Walden Calendar & Assignments

Game Content: Early Summer

When the game begins, players are put into the world in early summer, near Thoreau’s half-finished cabin. Picking up the first arrowhead, as indicated in the tutorial, will begin the story of Thoreau’s time in the woods, as he explains in his own words why he has come down to the woods and how he intends to live there. There are many arrowheads to be found throughout the game. Picking these up will cue additional voice-overs from Thoreau on his time in the woods and what he discovered about life during his experiment. Different arrowheads are available each day and season, and in various locations in the world. In all, there are over 300 arrowheads in the game, featuring quotes that together comprise about 20 percent of the book Walden.

On this first day of the game, players often choose to explore the half-finished cabin that is just ahead of them in the clearing, where they will find Thoreau’s journal and several letters from friends and family. They also may wander the woods, learning to pick berries that are in season or discovering the fishing spot where they will find Thoreau’s fishing rod. Early summer will last three in-game “days” of fifteen minutes each. During this first season, living in the woods is easy. Players can pick berries for food, pick up driftwood for fuel, and explore at their own pace. The focus of this first season is on the first two chapters of the book Walden: “Economy” and “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” If you have only a short amount of time to spend with students playing the game, it would make sense to focus on comparing these two chapters to their own experience.

One of the questions that might be asked about the book Walden is “What was the nature of Thoreau’s experiment in living?” His ideas have been critiqued as hypocritical by some, since he lived so close to the town of Concord, visited often, took dinner with friends and family, and, famously, had his mother do his laundry. But what does Thoreau say about his goals? These first two chapters, when read alongside the first three game days, may provide a good sense for students of Thoreau’s goals, his ideas about the “necessities of life,” and the nature of both the “mean” and “sublime” aspects of life for which he searching.

It will take approximately 45 minutes of playing time to play through these first three days.

Discussion questions for this section: What does Thoreau mean by “necessary of life”? What might he consider a luxury or “so-called comforts” of life? Why does Thoreau tell us in such detail the cost of building his cabin and sustaining his experiment? How does the underlying “economy” of his experiment relate to what he is trying to tell us about the nature of human life and society?

When playing first three days of summer in this game, players think about the necessaries of life and how they might learn to live in the woods of Walden. What would they eat? How would they keep warm? What would they do as the seasons changed and winter came?

Journal exercise: The in-game journal is created using Thoreau’s own ideas and words. Jot down your own ideas about the plants, animals and other items you find as you play in an offline journal of your own. Later, you can use these notes to support writing or discussions that you do for class.

Letters from several characters become available during this season, leading to various narrative quests. At the cabin, there are letters from Thoreau’s sister Sophia, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and Louis Agassiz’s assistant. At Emerson’s house, there are letters between him and Margaret Fuller regarding contributions to The Dial. And at the Thoreau family home in Concord there are old letters regarding Thoreau’s former teaching aspirations with gamebrother John Thoreau. Each of these collections of letters will change from season to season, and the narrative threads of these letters will expose a number of different aspects of his life and times.

At the post office in town, players will also find letters in Thoreau’s letterbox, and job postings on the bulletin board, offering opportunities to collect specimens for Dr. Louis Agassiz, write articles for Horace Greeley, conduct surveys around Walden woods, and find out more about the political themes of the time, including the abolitionist movement and the war with Mexico.

Additionally, players may choose to simply wander the woods, seeking out animals and inspecting the trees and other wildlife of the area. Virtually everything in the woods is “inspectable” – which means that right-clicking over it will reveal its name and a quote from Thoreau about it. When a player inspects something new, the quote will be added to the in-game journal, and over the course of the game players will “write” their own personal version of Walden in this journal.

At the end of each 15-minute “day” in the game, players will be offered a chance to review what they have written in their journals that day and then select where in the world they would like to awaken.

Game Content: Late Summer

Each three days of the game, the season will change as the year advances. During late summer, the player may find that there are different berries and plants available to be picked. To find out more about all the edible life in the game, as well as wildlife, and to get instructions on how to grow beans in the bean field, players can go to Emerson’s house and read from the books and almanac on the table in his library.

If there is time in your class, you can plant beans in the bean field on the first day of the game. If they are cared for properly, they will be ready to harvest on Day 6 of the game, the final day of late summer. Thoreau wrote extensively about his bean field, and so reading Chapter 7, “The Bean-Field,” would be a good supplement to such an assignment.

