Over the past year, a project called FilmMerton has been running in the south-west London, UK borough of Merton as a community arts outreach, creating pop-up cinemas and short films curated by the community and guest curators. Closing the event will be the Mitcham VR Festival, a free one-day event with virtual reality (VR) content and 360-degree films.
Visitors will be able to engage with a range of immersive experiences covering a wide range of genres, from sci-fi thrillers to romantic dramas and more.
To celebrate the area’s history, an augmented reality (AR) installation called All the Fun of the Fairwill provide a unique soundscape and images, all springing to life on iPads. Audiences will be transported back in time to the Mitcham Fair, rumoured to be the oldest fair in England.
As for the rest of the selection, this includes:
Gloomy Eyes – Starring Colin Farrell, this is the impossible love story of a zombie boy and a human girl
and a reflection on populism as an outlandish preacher oppresses the zombie community.
Memoria: Stories of La Garma – Viewers to explore the memories of a 16,500-year-old cave, once occupied by humans, which has been untouched and preserved for thousands of years.
Judi Dench: My Oak Tree VR – Viewers get to fly around and through the most impressive oak tree in her garden.
Anonymous – A documentary by Samantha Kingston and her personal story of living with an alcohol dependent parent, hiding the secret and dealing with the death of that parent.
Crackle Pop – By Mitcham resident and emerging VR director, John Lynch, Crackle Pop is part documentary, part music VR experience which explores the phenomenon of sound to colour synaesthesia.
Kinch and the Double World – Set in Victorian London, this brings the fantasy adventure to cinematic VR.
Bro Bots – A VR comedy series involving two British robots – Otis and Roberto – as they arrive in New York to join the NYPD.
The Mitcham VR Festival takes place on Saturday, 7th March from 10am – 5pm GMT. While the event is free to attend and walk-ins accepted, capacity will be limited so it’s advisable to book time slots for the VR experiences you want to see. To book tickets head to the official festival website which has the relevant Eventbrite links.
For all the latest VR event news, keep reading VRFocus.
Fast Travel Games launched its award-winning (Raindance Film Festival – Best Immersive Game 2019) puzzle experience The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets for multiple VR headsets a couple of months ago. Today, the studio in collaboration with Perp Games has revealed a physical version will be arriving next month for PlayStation VR gamers in Europe.
Originally revealed during Gamescom in Cologne, Germany last year, the videogame features a heart-warming tale narrated by the players’ grandfather. Each level consists of a floating island which can be spun around to investigate the intricate details and characters within.
As the title suggests, the puzzles involve finding all of the pets hidden within each area, some easily found within structures while others require more elaborate solutions. Additionally, each level has a collection of hidden coins to discover.
Of the announcement, Andreas Juliusson, CMO at Fast Travel Games, says “The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a real passion project of ours and has already won the hearts of players as well as critics, recently getting a finalists nomination in the DICE Awards ‘Immersive Reality Game of the Year‘ category! I am delighted to see our heart-warming puzzler now being released on disc for PSVR players in Europe!”
“Seeing Virtual Reality games like The Curious Tale of Stolen Pets win prestigious awards at festivals shows how far the medium has come,” said Rob Edwards, Managing Director at Perp Games. “Fast Travel Games have created one of the most delightful games on PlayStation VR to date and we are absolutely thrilled to be working with them to share the Pets and their adventures with even more people at retail.”
VRFocus found The Curious Tale of the Stolen Petsto be a delightful little title even if it was a little short: “The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a perfectly pleasant VR experience which features all the polish you’d expect from Fast Travel Games.”
Perp Games and Fast Travel Games will release The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets into European stores on 28th February for PlayStation VR. For the latest updates keep reading VRFocus.
Perhaps one of the most common genres found in the myriad of VR games is the humble puzzle game. With such an immersive platform that carries huge interactive potential, puzzle games are an instant fit for VR.
The genre has become a staple of all VR platforms, so we’ve put together a list of some of the best puzzle games available across them all. Only a few of the games are platform exclusives, and some of the games are available across more than one platform. There’s also a few particularly older titles that have a new life on the ever-popular Oculus Quest standalone system.
Without further ado, here are 15 of the best VR puzzle games and experiences, ordered alphabetically.
