Tag Archives: oculus rift news

Carly and the Reaperman game feature image

Top 5 Oculus Releases – June 16th-22nd – Cross-Platform Fun with Friends

This week’s top releases for Oculus feature cross-platform compatibility, multi-player fun or both. Grab a friend and explore the underworld, loose some arrows at monsters or sit down for a nice game of chess.

Carly and the Reaperman – Escape from the Underworld

from Odd Raven Studios

Carly and the Reaperman game screenshot courtesy Steam
Carly and the Reaperman – screenshot courtesy Steam

Carly and the Reaperman – Escape from the Underworld is a cleverly designed puzzle platformer for two players. One guides a human in standard 2D, while the other players the role of the Reaperman, a friendly skeleton who helps guide the action in VR.

While some players will no doubt be a bit disappointed by the lack of a single-player mode – though that’s apparently coming soon – we’re totally charmed by the approach and the care that went into the puzzle design, which requires both quick thinking and quick reflexes.

We love the graphical approach Odd Raven Studios took with this game, as well. With its neon accent colors and the looming skull of the Reaperman, it’s a bit like vintage cyberpunk with a hint of goth, but more cute and than creepy.

Oculus Rift | 4.3 GB | $24.99 from Oculus or from Steam

QuiVr

from Bluteak

QuiVr game screenshot courtesy Steam
QuiVr – screenshot courtesy Steam

Now out of its lengthy Early Access, one of VR’s more prominent and polished archery games stands out for multiple reasons.

QuiVr offers a drop-in, drop-out multi-player mode and a scaling difficulty system, which makes it a great option for VR newcomers and veteran players.

It also boasts a colorful, neon-tinged graphical approach that makes for a memorable and appealing alternative to the usual dingy earth tones of most fantasy games.

Oculus Rift | 5 GB | $19.99 from Steam

Social Club VR: Casino Nights

from Perilous Orbit

Social Club VR: Casino Nights game screenshot courtesy Steam
Social Club VR: Casino Nights – screenshot courtesy Steam

Standing out for its social and multi-player optimization, Social Club VR: Casino Nights is also noteworthy for the sheer number of games on offer.

Recognizing that not everyone loves simulated gambling, developers Perilous Orbit have also included chess, backgammon and even a shooting gallery.

Between that and the fact that they’re working on a cross-platform mode for non-VR users, this could potentially become a big player in the VR social space.

Oculus Rift | 6.3 GB | $19.99 from Oculus or from Steam

Kona VR

from Parabole

Kona VR game screenshot courtesy Steam
Kona VR – screenshot courtesy Steam

A haunting mystery game with survival elements, Kona draws much of its strength from its setting in remote Quebec in the 1970s and its soundtrack by French-Canadian rock act CureLabel.

As players attempt to solve a murder, they’ll contend with bone-chilling temperatures and hints of supernatural horror.

While the game itself was released last year, the new VR implementation integrates both modes, allowing players to continue previous games in VR.

Oculus Rift | 5 GB | $19.99 from Oculus or $20.98 from Steam (VR upgrade $5.99)

Star Drone

from Beatshapers

Star Drone game screenshot courtesy Oculus
Star Drone – screenshot courtesy Oculus

Originally released for Sony PSVR, Star Drone is an unexpected but addictive blend of space shoot-’em-up action, exploration and pinball.

Its simultaneous release on all Oculus platforms gives both Rift and mobile players alike the chance to experience the technicolor action.

Oculus Rift | 407 MB | $3.99 from Oculus
Oculus Go | 378 MB | $3.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 378 MB | $3.99 from Oculus

Top 5 Oculus Releases – May 12th-25th – Ideas in Flight

As we busy ourselves gearing up for this year’s VRTO, here’s a double-sized top five Oculus releases article, covering the past two weeks. Along with a couple of big releases – including an alternate history science fiction offering and a narrative-driven fantasy bow simulator – we’ve also got some lesser known offerings which all happen to revolve around flight to some degree:

Red Matter

by Vertical Robot

Red Matter - screenshot courtesy Oculus
Red Matter – screenshot courtesy Oculus

Set in a research base on one of the moons of Saturn, Red Matter is a puzzle-based adventure game that stands out for both its atmospheric pacing – no jump scares here, just a slowly building tension – and its setting.

Developers Vertical Robot conjure an alternate Cold War environment via Brutalist design and Socialist Realism art that wonderfully compliments the game’s quiet oppressiveness and brings a fresh spin on the “abandoned space station” trope.

Oculus Rift | 3.2 GB | $34.99 from Oculus

SACRALITH: The Archer’s Tale

by Odd Meter

SACRALITH - screenshot courtesy Steam
SACRALITH – screenshot courtesy Steam

Archery simulators are quickly becoming one of the more popular genres for VR, but SACRALITH: The Archer’s Tale is one of the best. Aside from gorgeous graphics and perfectly implemented bow mechanic, developers Odd Meter deliver an experience that can be described as “epic fantasy” without exaggeration.