While students are clearing, planting, weeding and harvesting their beans, they will find a number of arrowheads related to this chapter. Discussing these in the context of the act of growing and harvesting their in-game beans, which will take approximately 90-100 minutes of play time, may help students understand why Thoreau writes in such detail about his beans.

Discussion questions: Why was Thoreau “determined to know beans”? What does he mean when he says he would have planted seeds such as “sincerity, truth, simplicity, faith, innocence, and the like” if he farmed another summer? The bean field and its yield might be seen as a metaphor for the “fruits of labor.” What “seeds” do you sow and what fruits do you hope to obtain from them?

In addition to harvesting the bean field, late summer in the game offers an introduction to Thoreau as an abolitionist and activist. In the post office, players will find references to William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, an influential abolitionist newspaper. On the second day of late summer, players will receive a cryptic letter at their cabin from friend Bronson Alcott requesting Thoreau’s aid for an escaped slave. Instructions are provided on Day 3 of late summer and players can choose to help this slave along the Underground Railroad or not. Either way, they will learn the consequences of their choice in a later letter.

The state will also send a notice to the cabin regarding unpaid taxes and warn players of the consequences of not paying their taxes. Should players go to town and pick up one of the arrowheads along the main road, they may find themselves thrown into jail for this non-payment of taxes, where they will find reference to some of the reasons that Thoreau was protesting these taxes – abolitionist posters, U.S.-Mexican War posters, and an edited draft of “Civil Disobedience.”

Discussion questions: Why didn’t Thoreau want to pay his poll taxes? What does he mean when he says: “Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine”? What were the issues that Thoreau was protesting by refusing to pay taxes?

Early Fall

In the early fall, the natural elements in the game will begin to change more dramatically. The leaves change color, the berries are going out of season, and the world is getting cold and wet. Players will need to spend more effort on their shelter and on finding food and fuel. However, the world will also change in ways that are very beautiful. Paying attention to the “sublime” may be a good focus here.

There are several ways to seek inspiration in the game, based on Thoreau’s Walden chapters “Reading,” “Sounds,” “Solitude,” and “Visitors.” These sources of inspiration need not be pursued actively and may simply be found along the way, but if players do not pursue them at all, they will lose inspiration and their game world will turn very dim, almost black and white. Also, many arrowheads can be found only when inspiration is high. Players can check their level of inspiration on the second page of their journal at any time.

On Reading: When players first meet Emerson, he will ask them to help him find several books that he has lost in the woods. Finding, reading, and returning these books to Emerson will provide inspiration. The books themselves are all short selections from texts that inspired Thoreau, Emerson and other Transcendentalist writers, including Homer’s Iliad, the Analects of Confucius, the Hindu text The Laws of Manu, Plato’s Republic, the Bhagavad Gita, the Rig Veda, and Emerson’s own essay “Nature.”

Discussion question: Thoreau writes “How many a man has a new era in his life from the reading of a book!” Is there a book that has changed your life or your way of thinking about life?

On Sounds: The game world is filled with the sounds of nature, but along the edges of the world will be found the sounds of civilization just far enough away for Thoreau to reflect on them and the changes that were coming in the world – the railroad, the wagons, the electric hum of the telegraph wires, the church bells and more.

Discussion questions: What sounds do you hear when you stop and listen to your world? What do they say about the world you live in?

On Solitude: The game world is filled with solitude, but there are some special places marked with cairns that are special solitude points. These remind us that solitude is not just the state of being alone but also recognizing that aloneness as an opportunity for self-reflection. If players follow Sophia’s game, they will find all of the special solitude points in the woods, as well as Sophia’s gift baskets, which will help them provide for themselves as the seasons change.

Discussion questions: Thoreau writes, “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” How often are you alone in your life? What do you do when you’re alone? Can you comfortably spend time with yourself, without connecting to others on your phone or other devices?

On Visitors: The game world is filled with both human and animal “visitors” to discover. The human visitors leave letters for players to find that give insight about Thoreau’s relationships and interests. The animal visitors provide inspiration when a player gets close enough to them to inspect them. Some are very small, so search carefully, and others are very rare, so search the woods widely. Following an animal without startling it may also lead to other interesting areas and items.

