With May drawing to a close lets have a look at what’s going to round out the month. There are going to be fights in store for Steam users whilst those on PlayStation VR will be getting a rather excellent Rube Goldberg machine building title. So check out five exciting titles due to arrive this coming week.
Gadgeteer – Metanaut
If you love puzzles and building things in VR then Metanaut’s Gadgeteer should be right up your street if you own a PlayStation VR. The title has already on most other VR platforms so this week’s launch nicely rounds things out. The core campaign features 60 pre-made puzzles and once you’ve finished them it’s onto the Maker Mode where you can let your imagination run riot. Plus, with an online sharing feature, you can upload and download your and other people’s Gadgeteer creations.
Supported platforms: PlayStation VR
Launch date: 25th May
Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife – Fast Travel Games
Fast Travel Games’ new horror Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife saw an early exclusive launch for Oculus headsets last month and this week it’s coming to Steam, expanding support to HTC Vive and Valve Index. Set within the World of Darkness universe, you take on the role of Ed Miller, a photographer who dies during a seance at the luxurious Barclay Mansion. Stuck between the living world and the afterlife, you have to roam the hallways looking for clues as to what happened. However, being dead doesn’t mean to say you’re entirely safe. As a wraith, you can walk through walls and pick items up at a distance but you must also avoid Spectres. These are spirits of wrath and vengeance. With no way to defend yourself from them, you must tread carefully and hide.
Google dropped support for its painting Tilt Brush earlier this year whilst opening the software to developers by making it open source. That’s allowed Icosa Gallery to create Tilt Brush derivative Open Brush. What’s even better for Steam users is Open Brush is free whilst Tilt Brush still costs £14.99 GBP. So get 3D painting for free next week.
Oculus Quest owners looking to get their bowling fix will be able to this week with ForeVR Bowl the first VR title from ForeVR. Practice those bowling skills in single and multiplayer modes, where you can play across six locations with up to four players online. There will be a massive amount of different balls to unlock each with their own stats. The studio has created what it calls Real Feel Throw technology that should provide an accurate experience, all in your own home!
One more puzzle title for PlayStation VR to round the week out. Making you feel like you’re inside the very puzzle you’re trying to solve, Boxed In puts you in a chequered room with colourful cubes to clear. Depending on the mode the difficulty is turned up a notch when the cubes start moving, increasing the chance of crushing you before you’ve managed to clear them all.
Smartphones are renown for their hyper-casual videogames and virtual reality (VR) has a few of its own. Originally released at the end of 2017 for PC VR headsets was Boxed In, a puzzle title where you have to match coloured blocks before getting crushed. British developer Red Chain Games has been improving the experience in the run up to a PlayStation VR launch later this month.
Boxed In puts you in a room with no walls, and depending on the gameplay mode the coloured blocks will come from different directions which you have to match up to remove. With the ability to change the colour of a cube, add a new cube, or push a cube when it’s close to you, in the more relaxed Solitaire mode the room is filled with static cubes which you have to clear.
For a proper challenge, there’s the Survival Mode where the blocks come from below, continually moving until they crush you. The difficulty of this mode can then be increased by upping the colour matches from three to four or five combinations. In total there are 36 variations to switch between. With the PlayStation VR edition, players have the option to use a DualShock 4 controller, PlayStation Move and PlayStation Aim depending on preference.
“We wanted to make a game that would appeal to everyone, especially newcomers to VR. We’ve been blown-away by the reaction of players experiencing the immersion of being inside the puzzle,” said Red Chain Games’ Lead Developer Richard M. Smith in a statement.
Reviewing the original PC VR version of Boxed InVRFocus said: “Boxed In is one of those pleasurable time-wasters like the videogames you play on your smartphone. What it lacks in amazing visuals, convoluted narrative or groundbreaking gameplay, it makes up for by having a plucky, no-nonsense attitude to VR gaming.”
Red Chain Games plans on launching Boxed In for PlayStation VR on 28th May 2021. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Sometimes in life it’s the simple things that bring the most pleasure. Vanilla ice cream, a walk in the countryside, a nice cold beer after a hard day, or a videogame that’s not convoluted, just straight forward and enjoyable. And that’s what VRFocus has found with Red Chain Games’ first virtual reality (VR) on Steam for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (reviewed), Boxed In.