A Fisherman’s Tale
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PC VR (SteamVR, Oculus Store, Viveport), PSVR
A Fisherman’s Tale is a short but incredibly charming puzzle game from development studio Innerspace. While it’s definitely on the shorter side, the ingenious puzzles will make you rack your brain until you finally reach that critical ‘a-ha’ moment that feels so satisfying. A Fisherman’s Tale was nominated in our Best of VR 2019 Awards for the Best PSVR Game/Experience, Best Quest Game/Experience, Best PC VR Game/Experience, and overall Overall Best VR Of 2019.
I Expect You To Die 2
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PC VR (Steam, Oculus Store), PSVR
Five years on from the release of the original, I Expect You To Die 2 is a game that executes a specific style of grueling puzzle game incredibly well. It’s a trial-and-error affair where you’ll spend an hour testing things, only to realize that the solution was obvious and right in front of you the whole time. It’s the mark of a quality puzzle — one where the solution is hidden not through obscure design, but through your own short-sightedness — but it can also mean a slow burn and periods of heavy frustration. You can read more in our review.
This excellent, high-tension puzzle game was designed in the very early days of VR with the constraints of the early hardware in mind. However, you wouldn’t know it while playing it today – Keep Talking remains an absolute blast to play with friends. The game sees you work with a partner to decipher increasingly difficult puzzles in order to disable a timed bomb before it detonates. One person operates the bomb in VR, while the other(s) reads and deciphers a printed (or website version) manual to help the bomb diffuser figure out what to do with the various attachments and buttons. It’s a fantastic puzzle game that you can play with someone who doesn’t want to put on a headset, but still wants to participate.
It would be easy to dismiss this game as a cash-in attempt to bring a beloved staple franchise of mobile gaming over to VR, only existing to make a quick buck. However, Angry Birds VR provides quite a beefy package that offers super intuitive gameplay that adds a new dimension, literally and figuratively, to the Angry Birds formula.
Cubism
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PC VR (Steam, Oculus Store)
Cubism is a deceptively simple game. Each level features a 3D wireframe shape into which you have to fit different Tetris-like block pieces. The puzzles get harder and the pieces more complex – it’s a slow and measured puzzle experience.
Even better, Quest players have the option for 120Hz and hand tracking support as well, both of which are perfect fits for Cubism’s style of play. You can read our review of Cubism here.
The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PC VR (Steam, Oculus Store, Viveport), PSVR
The latest installment in The Room series is also its first installment in VR. This isn’t a mobile or PC port either – The Room VR: A Dark Matter is made entirely for VR from the ground up.
Developer Fireproof hasn’t lost its penchant for incredibly clever and creative puzzles in the transition. Read more in our review.
Myst
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PC VR (Steam, Oculus Store)
This seminal PC game made its way over to PC VR and Oculus Quest last year. It’s an upgraded and all-around solid port of the original PC title that will have you reaching for a notebook or a friend to help work your way through the tough puzzles.
It’s a game everyone should play once and the VR ports provide you with a modern but faithful way to do so. You can read more in our review.
Puzzling Places
Platforms: Oculus Quest
This game takes the staples of 2D jigsaw puzzles and brings them into VR with a new element — all of the puzzles are 3D models of real-life places, brought to life through highly detailed photogrammetry captures. The 16 included puzzles range from landscapes to individual objects, each with accompanying ambient sounds that build up as you solve.
It’s a slow, meditative but also appropriately challenging puzzle game that offers a similar yet fresh take on traditional jigsaw puzzles. You can read more in our review.
A Rogue Escape
Platforms: Quest, PC VR (Steam, Oculus Store)
This is a tough, short (1-2 hours), claustrophobic puzzler that will set you stuck in the cramped confines of a submerged submarine. There’s no hand-holding here, resulting in an immersive yet excruciatingly slow set of submarine-based puzzles.
Please, Don’t Touch Anything is perfect for players who appreciate hardcore, difficult puzzlers. Initially released for Gear VR back in 2016, but now available on several platforms, we noted in our review that the basic progression of the core gameplay loop was “experiment, succeed, scream, laugh, reset. The results of your tinkering vary immensely.” Read our original review played on Gear VR.