Discussion questions: Thoreau writes: “Why do precisely these objects which we behold make a world? Why has man just these species of animals for his neighbors; as if nothing but a mouse could have filled this crevice?” What animals are there in your world? They may be very common, or they may be hard to find and see. Spend some time seeking out these animals around you.

Game Content: Late Fall

In the late fall section of the game, the leaves on the trees will turn brilliant colors. Now is the time to be sure to prepare for winter. Playing through late fall means playing a total of three hours of the game. If you do, you will find that that the narrative elements of the game continue to develop over this time. These are found in the Thoreau home in town and the letters on Emerson’s desk.

In the late fall, Thoreau receives a blow when his marriage proposal to Ellen Sewall is rejected. This story is true, as are the others that are told through the letters; however, for time purposes, we have compressed them into a shorter time frame. The story of Henry, his brother John, and Ellen Sewall may serve to humanize Thoreau for players, who may know him simply as a “hermit” who lived in the woods.

Emerson is also growing dissatisfied with Thoreau’s work at this time, putting pressure on him to work more on his writing. If players have been progressing in the letter requests from publisher Horace Greeley, they may begin to reap the rewards of a writing career, as well as its costs. Or, if players have responded to requests from Harvard naturalist Louis Agassiz for local animal specimens, they may be searching the woods for rare species. Also, if they have been pursuing jobs as a surveyor, they may be exploring the farther reaches of the woods as they measure, parcel, and document its property lines.

If you have had time to play the game this far, you will realize that each player has pursued a very different course. By this time in the game, it is unlikely that players will have similar experiences; discussing why they have made the choices they did in the game may lead to you back to Thoreau’s central experiment in living.

Discussion questions: Thoreau writes: “The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.” Why have you made the choices you have in life? What is the harvest of your daily life?

Game Content: Early Winter

As winter comes to the game, the landscape dramatically changes. With the beauty of the snow-covered woods and the frozen pond that invites the player to skate comes a greater challenge for survival. There are edible plants that survive into winter, and if players have bought extra food jars and wood storage in the general store, they may have been able to store up enough supplies to last a full season of winter. The town is filled with Christmas cheer and gifts that may also help the player get through the scarcity of this season.

In the narrative threads, prosperity and hope have come, with a published article and the sense that Thoreau’s work as a writer is flourishing. So, however difficult the living may be in the woods, it is a time of hope.

Discussion questions: Thoreau writes: “I weathered some merry snow-storms, and spent some cheerful winter evenings by my fireside.” He spends several chapters detailing his experiences during the winter, the sounds of the woods, the animals of winter, and the changes to nature around him. How does your environment change during the winter? What makes this time of year special to you?

Game Content: Mid-winter

With mid-winter in the game, several personal blows fall, with letters revealing the deaths of Thoreau’s brother John, and Emerson’s young son Waldo, a favorite of Thoreau’s. Now the challenge of the winter may seem more difficult with these emotional experiences weighing heavily.

It will become more necessary for the players to know the edible plants of the woods, and to make sure that they have enough fuel and that their shelter and clothes are in good repair. At this time of year, they may find they have to rely on the general store for more items. It may be an interesting discussion to discern what is a “luxury” in the store, versus what is a “necessity.”

Discussion question: Thoreau writes, “After a still winter night I awoke with the impression that some question had been put to me, which I had been endeavoring in vain to answer in my sleep, as what ̶ how — when — where?” The tragedies revealed in this season of the game speak to some of the reasons that Thoreau went to the woods. He said in “Where I Lived and What I Live For” that he does not want, “when I came to die, [to] discover that I had not lived.” What experiences in your life have sharpened your questions about the meaning of life, and how you will live it?

Game Content: Late winter

In the late winter of the game, the pond begins to break up and the snow is melting. In this season, there are only a very few edible plants and players must know the woods well to survive. Players who have chosen to respond to Bronson Alcott’s request for help with the Underground Railroad may find this season presenting difficult challenges to face.

In the narrative, Thoreau’s friends and family worry about his health and his reaction to John’s and Waldo’s deaths. Surviving this difficult period will take depth of character and perseverance.

Discussion question: During the winter, Thoreau studies the depth of Walden Pond and writes, “What if all ponds were shallow? Would it not react on the minds of men? I am thankful that this pond was made deep and pure for a symbol.” Discuss the way that the pond itself stands as a symbol of both the depths of nature and of the human spirit.

