Lost in Random review: Don’t be fooled by this Soulslike’s delightful exterior
Lost in Random is like a storybook come to life, but that isn't enough to carry it above its struggles.
Lost in Random preview: a Tim Burton-esque board game
Lost in Random has a wonderful combat system, combining gambling and deck-building, but the bloated story asks for a lot of attention.
Ghost Giant Coming to Oculus Quest in February
Early last year Zoink Games release a delightful puzzle experience called Ghost Giant as an exclusive for PlayStation VR. Today, the studio has confirmed that it’ll be porting the videogame to standalone headset Oculus Quest and there isn’t long to wait, with a launch planned for later this month.
Much like The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets by Fast Travel Games, Ghost Giant is one of those virtual reality (VR) videogames that have a certain warmth and charm, making them suitable for players of all ages.
The puzzle adventure sees you take on the role of the titular Ghost Giant, a friendly being that only a lonely boy called Louis can see. The title is about forming a bond with Louis, slowly helping overcome obstacles big and small in his daily life.
Ghost Giant is set out almost like a digital dollhouse, with you in the middle of the various locations. From this central point, you can interact with not only Louis but the other town folk, opening up their houses to peer inside, examining the detail within. You can also aid the other characters as a mysterious guiding hand, helping them go about their daily lives, or cause some mischief by pulling plants and lifting vehicles.
There are several levels to explore including the town, harbour, Louis’ sunflower farm and the local junkyard.
“Zoink’s aim with Ghost Giant is to recreate the feel of exploring a doll’s house in VR by lifting furniture off the roof and playing around with trinkets and furniture inside, while also giving players a purpose and sense of scale to deliver something truly special and memorable,” said the studio in a statement. “You’re not just a manipulator from outside the screen, you’re really in there, participating in Louis’ world and being recognized by him as his friend.”
Ghost Giant has a launch date of 20th February for Oculus Quest. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Ghost Giant and Zoink Games, reporting back with further updates.
The North American Retail Edition of Ghost Giant Will Arrive in May for PlayStation VR
Zoink Games’ Ghost Giant will soon be arriving on PlayStation VR, with a digital release date of next Tuesday, 16th April. Last month the studio also revealed a collaboration with Perp Games to create a physical version, set to hit European shelves on 19th April. Today, the pair have revealed Ghost Giant will also get a retail store release in North America.
Looking to be one of the more unique virtual reality (VR) title to hit PlayStation VR this Spring, Ghost Giant will be arriving at retailers such as Amazon, GameStop and Target on Tuesday, 7th May 2019, retailing for $29.99 USD.
Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, this will be Zoink Games’ first virtual reality (VR) experience for PlayStation VR. Set in the interactive, colourful world of Sancourt, the title is a puzzle adventure where players are the titular Ghost Giant. An invisible entity visible only to a little lonely boy named Louis, who is eager to make a new friend, players need to build trust with Louis by helping him with various challenges.
Very much like Pillow’s Willow VR Studios’ Spark of Light, players will find the landscape wrapped around them, so they can interact with all the levels and the characters that inhabit them, peering into their tiny world and helping them out when needed.
Two PlayStation Move controllers are required to interact with the videogame, so that players can rotate and open individual houses to reveal the stories going on inside as the occupants go about their daily lives, or simply go about pulling plants and lifting vehicles. There are several levels to explore including the town, harbour, Louis’ sunflower farm and the local junkyard.
Alongside Ghost Giant, Perp Games will be bringing several other PlayStation VR titles to retail stores, including Squishies from German indie developer Brainseed Factory and The Wizards – Enhanced Edition by Carbon Studio.
Ghost Giant is a PlayStation VR exclusive developed by Zoink Games and published by Perp Games. It’ll arrive first on PlayStation Store on 16th April, then on European shelves from 19th April and finally North American stores on 7th May 2019. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
The VR Job Hub: Flight School Studio, Resolution Games and More
Bored and uninspired by your current job? Dissatisfied with the promotional prospects of your present position? Having to deal with bosses that couldn’t manage their way out of a wet paper bag? Apart from therapy, how about considering a change in job first with some of these awesome vacancies.
| Location | Company | Role | Link |
| Dallas, TX | Flight School Studio | Game Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Stockholm, Sweden | Resolution Games | Senior Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Stockholm, Sweden | Resolution Games | Junior Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Stockholm, Sweden | Resolution Games | Marketing/Community Manager | Click Here to Apply |
| Stockholm, Sweden | Resolution Games | 3D Artist | Click Here to Apply |
| Stockholm, Sweden | Resolution Games | Concept Artist | Click Here to Apply |
| Gothenburg, Sweden | Zoink | Game Designer | Click Here to Apply |
| Gliwice, Poland | Carbon Studio | Senior Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Orlando, Florida | CyberDream | Lead Developer | Click Here to Apply |
| Orlando, Florida | CyberDream | Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Orlando, Florida | CyberDream | 3D Artist | Click Here to Apply |
| Orlando, Florida | CyberDream | Intern Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Orlando, Florida | CyberDream | Intern Artist/Level Designer | Click Here to Apply |
Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.