Statik
Platforms: PSVR
Statik is a PSVR-exclusive puzzle game, and for good reason – it uses the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller as a tracked object in the virtual world. The main gripe we had with the game back in 2017 was the length. “No two puzzles are the same, and they’re all well-balanced and thought-out trials, but they left me begging for more,” said Jamie, in his review. Read our review.
Tetris Effect
Platforms: PSVR, PC VR (Epic Store)
What do you mean? Tetris? One of the best VR puzzle games? Yes, you read that right. Jamie explained it best in his original review. “Yes, this is indeed Tetris… in VR. But, by applying its unmatched strand of spectacular visual and musical flair, Enhance creates something with a powerful, compelling and entirely unexpected hypnotism to it.”
Platforms: Oculus Quest, PS VR, PC VR (SteamVR, Oculus Store)
One of the newer puzzle games on the list, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a charming puzzle game that makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. You’ll play through tiny diorama-style worlds in a puzzle game that “makes you laugh, makes you smile, and often times makes you feel clever and creative.” Read our review.
The Talos Principle
Platforms: PC VR (SteamVR, Oculus Store)
This port of a classic puzzler is an incredibly well-done translation of the original game, initially developed for PC, and now available in VR. If you never played the game on PC, The Talos Principle will feel right at home in your VR headset. Read our review.
Transpose
Platforms: PC VR (SteamVR, Oculus Store, Viveport), PSVR
Originally released in late 2018, Transpose is a VR puzzle game that sees you able to create clones, or “echos”, of yourself that carry out the exact same actions you did. Coordinating and synchronizing echoes is the key to solving the game’s 30+ mind-bending puzzles. Read our review.
So there you have it – our 15 best VR puzzle games and experiences. Is a VR puzzle game you love missing from the list? Let us know in the comments below.
This list was originally published on January 15, 2020, and updated with new listings on September 15, 2021.
With over 20 different award categories, the 23rd annual DICE Awards have released their list of finalists, including two entire categories just for immersive reality, and it features lots of VR games across multiple awards.
The winners will be announced at the DICE Awards ceremony on Thursday, February 13th at Aria Resort Las Vegas as the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2020 D.I.C.E. Summit. For the fourth year in a row the show will be hosted by Greg Miller and Jessica Chobot.
At the DICE Awards the two VR-focused categories are Immersive Reality Technical Achievement and Immersive Reality Game of the Year. You can see the full list of nominees below:
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
Pistol Whip
Stormland
Westworld Awakening
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
Pistol Whip
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Trover Saves the Universe
Both are very good lists. Every game nominated in these two DICE Award categories made appearances in our own Best VR Of 2019 Awards and they’ve done a great job picking titles that represent a wide gamut of what VR can offer. And it’s focused on actually new releases.
Beyond those we’ve also got some VR and VR-optional games showing up in other categories too. PSVR-exclusive Concrete Genie, which includes some side VR content, is nominated in both Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Outstanding Technical Achievement — deservedly when taking the entire game into account. We’ve also got another PSVR-exclusive getting some love with Golem showing up in the nominee list for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition. Finally, the VR-optional DiRT Rally 2.0 is nominated for a DICE Award in the Racing Game of the Year category.
Who do you think will take home the honors for each category at the DICE Awards next month? Let us know down in the comments below!
Oculus Quest has been the standout success of 2019, with consumers eager to buy the headset and developers equally eager to supply the standalone device with content. Not only does the device have its own dedicated store but thanks to Oculus Link all of Oculus Rift’s content is also available. For this roundup of the best Oculus Quest videogames, VRFocus is purely going to concentrate on those made for the headset, allowing you to enjoy untethered VR gaming freedom.
Oculus Quest may have only been available for seven months but it has already made an impact on the VR scene. The store may be highly curated but there are plenty of videogames worth your time across a range of genres and skill levels.
The Best Oculus Quest Games of 2019:
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series
You could almost say this is three videogames in one, but as each is roughly around 45 minutes long and you need to play all of them to unravel the full story. While Star Wars fans will certainly get the greatest joy out of playing Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Seriesthanks to its story being canon material, even those that aren’t bothered about the franchise should still have fun playing with lightsabers and using the force.