Game Content: Spring

The coming of spring in the game will be a great relief to the players who have survived the deprivations and narrative blows of the long winter. The entire game lasts six hours.

With the spring, the game world exhibits a lushness and greenness that we have yet to experience in this virtual Walden. The plants are all renewed, and the birds and other mammals have come out of winter hiding. The pond is green and filled with fish again. Players who have been responding to Dr. Agassiz’s requests may be asked to search for rare turtle eggs along the fresh shores of the pond.

Now is the time to enjoy the woods with ease, picking wild strawberries, searching for hummingbirds, or finishing up any other tasks on Thoreau’s “to do or not to do list.” In “Spring” Thoreau revels in the first signs of the waking and thawing earth, “living poetry like the leaves of a tree.”

Discussion question: Thoreau writes of spring, “A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts.” What things in your life brighten your thoughts and make you feel like better things are coming?

Conclusion

Thoreau writes, at the conclusion of “Spring,” “Thus was my first year’s life in the woods completed; and the second year was similar to it.” He lived in the woods for two years, two months and two days before becoming a “sojourner in civilized life again.” Why did he leave the woods? There were likely several reasons, including Emerson’s request that he help with his family while Emerson was traveling abroad. But Thoreau says, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.”

In the game, players may choose to leave the woods at the end of spring, ending their experiment. Or, they may choose to remain in the woods for as long as they like, continuing their own time in the woods indefinitely.

Discussion questions: Thoreau writes: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment .… In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.” Why do you think that Thoreau left the woods? What did he learn from his experiment? What did you learn from playing his experiment yourself?

Playing Walden, a game will likely be a very different experience from playing other video games. The “action” of this game is not direct conflict, but rather an experience of living Thoreau’s ideas through a game simulation. In this game, the game designer has presented an interpretation of how Thoreau lived, and the challenges he faced balancing his time in filling his basic needs, responding to requests from family, friends and colleagues, and seeking inspiration in nature.

You should have notes on the quotes you found in the game, the mechanics you engaged with, the characters you met or corresponded with, and any other experiences that captured your interest. If you didn’t take notes, you might want to go into your saved game and review the quotes in your in-game journal to remind you of your experiences in the game. If you are still playing, a good time to take notes is at the end of each game day, when the user interface allows you time to reflect on the day.

If you have been able to take your time with the game and play deliberately, you will be in a good position to think critically about how games can engage with serious subjects.

• Discuss how the game system models Thoreau’s experiment in living simply. What activities in the game reflect Thoreau’s daily experience? How does the game world change over the seasons and how does that change affect the challenge of living in nature?

• What does Thoreau mean by the words, “necessary of life”? What might he consider a luxury or “so-called comforts” of life? Discuss the way that you lived in the game: Did you buy anything at the store? If so, was it a luxury or a necessity? Why do you think the game designer included a store mechanic in the game if Thoreau’s goal was to “live simply in nature?” How does this change the player experience?

• How does the underlying economy in the game relate to what Thoreau is trying to tell us about the meaning of how we spend our time on Earth? For example, the game designer has created a system where time is a scarce resource and it is impossible to get everything on our in-game “to do” list done. Discuss what this design decision communicates about the nature of human life and how our choices relate to our values.

• Listen carefully to the sounds of the game world. What do you hear when you are in different places or different times? How is the audio designer using ambience, sound effects and music score to give a sense of Thoreau’s world and the time in which he lived?

• Choose one or more plants, trees, or animals in the virtual world to inspect closely every season throughout an in-game year. Describe the changes that the plants or trees go through, including Thoreau’s quotes about them. Discuss what the world design communicates about Thoreau’s experience in each season. How does each season make you feel as a player? Why does Thoreau begin his experiment in summer and end in spring?

• Follow one of these quest lines all of the way through the game: Sophia’s poems, Emerson’s books, Agassiz’s animal specimens, Greeley’s manuscripts, Alcott’s Underground Railroad deliveries, or the survey jobs. Discuss the story or theme that emerges as you complete these quests. What choices are you being asked to make? What personal, social, or historical aspects of Thoreau’s life are you learning about? What do you find out about Thoreau and his life in this quest that you didn’t know before? Why did the game designer include this quest in the game?