Kind of like a cross between Tetris and Candy Crush, Boxed In is a puzzle title about matching up coloured blocks. Things are straight forward from the off, with Red Chain Games putting you inside a chequered room with all the options plastered on the walls. There are two gameplay modes, Survival and Solitaire depending on how frantic or relaxed you want the gameplay to be, alongside finer gameplay tweaks.
You can change the match mode to a triple line of blocks, or a square formation of four. Whilst the difficulty can be increased by adding more colours, from three for easy up to five if you want a challenge. There’s even the option to change where the blocks are located in the room, whether they’re on the back wall, on the floor or on the ceiling – personally not recommended as you have to crane your neck up all the time.
The Solitaire mode was definitely the more preferred of the two, with a massive room full of blocks to delete at leisure. To do this the studio arms you with two guns, one for teleporting around once a few blocks have been cleared and the other for the actual removal process. Boxed In gives you three options, depending on the colour emitted from the gun you can either change a blocks colour, create a new block or push a block if close enough. It’s a system that’s very easy to pick up, and enjoyable fun that’s not particularly brain teasing unless you’re after a high score. Especially satisfying are those moments involving a massive combo early on in the level, watching half the room crumble into dust with just one correct placement.
For more of a challenge then Survival is where you need to be, with a massive wall of never ending blocks that continually make their way from one side of the room to the other, the game only ending if you don’t remove the blocks in time.
Boxed In is one of those pleasurable time wasters like the videogames you play on your smartphone. What it lacks in amazing visuals, convoluted narrative or ground breaking gameplay, it makes up for by having a plucky, no nonsense attitude to VR gaming. It may not be a library essential, yet for its price Boxed In is a great little VR bargain for puzzle fans.
And so it came to be that the last edition of Something for the Weekend before Christmas falls appropriately enough on Christmas Eve. So if you’re still unsure as to what to get yourself, are looking to get something new for the family to enjoy as they try out virtual reality (VR) over the holidays or you’ve suddenly realised that you’ve forgotten someone and you need to get them a present sharpish a purchase on Steam might just be the ideal present buying get out of jail free (Christmas) card.
Also, before we look at some of the VR titles available a reminder that you can set the date for when people receive your gift as well so it doesn’t have to show up immediately. Look in to the options when you purchase.
Anime Girls VR
Compatibility: HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
There’s not exactly any way to sugar coat this one. Yes, Anime Girls VR is a videogame. Yes, it features anime girls. Yes, the content is… exactly what you think a game called Anime Girls VR would end up being about. It possesses the nudity tag on the Steam listing. Say no more, eh? Get to know middle school teacher Yoko, maid Mizuka and sport loving Kaori all of which love to dance. According to the publishers you’ll need to go some to keep up with them.
If you’d like to take a waifu home this Christmas, Anime Girls VR is currently at 20% off until December 30th 2017, and you can get it now at £7.43 (GBP) as opposed the usual £9.29.
TrainerVR
Compatibility: HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
The first thing to say about this one is that no, despite the name this is nothing to do with physical fitness.
When I was very young the toy I wanted most of all was a BRIO train set. If you’re not familiar with the name BRIO are the makers of the wooden train set with the grooves in the wooden track pieces (sort of an inverted track). Nowadays there are all kinds of knockoffs of it around the place but BRIO are the originals. TrainerVR give you your own virtual train set in that BRIO-style. Not only that but the whole thing is physics based, so if you want to create a steep incline your train will struggle. Also if you lose your temper the entire thing can be flung to the four winds.
An Early Access title from developers sumalab, until December 30th 2017, TrainerVR is available at a30% discount. Bringing the total to £7.97 (GBP) from £11.39.
Little Einar
Compatibility: HTC Vive
Released onto Early Access only yesterday by developers MADBones Games, Little Einaris currently available for £8.09 (GBP) from £8.99 and will in the future be coming to Oculus Rift also.
“This release comes with seven levels with the last three of the chapter to fast follow. The intention is to incorporate feedback into the last few levels and go through an optimization pass before moving into chapter 2, chapter 3 and eventually full release.” Explain MADBones Games. “While developing Little Einar, we wanted to rekindle the old school feeling of retro video games without creating a retro game. The classic experience of a side-scrolling platformer is revitalized in VR. We hope you enjoy it and we look forward to your feedback to make Little Einar better.”