Beat Saber
While the popular rhythm-action title couldn’t be included in VRFocus’ PlayStation VR ‘Best of 2019’ list, Beat Saber can most certainly be included here, as it was a launch title for Oculus Quest. Leading its genre Beat Saber needs little introduction as its simple yet addictive gameplay cutting cubes with a sword has struck a chord with VR gamers across the world.
There’s a reasonable selection of included songs plus a load of DLC tracks available to expand the selection. Beat Saber is one of those titles which has become a de facto addition to most gamers libraries no matter the platform and the Oculus Quest version is no different.
Pistol Whip
Another rhythm-action videogame, this time from the studio behind The Gallery puzzle series, Cloudhead Games. Only released in November, Pistol Whiphas already garnered quite the reputation as a non-stop action shooter inspired by the likes of John Wick.
You can choose to shoot or melee enemies whilst dodging incoming bullets like a badass, all to a thumping soundtrack and some intense visuals. Modifiers help to change the gameplay, adding dual-wield weapons or removing the aim assist to increase the score multiplier. If Beat Saber isn’t quite your thing then Pistol Whip could well scratch that gaming itch, a first-person shooter (FPS) with flair.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
A small side project by Apex Construct developer Fast Travel Games, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a cute puzzler with light challenges designed for all ages.
It may have only got three-stars in VRFocus’review but that does mean to say its not worthy to be on this list. While The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a little short, the design and ideas employed are definitely worth a look, each level a small diorama to be spun around, peered into and investigated. Charming and cute, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets will put a smile on your face.
Gadgeteer
Another puzzle-based experience, Gadgeteer is a far more elaborate affair than others on this list. Gameplay mechanics revolve around Rube Goldberg machines, using a series of gadgets to build elaborate contraptions. Offering a single-player campaign to teach you the ropes, the sandbox mode is where most players will spend their time, offering free rein to create whatever machines you so please with the 50+ items available.
VRFocussaid in its review: “Gadgeteer isn’t going to be for everyone, much like being a watchmaker. It’s finicky, time-consuming and puzzling all at the same time. They’re also the reasons why Gadgeteer is a puzzle gem for Oculus Quest.”
Acron: Attack of the Squirrels
So far this list has purely been about single-player VR videogames so let’s change that with Acron: Attack of the Squirrels by Resolution Games. Multiplayer only, Acron: Attack of the Squirrelsis at its best with a few friends and family over, all playing locally.
The Oculus Quest player takes the role of a tree trying to protect several golden acorns while everyone else is a mischevious squirrel trying to steal them. The non-VR players join in via a free mobile app and up to eight can team up at once, offering some highly entertaining gameplay, with everyone laughing and shouting as they succeed and fail.
Shadow Point
More puzzling escapades, this time from Coatsink with Shadow Point. With a story narration by the legendary Sir Patrick Stewart, this British studio has previously released some excellent VR videogames and Shadow Point continues that trend.
Trying to unravel the mystery of a missing schoolgirl you head to Shadow Point observatory before being whisked to the heavens, tasked with solving evermore elaborate puzzles which play with light and shadows.
If you’ve tried The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets and want greater depth and difficulty then Shadow Point is a good step to take, providing a solid few hours of entertainment (depending on whether you get stuck of course).
Journey of the Gods
If you’re looking for a Legend of Zelda-like VR experience on Oculus Quest then Journey of the Gods is worth a look. With a bold cel-shaded style, there are big monsters to fight, people to save, weapons to upgrade and lands to explore. Everything that you could want or need in a VR adventure.
VRFocus noted in its review of Journey of the Gods: “Showcasing what’s best about VR adventuring, the title is ideal for those who want to make the most of their new headset purchase, with decent gameplay, narrative and fantasy feel.” Not one to be missed this festive season.
Thrill of the Fight
There are quite a few ways to burn calories in VR as this list very well proves and Thrill of the Fightoffers the most intensive workout here. Boxing fans will find a barebones experience with training and career modes available. There are no flashy gimmicks here, you need to block, watch your footwork and time those punches for maximum effect – no waving your arms wildly hoping for success.
