2-Player lobby, or 4 in a 4+ Player lobby. Some puzzles stay the same regardless of session size, while others adapt.

You can change the player-count balancing at any time without losing progress in your save file. To do so, the host simply starts a new session and selects a different player number. Your save file carries over, but the puzzle balancing shifts to match the new group size.

Audio Setup Tip

If the game sounds very quiet compared to other applications on your computer — especially the in-game voice chat and ambient sound effects — check your overall game volume first before adjusting microphone settings. Interact with items in the test area at the start to confirm the game audio is loud enough.

If other players are still hard to hear after the game volume is correct, ask them to raise their microphone sensitivity in the in-game settings or on their individual microphones. This is a common issue on PC close to launch and is usually solved with a quick settings adjustment.

Baby Steps: Movement and Items

Take your time in the opening playground area, where signs teach you how to interact with the world. A few specific mechanics worth knowing early: if you hold an item above your head for about 10 seconds, the icon at the top fills in and you can release the button without lowering the item. Press the button again to disengage the hold lock and bring your arms down.

If you sit while standing on a slope, your character will slide down the hill and land in a sitting position at the bottom. Press the sit button again to stand back up. You can also throw an item instead of kicking it by holding the item overhead first, then charging your kick. A charging kick can be cancelled by pressing the Interact button before releasing.

Never Lost, Always Found

Inside the starting area — where every session of Big Walk begins, even on established saves — there is a pedestal that holds whatever item you were carrying when the previous session was disconnected. If you are wrapping up a session and want to make sure a particular item is with you next time, simply hold onto it before you leave.

This pedestal ensures you never permanently lose your last-held item between sessions. It is a reliable way to keep track of important objects like keys or gadgets that you need for progression.

Show and Tell

Holding something above your head always rotates the item so it faces away from you. This means you can light your way with a torch even when held overhead, or turn around to show your friends something you are looking at without them needing to come to your position.

This mechanic is especially useful for coordinating puzzle solutions — you can hold up an object so teammates far away can see what you have, or use a torch overhead to signal your location in dark areas.

Signal Flare

Throughout the world you will find orange terminals with a single red button. Pressing it launches a signal flare high into the sky, which creates a bright flash and a loud sound that most players across the map can hear. Because Big Walk encourages using in-game proximity chat rather than external voice apps, these flares are the main way to bring separated players back together.

Use signal flares when your group gets split up, when you have found something important that others should see, or when you need to gather everyone at a specific location. The flare is visible and audible from a long distance, making it the fastest way to regroup.

Time of Day

The sun rises and sets quickly in Big Walk. A full day lasts about 8 minutes, while the evening is slightly shorter at about 6 minutes. This means the lighting and atmosphere change frequently during a session, which can affect visibility and navigation.

Because the day-night cycle is so fast, you may find yourself exploring in darkness more often than expected. Carrying a torch or using held items to light your way becomes important during evening stretches, especially in areas with tall grass or dense scenery.

Fall Stun and Dropped Items

Your character does not have health points in Big Walk, so you cannot take damage — even from falling from a great height. However, if you do fall, you will drop whatever item you were carrying. Small items can easily get lost in the grass, so pay attention to where you drop things when you take a tumble.

Try to keep a mental note of your surroundings when you fall, so you can quickly retrieve dropped items. The X-spotter gadget (described below) is especially useful for finding lost items in tall grass.

X Marks the Spot

Near the first signal flare terminal, you will find a handheld device that reveals interactable objects in the world. When you look at interactable items through this device, they sparkle within a certain range. As you get closer, the sparkles become more concentrated and eventually form an X when you are right on top of the item.

Use this device to find objects hidden in grass, locate items you dropped after a fall, or discover interactable elements you might have walked past without noticing. It is one of the most useful early-game tools for thorough exploration.

Tower of People

If you need to see farther or become a visible landmark for your friends, you can pick up another player — even someone who is already holding someone else — to create a tower of people. The person on top gets a higher vantage point and can spot distant objects, paths, or puzzles that are not visible from the ground.

A tower of people also serves as a tall, moving landmark that separated players can use to find the group. This is a simple but effective way to navigate when the terrain is confusing or the group has spread out.

Progressing Past the Red Steps

To leave the opening area and progress into the rest of the island, you need a key that fits into an indent at the top of the red stairs. The key is nearby but trapped in a mechanism that requires four red objects matching the indents underneath the covers.

There are four puzzles in this starting area, each rewarding one shaped object. Bring all four shapes to the key mechanism and place them in their sockets to release the key. Once you have the key, take it to the red stairs and place it in the indent to open the path forward.