If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).
We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.
Charming Puzzle Adventure Ghost Giant has an Official Release Date for PlayStation VR
PlayStation VR tends to have its fair share of virtual reality (VR) exclusives, a tactic Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) often uses to draw consumers to its system. Next month will see another arrive in the form of Ghost Giant, a puzzle experience from indie developer Zoink. Both the digital and physical retail versions have now been given a release date.
First showcased at PlayStation’s massive stand during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018, Ghost Giant instantly proved to be one of the more interesting experiences at the event.
You’re the titular ‘Ghost Giant’ who is befriended by a lonely boy called Louis. Only Louis can see the Ghost Giant and together form a bond of friendship, generally by helping him overcome various tasks and challenges, from the very small to the overwhelmingly big. All the time building that trust as you go. But it’s not all about Louis, as the Ghost Giant your help is needed by the other residents Sancourt. Even though they can’t see you the citizens still require a helping hand every so often.
Ghost Giant is a unique cartoon world with you at the very centre. The town and buildings have been designed almost like dollhouses, where you can look inside and discover all sorts of animated scenes. As such, there are plenty of secrets to discover if you look hard enough.
When VRFocus first previewed Ghost Giant last year we said that the title: “is still one of the most deliciously interesting VR titles to be announced for PlayStation VR at E3 2018. Playing Ghost Giant is like starting a 1000 piece puzzle or a good book, you don’t want to stop, it has that addictive, engrossing quality all developers strive for. Seeing what Zoink has already achieved so far, Ghost Giant is now firmly on VRFocus’ most wanted list.”
Zoink will be releasing Ghost Giant via PlayStation Store on 16th April 2019. And thanks to a collaboration with Perp Games, Ghost Giant will arrive on retail shelves from 19th April. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Ghost Giant, reporting back with the latest updates.
PlayStation VR Exclusive Ghost Giant to Arrive This Spring
During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018 Zoink Games announced its exclusive virtual reality (VR) title for PlayStation VR, Ghost Giant. Recently, the studio revealed that Ghost Giant would be ready to launch this Spring, not only digitally, but thanks to Perp Games, as a physical copy as well.
A charming puzzle adventure with a distinctive art style, Ghost Giant features a lonely boy named Louis who befriends a giant ghost visible only to him. As the Ghost Giant, you’ll have to carefully build trust with Louis and help him through small, big and sometimes overwhelmingly huge obstacles, discovering the true meaning of friendship along the way.
But it’s not just Louis that you need to help. As you explore the world of Sancourt you’ll be able to help its citizens with all manner of day to day problems by using your size and strength. The crafty-looking dollhouse world can be manipulated in multiple ways and is full of hidden secrets.
“Warmly welcome to Sancourt! I’m absolutely thrilled that we’re getting a physical release of Ghost Giant by Perp Games,” said Olov Redmalm, Art and Creative Director at Zoink Games in a statement. “With their line of great VR game releases, we feel right at home. The team at Zoink Games hopes that through Ghost Giant you will experience something quite unique in both VR and storytelling! We’re very proud of the game and it handles a topic we’re all really passionate about. So buckle up, ready your handkerchiefs (just in case things get emotional) and prepare to become the Ghost Giant.”
Rob Edwards, MD of Perp Games adds: “Ghost Giant is what VR is all about. A warm, heartwrenching story that fully immerses you into the world. We are so excited to be working with Zoink Games on one of the most anticipated VR games of 2019.”
Ghost Giant will arrive in Spring 2019 exclusively for PlayStation VR, receiving a boxed release in EU territories at the same time. A North American released date is expected shortly after.
Check out VRFocus’ preview of Ghost Giant, which called it ‘one of the standout VR titles of E3 2018’. For further updates in the run up to launch, keep reading VRFocus.