Do a couple of fights back to back and you’ll soon start to notice if you don’t work out much. Thrill of the Fight is very much a videogame which relies on roomscale, as you’ll need a minimum of 2m x 2m to play. More is preferable, otherwise, during the heat of a match, you’re likely to hit a wall.
Originally a PC VR title released in 2016, Thrill of the Fight has translated well for those wishing for an energetic experience.
Synth Riders
Noticing a theme here? Yes, here’s another rhythm-action videogame for those that love to expel some energy. Synth Ridersdifferentiates itself from Beat Saber and Pistol Whip with Synth Wave tunes for that retro 80s feel.
This might be another arm swinger but its still great fun, and there are several modes and modifiers to change the gameplay mechanics. There’s a little more of a cheese factor with Synth Riders which is fine by VRFocusas the tunes just make you want to bop along.
Synth Riders might not be as well known as the other two but that’s no reason to dismiss it, plus its the cheapest of the three.
Another week of news and new releases means another Friday of our weekly news recap showVRecap. Buckle up — there are some big headlines this week you might have missed!
First up is the big news from Camp Carmack that he is reigning in the amount of time he spends working on VR at Oculus. For now on he is simply consulting with the company and is no longer the CTO. That doesn’t mean he is giving up on VR, but he wants to spend more time working on AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) instead right now — which could have amazing cross-over benefits for VR anyway.
Other than that on VRecap, Oculus is finally letting people customize and update their Oculus Quest home environment a bit, which is nice if you’re getting tired of that old loft apartment window. Apparently Apple is also working on a pair of AR glasses, which we’ve been hearing rumors about for years. Plus you can read our reviews for new releases like Stormland, Dr. Who: The Edge of Time,The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, and see why we don’t have a review for Golem just yet.
That’s a lot of big new releases this week for VRecap. Which is your favorite that you’ve played? And if you missed this week’s episode of The VR Download, we interviewed one of the developers at Fast Travel Games about their latest release, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets.
Speaking of…that’s our giveaway for this week as well! Enter in the form down below for a chance to win!
It’s always nice when virtual reality (VR) developers really experiment and try something different and a bit left field, whether it works or not. These titles can quite often be the hidden gaming gems that don’t get all the attention and praise but are still worth your time and effort. Fast Travel Games’ The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets falls into this category.
Offering light puzzle gaming intertwined with a heartfelt story, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is like a Sunday afternoon family movie; there’s no stress involved just go with the flow and enjoy it.
Throughout the entire time, your character’s grandfather narrates as if reading you a story. But that story is about him, you and your sister, reminiscing about times past, adventures and quarrels, all the stuff family memories are made of. These memories then form the basis of each level, a singular floating island packed with puzzles themed on the beach, the grandfather’s home, even going back in time to the prehistoric era.
Each level is designed as on interactive diorama, with a vast majority of the items offering some sort of interaction. The goal (as the title suggests) is to find the stolen pets – which seem to be hiding more than stolen, there’s no nefarious element here – with three to find on the first level and then five on the rest. These can as simple as disturbing a bush to find a pet to completing a series of tasks to locate one of the little critters.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets seems very much inspired by children’s storybooks, from the art style and the storyline to the puzzles themselves. The gameplay is all about touch, picking things up to see what works and what doesn’t, spinning the world around so you can look and investigate every part of it. There’s a quality to the design much like Moss or Ghost Giant where you continually want to peer inside and look at this living miniature world. Also nice to see is the stop-motion animation of the main characters which perfectly compliments the experience.
Just because The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets has a childlike manner to it doesn’t mean to say all the puzzles are easy. Some of the later ones not only require some thought but also a keen investigative eye to spot various nuances. This goes doubly sure for the coins you can collect. Only a light glimmer reveals their location and they tend to be more prevalent than the pets.
Yet there is a downside to this wonderfully quirky title. For all its merits The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets still has that experimental side project feel to it. There are only five levels and you’ll probably complete those in around an hour. If you missed any coins you can always try to 100% the videogame yet there didn’t seem to be any use for the coins.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a perfectly pleasant VR experience which features all the polish you’d expect from Fast Travel Games. If you have a child who’s really eager to try VR for the first time but you don’t want them jumping all over the place, damaging either equipment or themselves then this ideal. For everyone else, at the right price, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is still worth a pop, its a charming little VR experience.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is the kind of VR game you play when you want to feel warm, cozy, and happy inside. It makes you laugh, it makes you smile, and often times it makes you feel clever and creative.
