Marble Land – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

December 7, 2017

VR Physics Puzzler Marble Land Rolls Out On Steam

Puzzle-based titles seem to do particularly well in virtual reality (VR). Perhaps the ability to examine the puzzle from any angle, or the addictive nature of puzzle titles benefiting from the immersive environment. Whatever the reason, independent developer Devious Technologies hopes to take advantage of this with the release of its latest VR title, a physics-based puzzle title Marble Land.

For those who remember classic videogame Marble Madness, or the boardgame/toy hybrid Screwball Scramble, the premise of Marble Land will be familiar. The basic goal is to interact with the environment to allow a blue marble to reach the end goal. There are several different structures which can be manipulated with different mechanics for each one, such as changing the direction of the marble, or teleporting it elsewhere. Players can use an unlimited number of marbles in their effort to figure out the correct route to get the marble to the goal.

Marble Land screenshot

There are 45 levels in all, using a unique art style meant to resemble an alien planet, designed to provide an attractive backdrop to the complex Rube-Goldberg devices that the player must guide their marble through.

“Marble Land takes an old school concept – the marble game – and makes it fresh with cutting edge technology and ingenious design”, said George Tudor, the CEO of Devious Technologies. “The game’s enchanting environments are the perfect way to escape reality for a few moments. The increasing difficulty of each puzzle poses challenges that engage players’ mind revealing a captivating visual and intellectual odyssey.”

Marble Land is available now on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rif. The title is currently available with a 15% launch discount, reducing the price to £9.68 from the usual price of £11.39. A Samsung Gear VR version is expected to be released later this month, and Devious Technologies plan to launch a version for PlayStation VR and Google Daydream in early 2018.

The launch trailer is available to view below.

VRFocus will bring you further news on Marble Land as it becomes available.

October 24, 2017

Marble Land Rolling on to All Major VR Headsets Soon

Independent developer Devious Technologies, in partnership with Carbon Incubator, has today announced that the physics-based puzzle title Marble Land is launching on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Gear VR this November, with PlayStation VR and Google Daydream support planned in the coming months. Developed specifically for virtual reality (VR), Marble Land players manipulate futuristic Rube Goldberg-inspired devices scattered across ancient ruins, to guide a blue marble to its target destination.

Marble Land screenshot

In Marble Land, players are challenged to face 45 increasingly complex puzzles set on intricately designed platforms, with the goal being to clear the way for a blue marble to reach a green target. Players interact with the environment rather than the marble, manipulating different structures with varying mechanics (changing the direction of the marble, teleporting it, etc.) with a view to altering the marble’s path with each change on the platform.

Players are allowed to spawn an unlimited number of marbles while figuring out the correct configuration of the puzzle elements that would lead the marble into the target. This, in effect, should make Marble Land a much more relaxing experience than puzzle competitors which revel in adding pressure.

“With Marble Land we are trying to bring back the arcade marble run experience to players and VR technology allows us to take this experience to the next level”, said George Tudor, the CEO of Devious Technologies. “No time limit or pressure and unlimited tries make Marble Land, a relaxing fun experience, like a walk in the park. Marble Land will appeal to all the people who want to cut down on their stress levels and escape from reality.”

Marble Land screenshot

Originally revealed back in August 2017, Marble Land made its public debut at Gamescom, Cologne, this year, with audiences treated to a high-end version of the videogame on Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch.

A teaser trailer for the alpha build of Marble Land follows below and some new screenshots from the videogame can be seen on this page. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Marble Land, and other forthcoming VR titles from Devious Technologies and Carbon Incubator.

August 29, 2017

Hands-on: ‘Marble Land’ Promises Hours of Complex Physics-based Puzzles, Launching on All Major Platforms

Marble Land is a physics-based puzzle game from Devious Technologies, a Bucharest, Romania based studio. We got a chance at this year’s Gamescom to pop into the unique little puzzler, which is slated to launch in the next few months on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream.

I remember playing a prototype version of Marble Land when it was first released in mid-2016 on wearvr, the repository for all things virtual. Standing out among the cadre of low-effort wave shooters and overblown school projects was a gem of a demo that incorporated complex, physics-based puzzles.

Strapping into an Oculus Rift with Touch controllers, the busy show floor faded to the back of my mind as I was transported to an antique, but plainly alien-look environment. With the puzzle at the center of the strange building placed around me, I began to focus at the task at hand. The objective: guide an the ethereal blue marble into the green target area by using the world’s Rube Goldberg-inspired devices. With no time limit or point structure, your only goal is to complete the level and move on to the next.

I guided the ball through everything from simple pathways to weird transport gates, some of which could only be activated by changing the direction of barriers scattered throughout the level that would allow the marble to go one way or another. I went through 5 newly-created levels (the prototype levels have been scrapped entirely), each more complex than the last. None of them were particularly tough to figure out, but I definitely perceived the gradual ramping up in difficulty level with each marble I successfully got in the goal. According to Devious Technologies, 45 levels will be available at launch, but more will come in subsequent updates.

When seated, virtual locomotion was my least favorite part of Marble Land. It’s basically a very slow first-person smooth-turning mechanic using the joy sticks for forward-back and up-down motion. While it was slow enough not to cause any nausea, I would have appreciated a quicker way to reposition myself. The game also offers room-scale support, which makes it a little easier to naturally walk around the little puzzle to get a better view.

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Visually, Marble Land looks super interesting, combing a weird melange of futuristic and ancient in both puzzle and surrounding environment.

Inquiring about the possibility of a level editor, studio founder George Cristian Tudor told me that Oculus (for example) is very stringent on games maintaining a minimum of 90 fps, and that the addition of a level editor, which allows you carte blanche to rig up complex physics-based interactions, would only really be possible as a mod released after the initial launch.

Marble Land will be available sometime in the second half of 2017 on VR headsets and traditional monitors.

The post Hands-on: ‘Marble Land’ Promises Hours of Complex Physics-based Puzzles, Launching on All Major Platforms appeared first on Road to VR.

August 16, 2017

Marble Land Invokes The Spirit of 80s Arcade In VR

Those who are old enough to remember classic arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) title Marble Madness may be interested to know that one of the earliest examples of the physics puzzle videogame is being brought into the 21^st Century by incorporating the simple concept into a virtual reality (VR) environment with Marble Land.

Marble Land is designed to be a classic level-based experience, where the puzzle in each level needs to be solves before the player can progress. The concept is simple – guide a marble through a series of obstacles towards the goal. The player cannot directly interact with the marble, but must instead interact with the environment, using objects such as teleporters or ‘bouncers’ to send the marble in the correct direction.

The developers at Carbon Incubator have chosen a design style of the title that makes it resemble a large structure recreated in miniature, somewhat like a model train set. There is no time limit on the puzzles in a deliberate decision to try and remove urgency and allow players to approach puzzles from different angles. There are plans for 45 levels with a total playtime of more than five hours.

Carbon Incubator were keen to avoid the simulator sickness issues experiences by some players in VR, so have chosen to use fixed camera angles and simple controls to make the experience as comfortable as possible.

Marble Land is due for release in Autumn of 2017 on all major VR platforms, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream.

The developers are planning on showcasing the title at the Gamecom event next week. Attendees can find them in the entertainment Area in Booth 061A.

VRFocus will bring you further information on Marble Land and other upcoming VR titles as it becomes available.