The Caribou Trail is a narrative walking simulator that takes place during World War I. Developed by Unreliable Narrators and Manavoid Entertainment and published by Unreliable Narrators and Indie Asylum, The Caribou Trail was originally released on May 14th 2026 with a later release for console on July 7th. The goal of The Caribou Trail isn’t to kill, but to survive. The narrative centers around three soldiers heading to the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. Once they get there, they learn the harsh truths of war—reckless missions, trench digging, and the many other struggles that take place even without combat. As they share stories around the fire, players learn more about these three soldiers—bits from their past lives and their current situations. Sometimes the horrors of war veers its ugly head and companionship is the only thing to keep you sane.
Overall gameplay is relatively short. Players can expect to spend a little over three hours in total with maybe another hour or two for achievement collectors. As a walking simulator, players spend most of the time listening to the narrative, digging trenches and softening hardtack. Personally, I loved the story. The writers put in time and effort for this game that focuses on narrative rather than gameplay. However, the actual gameplay does leave much to be desired. Typically I’m forgiving of lack of gameplay when it comes to games that focus on narrative, but I was actually kind of bored. In fact, I took the least amount of notes yet simply because there wasn’t anything noteworthy outside of story beats—and these I usually keep for myself so that I don’t spoil things in my review. This will probably be a short review today so let’s get into it.
Surviving with the B’ys
The story players play through is actually one that is being told around a campfire. Players play as Fisher, the one telling the story and supposed hero. After setting this up, the game cuts back to the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey where Irish soldiers are arriving by boat during the night in the midst of warships firing in the distance. On the small dinghy are some other noteworthy characters—Lonnie, Gordon, and Ogden, the British lieutenant.
Fisher, Lonnie, and Gordon begin talking about jacky-lanterns and we begin to see their personalities. Lonnie is young, innocent and a tad skittish, believing in the supernatural. Gordon is more cocksure, a funny guy who gives others (especially Lonnie) a hard time but never with mean intentions. Fisher is more so how you choose. Occasionally, you have the choice of what to say, though this seemingly only affects a bit of dialogue and not how the story ultimately plays out.
The narrative centers around the lives and experiences of these three Irish b’ys. They share stories around the fire at night when making food. Lonnie follows Fisher around a lot, almost like a little brother. Gordon gets the trio in trouble, leading them to be sent on a reckless mission out in no man’s land. The bond that these three share is developed as you play and I personally loved it. I’m not a military or war kind of guy, but it reminded me of the movie Biloxi Blues—a film my dad used to watch often.
The narrative doesn’t just focus on these three though. You can interact with other soldiers as well, like Cliff with his endless stories or the soldiers who want to entertain everyone with music. As the game states, the goal isn’t to kill, but to survive. These b’ys are surviving in any way they can—dealing with things like trenchfoot, poor food quality, rats, etc.
However, the horrors of war are hard to ignore. More and more men end up killed or dying, and the gravesite connected to the trenches keeps growing. Bodies pile up in no man’s land—the stretch between the two sides. The trio confronts this reality during their recon mission. The Caribou Trail has a touch of psychological horror that really blends in well given the context. There’s probably only two or three moments total where supernatural things occur, but it is a common trend throughout. I personally loved the inclusion of it and felt that it only strengthened the experience rather than detract away from.
Overall, I don’t have anything to complain about when it comes to the narrative. It is well written and carries the weight of expectations that comes with a walking simulator. The blend of light‑hearted moments and the hardships and horrors of war lands with real grace. Right when I was getting comfortable, something supernatural or intense would occur that caught me off guard. If the story didn’t hold up, the game wouldn’t be worth the few hours I spent playing it. I should also mention that the voice acting is genuinely well done. The Irish accents and words they use, like “s” being on random words or the constant use of “b’ys” helped transport me into the mindset of these characters. Though it is a tad short, I left the experience feeling satisfied by the narrative told.
Digging Trenches and Softening Hardtack
Now when it comes to stuff outside of the narrative, that’s when it starts getting bleak. As a walking simulator, players will mostly be…well, walking around. Equipped with a map and a compass, players can wander around and interact with soldiers and other objects. Mementos sit scattered around the area—posters, books, and other small items with bits of lore attached. Collecting them doesn’t affect the story, so they mainly exist for players chasing achievements. Honestly, most of these side activities feel designed with achievement hunting in mind. Personally, this isn’t something I care for, but I still managed to collect half of the achievements in my first playthrough.
When you are not walking around, you’ll probably be spending it by digging or cooking. Digging is straight forward—just pressing the buttons on repeat until a time skip. The same could be said when it comes to cooking though its a bit more involved. In the evenings, Fisher cooks the meal of hardtack and salt in a pot of boiling water. You stir the pot and can use the ladle to break up the pieces of hardtack when they sink in the pot. While you cook, the soldiers share small stories around the fire, like Fisher’s past or Lonnie’s bouts of homesickness. You can toss in ingredients you find—stock cubes, Turkish spices, and eventually some cod to “shake” things up—but the cooking itself never really changes.
Normally I wouldn’t mind gameplay mechanics such as these, but when this is about it for gameplay, it gets pretty boring. There is maybe one and a half moments where the gameplay has some intensity—the half counting for the supernatural moments but only half because it is just walking. I get wanting to make a WWI game without actual combat and instead focusing on surviving in the trenches. However, I think the game could have added plenty of extra activities, even as optional tasks.
There were tables with dice on them yet Fisher never partakes. Maybe a fight could break out between Gordon and someone with Fisher being the one to break it up by doing timed inputs. Maybe Lonnie could try and teach Fisher how to draw and you need to trace a line with precise movements. Small, simple things like this would improve the mundanity of gameplay. I think the only one that’s similar is when you can play the ugly stick, but even this feels slightly mundane because its just tapping buttons with no real purpose. There are definitely ways to add a bit more variety to the gameplay without it being combat. The lack of these moments feels like a huge miss and does detract heavily from my overall experience. As I said, the gameplay is kind of boring and perhaps too simple for my liking.
Home Before the Leaves Fall
Overall, I’m kind of on the fence about this one. On one hand, The Caribou Trail tells a narrative that is strong and well written. It’s focus on the lives of soldiers just making it day by day in the trenches, the bond they form and the stories they share, is a smart decision by the developers and writers. As a WWI game without any combat, the story needed to do most, if not all, of the heavy lifting. The Caribou Trail delivers in this regard and when you add in a splash of the supernatural and psychological horror, it becomes even better. This is the type of game you can 100% complete in a day, fully experiencing everything it has to offer, and leave feeling satisfied by the game’s narrative.
On the other hand, the gameplay never fully escapes its own routine. Walking simulators often use small, varied moments to breathe life into the journey. The Caribou Trail offers only a sparse handful, and most of them circle back to digging or cooking. With more diverse interactions, the game could feel richer, more alive, and far more engaging. The moments that are more intense in gameplay are far and very few between. I don’t need this game to have combat to enjoy it, but I do need it to have things for me to do to keep me entertained. I’m not sure if I would recommend this one. The game seems to have favorable reviews, but it might be a bit too mundane for me personally.
Thank you for reading, b’ys!