It’s easier than it should be to let yourself get bogged down in VR experiences about violence, suffering, and realism rather than escaping to a colorful, whimsical world designed to evoke more positive feelings. Luckily The Curious Tale Of The Stolen Pets is here and it’s just as delightful as its artwork makes it out to be. This is truly wholesome VR gaming at its lightest and best.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is about taking on the role of an imaginative child set out to help your grandfather solve mysteries involving stolen pets by exploring wonderfully realized miniature worlds. It’s a simple and peaceful story featuring your grandfather’s loving voice as narration, but does explore some familial themes about rocky relationships and the elusive nature of memories. Overall though if something like Ghost Giant was a bit too depressing and A Fisherman’s Tale was a bit too esoteric, then The Curious Tale could scratch your puzzle-loving itch.
Each level is realized as a tiny little diorama-style world, sort of like the vignettes from VR games like Moss, the floating planets from Super Mario Galaxy or the emotionally-charged VR animation, Allumette. I’m reminded a bit of GNOG as well. Each of them features dense puzzles layered on top of one another, some collectibles to discover, and plenty of devilishly charming critters to locate. This is all about stolen pets, after all.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets does what all great VR games do and makes it abundantly clear that it could never work outside of VR. The whole game, from top to bottom, is about reaching out with your hands, manipulating things in 3D space, leaning, looking, and exploring all around you. I played primarily on Oculus Quest for this review for the convenience factor alone and loved looking at all of the nooks and crannies of every level.
It’s not a long game, wrapping up in just a few hours, but each world is so singularly thematic and expertly crafted the immersive value of those minutes is far higher than average. During one of the early worlds that’s covered in snow you have to dig pretty deep, mentally, to connect the dots and understand which chain reaction of events is needed to multi-task efficiently.
That being said, it’s a bit one-note in a lot of ways. Most of the puzzles devolve into a mostly aimless scavenger hunt rather than requiring true ingenuity to solve. I’d have preferred more creative solutions that pushed along a more vibrant narrative over the broad strokes on display here.
Visually, it evokes a happy sense of calmness. The self-contained levels are emotive and vibrant, if simple — just like the puzzles they hide beneath the surface. It does suffer from a common VR hurdle in that it ties itself so heavily to promoting its interactive bits that every object you can’t pick up or nudge feels unfairly out of place. Interaction in VR is typically an all-or-nothing determination so half-measures can be a bit frustrating.
Comfort
In terms of comfort, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is about nausea-free as you can get for a VR title. The worlds float in front of you and your movement is entirely up to you. It can be played seated or standing just fine and you grab and pull the world to bring it up and down and around you. No one should have to worry about VR sickness with this title.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets Review Verdict:
None of that prevents The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets from hitting its highest notes, though. It’s genuinely difficult to play the game without a smile on my face and I only hoped for more creativity, more whimsical delights, and more exploration of the character’s forgotten past. It borders on feeling too shallow at times, but all-in-all does a masterful job of exploring its themes before it’s all over and that’s all you can really ask for from a puzzle game of this temperament.
Final Score: 4/5 Stars | Really Good
This review was conducted using primarily the Oculus Quest version of the game, but also referenced the Oculus Rift version on Home as well. The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets releases on November 14th on Steam with support for Rift, Vive, Index, and Windows VR, on Oculus Quest, on Oculus Rift via Home, and on PSVR for $14.99 on all platforms. It will feature cross-buy between Quest and Rift on Home.
You can read more about our five-star scoring policy here.
VRFocus kicks off the run-up to Christmas with a list of hotly anticipated new virtual reality (VR) titles being released for various headsets over the course of the next week. Make sure to check out our accompanying YouTube video for a preview of each videogame. These articles and accompanying video will be published every Friday, so be sure to follow all our social media channels to keep up to date.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time – Maze Theory
Grab your Sonic Screwdriver and join the Thirteenth Doctor, voiced by Jodie Whitaker herself, travelling through time and space solving puzzles. In Maze Theory’s long-awaited Edge Of Time, you must work to fend off two of The Doctor’s deadliest foes – the Weeping Angels and the Daleks as well as some new and original monsters.