Oculus Rift | 11 GB | $19.99 from Steam

TSA Frisky

by Out There Entertainment

TSA Frisky - screenshot courtesy Steam
TSA Frisky – screenshot courtesy Steam

Influenced by Job Simulator and originally created as a student project at the Savannah College of Art and Design, TSA Frisky is all but guaranteed to amuse anyone who enjoys the hectic pace of games like Cook! Serve! Delicious! or who has been ever been inconvenienced by air travel.

Oculus Rift | 5 GB | $14.99 from Steam

Drone Hero

from Neuston AB

Drone Hero - screenshot courtesy Steam
Drone Hero – screenshot courtesy Steam

The concept of Drone Hero is simple enough – flying an RC quadcopter drone in VR – but the pitch-perfect flight controls and numerous challenges, from crowded night clubs to heist movie laser security systems, that make this release so compelling.

Oculus Rift | 300 MB | $9.99 from Steam

Ace Phantom

from Vanguard Co.

Ace Phantom - screenshot courtesy Oculus
Ace Phantom – screenshot courtesy Oculus

A beautifully implemented transformer-style mecha flight combat game, Ace Phantom is the closest you can get to living out your Robotech and Macross fantasies in mobile VR.

Oculus Go | 465 MB | $4.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 465 MB | $4.99 from Oculus

Top 5 Oculus Releases – April 14th-20th – Meditate or Get Mental

This week’s top Oculus releases focus more on mind than reflexes, literally and figuratively. Twist your brain in the VR sequel to one of the greatest comedic adventures of all time, set your brain to work as a virtual city planner, or just relax with some paper airplanes:

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

from Double Fine Productions and React Games

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin - screenshot courtesy Steam
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin – screenshot courtesy Steam

The beloved team of youthful psychics is back with an all-new adventure, initially released as a PSVR exclusive and now available for the Rift. Exclusive to VR and serving as a bridge between the original classic and its forthcoming sequel, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin picks up right where the first Psychonauts game left off.

Featuring some interesting control choices – like using your head to pick up and manipulate objects instead of your hands, in a simulation of telekinesis – this abounds with tricky puzzles that will push both your logic and your psychic abilities to their limits.

More importantly, it’s got the signature writing and twisted humor we’ve come to expect from Double Fine Productions in general and this series in particular.

Oculus Rift | 8 GB | $19.99 from Oculus or from Steam

Block’hood VR

from Plethora-Project and General Arcade

Block'hood VR - screenshot courtesy Steam
Block’hood VR – screenshot courtesy Steam

Another expansion of an existing – and award-winning – game concept into virtual space, Block’hood VR puts a 3D spin on the original game’s ecologically-focused, voxel-based approach to the city-building sim.

Players will still build neighborhoods using a block-based system that requires careful thought not only of each section’s own qualities but those of surrounding blocks, and the use of VR space gives each choice and combination even more impact.

Oculus Rift | 2 GB | $14.99 from Oculus or from Steam

Paper Valley

from Vitei Backroom

Paper Valley - screenshot courtesy Oculus
Paper Valley – screenshot courtesy Oculus

If psychic puzzles and ecological urban planning is making your head hurt, why not relax by tossing some paper airplanes in an idyllic wooded vale? Paper Valley is a meditative experience that still offers puzzles as tossed paper airplanes help to reveal a lost civilization – a bit like Myst gone papercraft.

Its combination of simple mechanics and tranquil environments netted developers Vitei Backroom a Famitsu Media Highlight Award at last year’s BitSummit in Japan.

Oculus Rift | 657 MB | $19.99 from Oculus

Fibre

from konzeptzwei

Fibre - screenshot courtesy Oculus
Fibre – screenshot courtesy Oculus

Not all this week’s releases are slow-paced – Fibre is far from it, in fact – but this combination of rail shooter and endless runner for Gear VR is incredibly meditative once you get into the rhythm of it. Stark, abstract graphics inspired by data packets on a network also make this a far different experience than the robot and zombie games more typical of the genre.

Gear VR | 130 MB | $2.99 from Oculus

3D Mahjong Worlds

from PixelBrain Studio

3D Mahjong Worlds - screenshot courtesy Steam
3D Mahjong Worlds – screenshot courtesy Steam

A favorite casual game genre – the venerable Mahjong solitaire tile game – makes its way to the Oculus. UK developer PixelBrain Studio previously released a similar game for mobile VR, and the experience served them well. This is a simple idea executed extremely well, bringing the relaxing puzzle-solving and hypnotic tile-clicks into a more immersive space.