E3 2018 Hands-On: Ghost Giant Is A Charming Puzzle Game About Friendship
Ghost Giant was one of the lucky few PSVR games that got some of the spotlight on Sony’s official PlayStation Blog a few days before E3 actually kicked off. Since we knew about the title going in, we had some idea about what to expect, and for the most part it met our expectations.
When we first saw Ghost Giant, we had initially assumed it’d be a bit more fast-paced and blend puzzle elements with platforming segments, sort of like Turbo Button’s Along Together. What we found out at E3, though, is that it’s shaping up to actually be a pure puzzle game for the most part.
The premise of Ghost Giant is that you are a large, lumbering ghost that only the main character can see. During our demo we got to meet him, a small cat boy named Louis, for the very first time. He’s walking along in his village and is hounded by bullies. Once he notices the player he cowers in fear and it’s up to you to convince him to give you a chance at being his friend. It’s a cute interaction and the voice acting is well done.
He runs away to go hide in his room, which then kicks off the puzzle part of the experience. His door is locked and you’ve got to figure out how to get inside so that you can prove you’re not scary. Never mind the fact that breaking and entering is, in and of itself, a bit scary. It feels like an odd beginning to a friendship, but without seeing the full story in context it’s hard to cast judgement.
I don’t want to overtly spoil too much even if it is an early game puzzle, but what you’ve got to do involves searching the environment (and I mean really leaning down, craning your neck, and looking around) for ways to manipulate things. You can pick up and move items in the world, spin buildings around, and interact with characters using indirect methods. For example, switching channels on an old man’s TV to something boring might cause him to fall asleep and drop what he’s holding.
Generally speaking a good puzzle game will give you everything you need to figure things out without getting lost or confused for too long. Patience and attention to detail are key of course, but things should present themselves readily if you’re actively engaged. I’m a little worried the puzzles in Ghost Giant may end up being needlessly vague or obtuse. During my brief demo a developer needed to guide me a bit more than once because it just wasn’t clear what I was meant to be doing. Whether it was bad clue placement, poor visual indications, or just unclear level layouts.
Once you get through to Louis though, the charm shines through again. All the little design hiccups faded away when he smiled at me for the first time.
Near the end of the demo the bullies return and there’s a cute moment where I scare them off by manipulating a fake ghost toy to represent my actual giant ghost self. Once the demo was over I came away surprised with just how unique the diorama-style cities and puzzle-heavy gameplay felt, but I’m still skeptical the actual content will be compelling and intuitive enough to enjoy. Zoink has a great track record as a developer recently (Fe and Flipping Death are stand outs,) so I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
Ghost Giant does not currently have a publicly announced release date, but my gut tells me we’ll be getting this game in 2018 and won’t have to wait too long. When I asked a developer from Zoink about other headsets, such as mobile or PC VR, they were coy about details but didn’t shut down the idea of it coming to other platforms later on.
Let us know what you think about Ghost Giant down in the comments below!
Tagged with: e3, E3 2018, Ghost Giant, Zoink
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E3 2018 Pre-show Roundup – ‘Beat Saber’ on PSVR, Xbox Mum on VR, New Game Announcements & More
While E3 2018 didn’t technically start until Tuesday this week, much of the big news comes during the pre-show period from Saturday to Monday. Here’s a roundup of our coverage of E3 2018 before the official start of the event.
Beat Saber Coming to PSVR
Indie studio Hyperbolic Magnetism announced ahead of the Sony conference that their VR rhythm game is on its way to PlayStation VR later this year. The game sold over 100,000 copies in its first month of availability on PC VR devices, and is set to launch on Sony’s platform with a new song, and potentially more content.
Microsoft Stays Mum on Xbox VR
During Microsoft’s main E3 2018 presentation, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer talked briefly on stage about the future of the brand, mentioning ‘future “consoles”‘ in development, but there was once again no sign of VR support for Xbox One. This follows the surprising no-show last year at the launch of Xbox One X. The hardware is more than capable of taking the fight to Sony, but for now it continues to be one-way traffic.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot Announced
Set two decades after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017), Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is a standalone VR game set to launch next year. Bethesda announced the title at their E3 2018 showcase; little information is known about the game so far, but we’ll report our findings once we go hands-on this week.
Prey (2017) DLC to Include VR Modes
Bethesda also announced their new Prey: Mooncrash DLC will soon include two VR-compatible game modes. This consists of a single player escape room game and a multiplayer game called ‘Typhon Hunter’ which, according to Bethesda, pits the series’ protagonist Morgan Yu against mimics that will stalk, hunt and hide in plain sight as they try to take Yu down.
