Escape room games shouldn’t be easy, by their very nature they need to be taxing or else you’re just an idiot stuck in a room. So it’s always satisfying when a videogame-like A Rogue Escape comes along, offering barely any information other than you’re some giant mech which you need to somehow pilot and obviously use to escape. With that in mind be prepared for an equal measure of head-scratching whilst flicking switches and levers galore to get this hulking monstrosity moving.
A Rogue Escape is based on a previous title, developer Spare Parts Oasis’ Nauticrawl. Known for being rather difficult, the same ethos remains whilst being completely remade for virtual reality (VR) gaming. So there’s lots of physical interaction with the vehicle and very little in the way of hints to help you along, half the experience is simply figuring things out.
You find yourself in this giant Nauticrawl because you’ve managed to escape your captors but there’s one slight problem, you’ve never been in one and a manual isn’t exactly laying around. Apart from a rather vague tablet outlining the initial basics, A Rogue Escape presents a rather dizzying array of interactive elements which are perfectly suited to VR, it’s always great fun to flick and turn dials aplenty. All in a rather suitable steampunk design. The only weird inclusion is the fact that buttons don’t require a physical push which you’d expect. Instead, your translucent hand points its index finger and you then have to click the trigger, making for a rather unsatisfactory interaction.
Even though you’re inside a giant walking mech which you have to pilot around, A Rogue Escape is still very much an escape room experience, completing challenges in a certain order to unlock the next puzzle. It’s very slow to start as you learn the main controls and the order certain sequences need to be activated. So if you’re not into slow and methodical gameplay then you might not enjoy this. What becomes clear is that A Rogue Escape requires plenty of multitasking, managing a selection of tasks as various buzzers warn you of incoming hostiles, an overheating engine or a dead battery.
While you do have to deal with enemies per se, A Rogue Escape isn’t action-oriented in the slightest, so all those controls can feel a little clunky if you’re used to more arcade-style control schemes. And you don’t have any real strategy options or variance when dealing with those outside forces, as the couple of areas you can explore are very limited in scope.
The real joy with A Rogue Escape’s gameplay is that it becomes immensely gratifying when everything does start coming together, like being a kid put inside a giant steam train for the first time. Suddenly all those annoying beeps and flashing lights make sense so you can instantly react and go on your merry way. You just need the patience to get there. The lack of info before then does mean if you get stuck the bubble you’re in starts to look rather drab after a while.
When it comes to comfort you shouldn’t have much issue with A Rogue Escape as there’s no locomotion apart from a lift with which you can adjust your height. This sounds ideal for playing either seated or standing, however, A Rogue Escape really doesn’t work sat down. Most of the control systems are too far away, requiring getting out of the seat to reach, completely negating the feature in the first place. Even though it doesn’t look it, the enclosed Nauticrawl interior is rather large and even a 2mx2m roomscale area will see the boundary pop up occasionally on the Oculus Quest 2. And don’t look for options because there aren’t any.
On first inspection, A Rogue Escape didn’t seem like it was going to do anything too different yet it showcases how a traditional escape room videogame can be recreated and enhanced by VR. Playing around with all the systems is a lot of fun with a run through taking around 2-3 hours. The real shame is the replay factor, there is none. Once you’ve figured out what does what that initial spark is lost, and there’s nothing else to explore. But the same can be said for most games of this ilk. Even so, A Rogue Escape had its moments of greatness.
What that means for those who haven’t seen the first title is playing console and arcade videogames inspired by famous ones from the 90s in addition to interactions with the ‘real’ world in which your character inhabits. Pixel Ripped 1995 is a story-driven adventure where the narrative does arc between the two titles but can still be enjoyed without playing the former. Dot is a videogame character tasked with saving her home once again from an evil goblin called the Cyblin Lord, she does this by inhabiting skilled players, this time its 9-year old David to the rescue.
The trickiest mechanic to get to grips with is mixing between operating the digital controller and then interacting with the VR world. A good portion of Pixel Ripped 1995 is playing on a console, looking at a TV screen. Moments will then arise where you’ll have to multitask with the off-screen world, the best example of which – and most relatable – is the bedroom level where David is trying to play late at night, against the wishes of his mum. Make too much noise and she’ll wake up, giving you a few seconds to grab the TV remote and switch it off, after which she’ll go back to bed. This can become a little repetitive if you’re not careful yet this is also where Pixel Ripped 1995’s charm lays.
ARVORE has certainly learnt from 
Created by Eric Wu and never originally planned to be fully published, he decided to pursue this b-ball experience and flesh it out into a fantasy-themed free-throw videogame. As you can imagine the basic setup is a court – well half of one – some glowing basketballs and a hoop to throw them into. It would be a bit boring if this was just it, so he’s added some opponents to make those shots increasing harder.
The mechanics have been kept nice and simple, as there’s no movement there’s no dribbling or any other fancy ball skills to deal with, just throw. As these are big opponents lobbing the ball over their heads doesn’t provide the best chance to score, it’s all about being quick, nipping between points and getting a couple of shots off. This gives Hooplord an element of pressure which helps to heighten the gameplay experience and keep you invested in the progression.
For an indie title that was originally just a portfolio piece, Hooplord is an enjoyable basketball videogame with a nice cartoon style. There’s just the right amount of difficulty so that you can’t blast through it in five minutes, the only real frustration is if you’re a rubbish shot. 
GRIP: Combat Racing is an extreme racing experience which is all about lightning-fast cars, lots of guns, and some ludicrously twisted tracks to race on, through, over, under – almost anywhere there’s a solid surface. The normal flat version which has been available since 2018 was already great at what it does, with all the Steam comments testament to that fact. But the VR version is like GRIP: Combat Racing’s evil twin sibling cackling in the corner, tempting you to the dark side because once you step into VR it’s never the same again.
This is a videogame about speed and destruction, where you can zip along at a fair old speed normally before you even hit the boost button or boost ramps. They can then be used in conjunction with the item pickups to offer all sorts of offensive and defensive capabilities which makes GRIP: Combat Racing super fun to play.
This has all the hallmarks of a nausea-inducing experience, a big no-no in VR. Heck, even the promotional trailer for the videogame makes vomit jokes. But here’s the thing, for some reason whatever developer Caged Element Inc. has done to make sure none of this happens has worked. Having played a great deal of VR this might be the VR legs talking, so anyone particularly susceptible may want to be cautious, or at least play with the viewpoint.