Found in Space
There's only a little bit of time looping in Tacoma. But it's still weird how I keep running into it.
Anyway! Tacoma, from the makers of Gone Home, is more than "just another walking simulator." Sure, it's a first-person narrative exploration game, and sure, the main story beats are in a forced linear sequence; but Tacoma uses self-directed interactive elements to fill the space between those beats, and rewards your curiosity with additional background and scene-setting.
Its core mechanic, replaying recordings of a space station crew's movements and dialog - and learning what happened by following and snooping on them - is really great at immersing you in the game's world. It's actually surprising how much walking behind a 3D recording pulls you in, as a means of both revealing the plot and illustrating the crew's characters.
(Tacoma also has a subtle, but elegantly-done, "puzzle" mechanic of cracking keypad codes by ... well, I won't give it away.)
It's not a surprise that Tacoma's story is well-written and well-acted, but it is impressive how poignant that story feels in today's pre-cyberpunk (or... early-cyberpunk?) landscape. The
Despite being a brief experience (2-3 hours), one could argue that Tacoma's real-time events and interactivity elevate it beyond a mere "walking simulator." I, for example, would argue that.
Better than: Analogue: A Hate Story, Gone Home
Not as good as: Elsinore, Outer Wilds
Shorter than, but just as resonant and fulfilling as: Eliza (2019)