How walking sims became as important as the first-person shooter

Games like Dear Esther take the environmental lessons of shooters and divert the focus from action to introversion

There are no puzzles, no enemies. You're alone on a remote Hebridean island with little evidence of life beyond the cawing gulls, and the odd glimpse of a shadowy figure on the horizon. There is one path to follow, which guides you over the dunes and into caves lit by phosphorescent flora. The story unravels, not through the completion of tasks, but through a pondering, poetic narration, and scattered letters.

Are you playing a game?