VR Ping Pong Pro – Reddoll Srl, IVP, ONE-O-ONE GAMES
Grab a racket and test your Ping Pong skills in this long-awaited follow up to 2016’s VR Ping Pong. Featuring realistic, true-to-life physics, choose a range of different rackets and work to rise up the ranks to become a professional in 8 levels consisting of different photo-realistic environments.
In Thief Simulator VR, challenge yourself to rob the most secure houses in the neighbourhood. Featuring a free-roaming sandbox mode, equip yourself with anything from a torch, to the top of the range burglary equipment and plan your attack on a desired building. Steal as many valuables as you can, without letting less-expensive items take up too much space in your bag! The police and the house’s occupants are always out to get you, so it’s up to you to perfect your burglary tactics while going unnoticed.
In this escape-themed adventure videogame, work to flee a mansion filled with hidden dangers. Find yourself in an unknown dark room, strapped to a wheelchair. You catch the sight of a mysterious girl nearby who speaks in a non-discernible language. You must work out a non-verbal communication method in the form of nodding and pointing, in order to guide and instruct her to find a way for both of you to escape this mysterious location alive. First announced during the Tokyo Games Show in 2016, this title is finally being released following successful Kickstarter funding.
In Stormland, play as a damaged android as you have complete freedom to glide, fly and climb your way through this ever-changing cloudscape with the aim of reclaiming your land. Featuring both single and multiplayer modes, create and customise the best weapons and body armour possible, while detonating explosives to save yourself and others.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets – Fast Travel Games
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a heart-warming interactive tale which takes place in a series of unique miniature worlds. Guided by your grandfather’s voice, you solve a series of puzzles in worlds created in your childhood to reveal the hidden pets.
Originally planned for release on the 8th of November, in this new PlayStation VR exclusive, you play as an injured child, Twine, who has developed the ability to see the world through the eyes of large stone golems. Control their movements as you explore the ruins of an abandoned city and collect artefacts as you go. First announced in 2015, this long-awaited title also featuring a new original soundtrack from Destiny and Halo composer, Marty O’Donnell.
November is looking to be a bumper month with the likes of Stormland,Golemand Doctor Who: The Edge of Timeall confirmed. Adding to that list is Fast Travel Games with its charming puzzle experience The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, arriving in about three weeks.
Only announced back in June during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019, the videogame then made its first playable debut in August at Gamescom. VRFocuspreviewed the title, finding that: “The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is very reminiscent of titles like Lunaand Ghost Giant, playful and entirely happy to do its own thing.”
Having recently won the ‘Best Immersive Game’ award at the 2019 Raindance Film Festival, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets offers players the chance to explore miniature worlds. Following a storyline where you get to help your grandfather solve the mystery of the stolen pets, each of these worlds hides three pets behind evermore elaborate puzzles. Each level can be spun around for players to fully investigate each beautifully designed location.
“Our fantastic journey is coming to a conclusion!” says James Hunt, Creative Lead in a statement. “It started with an idea I had back in December last year, to make a highly immersive game that would be accessible to anyone, regardless of age of gaming preferences. A game to simply enjoy at you own pace, where you could marvel at the details in each world and play around with all the interactive elements. And we are letting you do that while enjoying the amazing music of Wintergatan! I am so proud of the work from our small and passionate team, and simply cannot wait for November 14 to come!”
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets will support Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets on 14th November 2019. Priced at $14.99 USD/€14.99 EUR/£11.99 GBP, the Oculus Rift and Quest versions will support cross-buy. Additionally, the title will include localized subtitles for Spanish (main & LATAM versions), French, German, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean & Brazilian Portuguese. For further updates from Fast Travel Games, keep reading VRFocus.
“Seeing Virtual Reality games like The Curious Tale of Stolen Pets win prestigious awards at festivals shows how far the medium has come,” said Rob Edwards, Managing Director at Perp Games. “Fast Travel Games have created one of the most delightful games on PlayStation VR to date and we are absolutely thrilled to be working with them to share the Pets and their adventures with even more people at retail.”
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The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
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Acron: Attack of the Squirrels
