If you’re a fan of building things in virtual reality (VR) there are a number of apps and videogames that fit the bill. Fantastic Contraption, for example, encourages you to solve puzzles by using a basic set of building materials. Then last year Crazy Machines VR came along offering Rube Goldberg machines to build. But if you’re after even greater control and freedom then Metanaut’s Gadgeteer will be arriving next week for HTC Vive.
Originally called Ruberg back in 2016 before being rebranded as Gadgeteer, the title has been built specifically to give you total freedom to build all sorts of weird and wonderful chain reaction machines. Gadgeteer will be exclusive to HTC Vive when it arrives on Tuesday, 23rd April on Steam Early Access.
It’ll feature two game modes: sandbox and puzzle, where you can let your imagination run riot, or complete the campaign which includes 60 puzzles to solve with a story revolving around the disappearance of a brilliant mad scientist. Both modes feature over 50 unique gadgets to build those crazy contraptions, and three tool heads to create, edit and destroy creations. Plus any mistakes made can easily be undone.
Metanaut plan on keeping Gadgeteer in early access for just a year, with that time being used to further improve the experience by taking in user feedback. The studio does intend to add more gadgets, tool heads, and special events while the machine is running, plus the option to share and play other users creations.
The studio did run a beta release a couple of months ago where you could access a basic version of the title, and enter a competition to win codes. That has now closed, with the demo download no longer available on Steam.
There are only a few days to go until the release of Gadgeteer. For any further updates of announcements keep reading VRFocus.