Big Walk heavy ball: how to move it, and the two flag puzzles
You cannot walk while holding the heavy golf ball in Big Walk. You pass it. Here is the relay that gets it up the hill to the red flag, and how the second, harder ball puzzle works.
Quick answer
You are not meant to carry it. Holding the heavy ball stops you moving, so the ball travels by being taken out of one player’s hands by another: one picks it up, the second takes it from them, the first walks ahead and takes it back. Repeat that leapfrog all the way up the hill and drop the ball into the slot beside the red flag, which unlocks the red gourd. There is a second, much longer ball puzzle later that gives a purple gourd instead.
- The trick
- Pass it, do not carry it
- First ball reward
- Red gourd
- Second ball reward
- Purple gourd
- Players needed
- 2
Why it feels broken
The heavy ball reads as a physics problem, so most groups attack it like one — pushing it, kicking it, trying to roll it up the slope and watching it come straight back down. That is the wrong shape of solution, and it is why this puzzle produces more frustration per minute than almost anything else on the island.
The ball is not heavy in a physics sense. It is heavy in a co-op sense: picking it up simply takes your ability to walk away. Once you read it as a restriction on the player rather than a weight on the object, the intended answer is obvious.
The hand-off relay, step by step
Movement comes from the hand-off, not from the person holding it. Every time the ball changes hands it also changes position, because the receiving player is standing further up the slope than the one who had it.
- One player picks the ball up. They are now rooted in place.
- The second player walks to them and takes it straight out of their hands.
- The first player is now free — they walk ahead, further up the hill, and turn around.
- The second player is handed off to in turn, and so on. You are leapfrogging up the slope, one hand-off per step.
- At the top, drop the ball into the slot beside the red flag. The locked red gourd opens.
The gourd is yours to spend anywhere
The red gourd this puzzle gives is not tied to the tower nearest it. It goes into whichever tower console you are currently short on, which matters because the towers consume the gourds you feed them.
If you are trying to work out how many red gourds you still need overall, the gourd count is its own question and we keep it on a separate page.
The second ball puzzle, for the purple gourd
This is not the only heavy ball on the island, and people regularly search for one while stuck on the other. The later one works on the same hand-off principle but stretches it across the whole map, and its reward is a purple gourd rather than a red one.
Purple gourds are post-ending content — they feed the true second ending, not the main one. If you are still working toward finishing the game the first time, this is not the ball you are looking for.
- Same mechanic: hand-offs, not carrying.
- Much longer route, reported as needing both the train and the ski lift to cross the map.
- Reward is a purple gourd.
- Not required for the main ending — you can finish the game without it.
Frequently asked
How do you move the heavy ball in Big Walk?
By passing it between players rather than carrying it. Holding the ball prevents you from walking, so a second player takes it out of your hands, you move ahead, and you take it back. Repeat that leapfrog until the ball reaches the slot by the red flag.
Why can I not walk while holding the ball?
That is the puzzle, not a bug. The ball is designed to immobilise whoever holds it, which forces the two of you to move it cooperatively instead of one person soloing it.
Can you do the heavy ball puzzle solo?
No. With one player the ball cannot move at all, since the only way it travels is by changing hands. Big Walk has no single-player mode in any case.
What do you get for the heavy golf ball puzzle?
A red gourd, released from the locked container beside the red flag once the ball is in the slot. You can spend it on whichever tower you like.
Is there more than one heavy ball puzzle?
Yes, two. The first gives a red gourd and is a short climb up a hill. The second is a much longer haul across the map using the train and the ski lift, and gives a purple gourd for the true second ending.
Do I need the heavy ball puzzle to finish the game?
The first one gives a red gourd like any other red-gourd puzzle, so it is one of several ways to reach the count you need rather than a required step. The second, purple one is post-ending and not needed for the main ending at all.
Sources and verification
Official pages are the primary reference. Player reports are labelled as community samples and never presented as official facts.