Elder Scrolls: Blades is Bethesda’s First Mobile VR Game, Also Coming to High-end Headsets with Crossplay
Introduced by director Todd Howard as a smartphone-first title, Elder Scrolls: Blades was demonstrated to have touch-friendly controls, and is set to launch on as many platforms as possible later this year, including mobile VR all the way up to high-end VR. The game promises to include both handcrafted and procedurally generated dungeons, character customisation and levelling, and several game modes including an infinite dungeon.
Major Tracking Update for Leap Motion
Leap Motion has released another major software update to their markerless hand tracking hardware – a product which hasn’t changed specification since it launched in 2012, but has seen dramatic improvements to the quality of tracking over the years. The new updates claim to bring major improvements “across the board.”
Transference Comes to PSVR, Vive, and Rift in Fall 2018
Psychological thriller from Elijah Wood’s studio SpectreVision was shown again at Ubisoft’s E3 conference, this time with a new launch trailer. The game blends live action and rendered environments in a perspective-shifting narrative. While it is built with VR in mind, the title is also launching in traditional formats sometime in Fall 2018, on PSVR, Rift, Vive, PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
Space Junkies Beta Announced for Late June
Zero-G multiplayer shooter Space Junkies was another VR game announced last year to make a second appearance at Ubisoft’s E3 2018 presentation. The new trailer showed some new gameplay, and revealed the dates for the open beta: June 28th to July 2nd. Signups for the closed beta is already open on the official Space Junkies website.
Insomniac Reveals More Stormland Info
Insomniac’s CCO Chad Dezern appeared on stage at the E3 2018 PC Gaming Show to talk about upcoming open-world adventure game Stormland, which was announced just before the event. Dezern detailed some of the key movement mechanics optimised for VR motion controllers, as well as some of your character’s scavenging abilities.
Trover Saves the Universe Announced for PS4 and PSVR from Squanch Games
Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland’s game studio Squanch Games enjoyed some time on the big screen at Sony’s main E3 2018 presentation with their new game Trover Saves the Universe, an action-platformer of sorts. In typical style, the haphazard trailer gave very little information, but it is targeting an early 2019 release for PS4 and PSVR.
PSVR Exclusive Ghost Giant Announced
Detailed in a post on the PlayStation Blog just before E3, Ghost Giant is an adorable puzzle adventure from Zoink, creators of Fe (2018) and Flipping Death (TBA), coming exclusively to PSVR. The player assumes the role of the ghost, and can interact with the environment by lifting” furniture, vehicles and trees,” or even opening up “entire buildings to reveal the stories going on inside.”
Déraciné Announced for PSVR From Developer Behind Dark Souls
From Software, creators of popular RPG series Dark Souls, has revealed a game that is very different in tone compared to the studio’s most famous works. According to the description of the teaser trailer, which was shown just after the main Sony press conference, Déraciné is about a young girl in a secluded boarding school who summons a spirit. The game is said to task the player with proving the spirit’s existence and building “a unique bond with the students through clever interactions.” The game is set to arrive sometime in 2018 exclusively on PSVR.
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Zoink Games Discuss Ghost Giant At E3
At E3 2018 Zoink Games introduced a new PlayStation VR title called Ghost Giant. Some of the developers behind the title took to the stage during E3 to provide more details on what players can expect.
Showing a world filled with humanoid animals, the player takes the role of the titular Ghost Giant and befriend a character called Louis, helping Louis out in his daily life.
Louis is described by the developers as a very lonely and sad character who works as a farmer alongside his parents. When the Louis first encounters the ghost giant, he reacts in fear, but after some coaxing, you make friends with him.
The work on the farm that Louis does is exhausting, and the player as the ghost giant can assist, making things much easier for Louis and his family. This takes the form of tasks to perform and puzzles to solve.
Klaus Lyngeled of Zoink Games said: “When I started the project, we had done a lot of story-based games before and I thought it would be really cool to have the player in the game alongside the main character. In VR you can really be there with the character and I thought it would be cool to be able to become friends with the character on screen.”
Lyngeled added: “Much of the gameplay involves going around this cute little village and listening to what people want or need and finding different ways to solve these problems.”
The interaction within Ghost Giant is much like a sandbox in some ways, as there are many ways that the world can be explored, manipulated and interacted with. Developer Olov Redmalm explained: “We wanted a feeling like a doll’s house where you could open windows or take off the roof and look inside.”
A release date for the title is yet to be confirmed, but VRFocus will be sure to bring you more news as it becomes available