How to Play

There's nothing to win and nothing to lose. The game shows short tips on your first walk; this page has everything in one place if you'd like to read ahead.

Getting around

W A S D or arrow keys	Walk
Hold the mouse button and drag	Look around (Q and E also turn)
Touch screens	Drag the circle in the corner to walk; drag anywhere else to look
Game controller	Left stick to walk, right stick to look
C or the Rest button	Rest: everything stops, and you can arrange what you've found
M or tap the little map	Open the big map: the whole walk, your stops and where you are in Australia
Esc	Close the big map or any open panel; with nothing open, it opens the walk menu
☰ button (top corner)	Walk menu: pause, change walk or place, or leave the walk
× button	Closes any panel or overlay

On a walk

Finding things	Feathers, leaves, flowers and stones sparkle softly beside the track. Walk within a couple of steps to pick one up. There's no button to press. Feathers are real birds, leaves and flowers are real plants recorded at that place.
Spotting animals	When something moves nearby, a small note says so. Stand still with it in view for a moment to spot it. Animals come out at their real times of day and never come towards you.
Stops	Each stop has a seat facing the view and a short note. You can sit and read a short note, or walk on. In the wilderness walks you can also light a small campfire.
Finishing early	From the second stop on, the stop card has a "Finish the walk here" button. It ends the walk with its passport stamp and keepsake, so a walk can be as short as you need it to be.
Just sit	"Just sit for a while" on the start screen takes you straight to a bench at the first stop of your usual walk (or today's walk) and lets the place carry on around you. Nothing to do and nothing to collect.
Your usual walk	On a walk's plan screen, "Make this my usual walk" puts it on the start screen so it is always one tap away. Welcome-back messages remember the last walk you finished.
The lookout	The last stop is a lookout. The view opens up and you get a postcard of it to keep.
Bindi	Your kelpie walks with you and sometimes stands beside a find you've missed. You can turn her off in Settings.
Stopping	Leave whenever you like. Your walk is saved, and "Continue your walk" picks it up again.

Walking in Melbourne

The walks	Four walks follow the real streets, arcades and laneways of the city centre, from station to station. A block takes about as long as a block.
Footpaths and roads	Stay on the footpaths. You can't walk onto a road, but you can cross at a pedestrian crossing. There are no fires in the city; each stop has a bench instead.
Crossing	Walk up to the kerb at a crossing and a small prompt appears. Press the button and wait. Cars stop when the walker turns green, and the walker flashes red for the last few seconds. If you miss it, press again. Nothing counts against you.
Where you are	The street you're on is named at the top left, and a quiet hint shows the next turn when one is coming up. The little map and the progress card show how far along the walk you are.
Quiet streets	Settings has a Quiet world preset and a traffic slider that make the streets calmer. You can rest at any time and the city holds still.
Time	The walks take about 25 minutes at an easy pace. There is no timer, so stop whenever you like.

Your journal

Everything you find, every animal you spot and every field note is kept in your journal, along with a passport stamp and a short keepsake note for each walk you finish, and the arrangements you make while resting. Nothing is locked and nothing is counted. Sign in (optional) to keep it safe and carry on from another device.

Making it comfortable

Settings has presets (Quiet world, Soft colours, High contrast, Minimal motion) and separate controls for motion, brightness, contrast, text size, shadows, gentle music, nature sounds and pickup sounds. You can also choose how much information is shown, have text read aloud, and set the time of day to always be a soft morning.