Even with online multiplayer videogames and apps that promote social experiences in virtual reality (VR), locally the technology is still quite isolating. There are titles such as Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes or The Playroom VR which showcase how, with a little imagination, VR experiences can work in a group setting. Swedish indie developer Coastalbyte Games is tackling this challenge with an interesting looking videogame called Puppet Fever, mixing charades with puppetry.
If you’ve ever seen a classic Punch and Judy show (especially if you’re British), then the idea is that players are the puppet master of a virtual puppet theatre. As puppet master, the player serves as game show host, judge and actor as the other players guess a hidden word, much like charades.
The VR player then has a range of icons to choose from in which they can set the scene for the rest of the group looking at a TV or monitor. While these items can be put in place and remain stationary, in the true style of puppetry the VR player can animate the scene with the characters coming alive with their own animations.
This is Coffee Stain Publishing’s first foray into VR, after it hosted a VR game jam in order to scout new teams and projects. This resulted in a rough prototype of what would become Puppet Fever. Coffee Stain plans to publish Puppet Fever on several VR platforms starting late Q4 2017, it hasn’t confirmed which yet – although the video below shows the title running on Oculus Rift with Touch support.
VRFocus will follow the development of Puppet Fever, reporting back with further updates.