Light Strike Array
Compatibility: HTC Vive
Our last Early Access title for a while, Light Strike Array is a room-scale action strategy videogame by developers Unwieldly Systems.
In Light Strike Array two teams (Bands) battle over a mysterious resource called “salt” – we’re pretty sure it isn’t actually just salt – you’ll need to mine it and gather your strength up if you’re going to take on your opponents. The end of the game is to take your crystalline ‘Shards’ and destroy the enemy’s Heart. You’ll need to first wear down the protective shield that surrounds it, however, and the shield referred to as a ‘cornoa’ is more than capable of obliterating the light that makes up your crystal soldiers.
What would Christmas be like without a little blood and gore, eh? Um… well, actually just peachy, thanks. But GexagonVR’s puzzler Nevrosa: Escape isn’t exactly about bringing cheer to the world.
GexagonVR describe it as “an escape room game with horror and action elements, where you are trying to find your way out of laboratory through solving puzzles while being locked with a strange creature. Mystical machines, old family curse and various endings depending on your ways of play.”
Nevrosa: Escapeis available at a rather generous 40% off – £8.99 (GBP) from £14.99 – until December 29th.
Tactera
Compatibility: HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality
If there’s one developer we have remained consistently impressed by on VRFocus it would be E McNeill. Other VR titles Darknet and Skylight have both performed well in reviews with the latter already featuring once on the site this week as part of our Best Gear VR Titles Of 2017 list.
In our Gear VR review of Tactera from last year we explained how the videogame felt like to play: “Tactera actually plays out in two phases: grand battle strategy and real-time combat. The player is first greeted by a grid-based map which plots their advance on enemy territory, taking it in turns to deploy troops and move across the map until combat is initiated. Once enemy units meet yours, the player may choose one of the combat instances (if more than one occurs simultaneously) to play in direct command of, whilst others will be simulated. While still learning the ropes this may seem like an unfair advantage on behalf of the AI enemy, however once some knowledge has been attained planning and forethought will avoid any unnecessary weakness in your strategy.”
Developed for VR, but playable out of it if you like, in Red Chain Games’ Boxed In you need to clear the various rooms of multicoloured blocks which can appear from above, the left or the right. There’s 36 variations of play and it’s a good title for those of you looking for a casual gameplay experience this Christmas.
“Quantized is an audio reactive, procedurally-generated sensory experience. Play your own local songs to generate a fun, exhilarating musical journey.”
A videogame by developers Chris Mahoney and Kenny Bier and published by Abstractron, Quantized has a 15% discount on its regular price of £10.29 until December 28th. Meaning you can pick it up for only £8.74.
And finally, whilst it is a Steam week here on Something For The Weekend, here’s a bonus couple of entries for our PlayStation VR owning readers.
Virry VR: Feel the Wild
Bafta award nominated experience Virry VR: Feel The Wild is currently on promotion on the US PlayStation Store for $3.99 or $1.99 for PS Plus users – a 60% and 80% saving respectively on the regular price.
Filmed on location in 4K, get up close with lions, elephant and a zebra, you can even wallow in a mud bath with a rhino. That or take in some of the more tranquil sights as you take a virtual safari down an African river.
The discount is part of a PS Store Flash Sale. Whilst there’s not many PSVR titles in there is another PlayStation VR entry which will definitely be of interest to people…
“PlayStation Move arguably increases immersion in the world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR ten-fold. The realism of interaction and combat is a huge part of VR, and this is no different here; reaching out to grab an item, swing your sword, draw an arrow to your bow, or cast your spells. It all simply makes much more sense when it’s your hands doing the work.”
It might be an older title given a fresh lick of paint but it remains one of the most in demand PlayStation VR titles this holiday season.
Up until January 2nd 2018 you can journey back to Tamriel for 33% off. Based on the US store, with the price at $40.19 (USD) from $59.99.
TrainerVR
Little Einar
Light Strike Array
Nevrosa: Escape
Tactera
Quantized
Virry VR: Feel the Wild