One of the first real successes among VR games was Owlchemy Labs’ Job Simulator, a humorous look at the absurdity of 9-to-5 business, as viewed through the lens of a future world of uncomprehending robots, faintly baffled but mostly amused at the silly things humans did with their short, meaty lives.
It was such a hit that Google snapped up the studio, and now they’re back with the official followup, and it’s the most intuitive sequel in the world. Now you’re done working, it’s time for an Authentic Human Vacation, accurately simulated to the last detail.
VR has come a long way this year, and with the likes of Skyrim, Doom & Fallout 4 coming to headsets, it’ll only get better. Here’s our picks for the bast of the first generation – what are yours?
The robots are at it again. Having fully studied the concept of ‘Jobs’ and found that humans are largely useless and expendable, they’re trying to find out what use we are when we’re not grinding away through TPS Reports, queued-up customers and rapidly burning burgers. As with the first, this looks to be another highly reactive comedy physics sandbox. An opportunity to goof off, ignore orders and generally see how your robot overlords react to your wilful and anarchic actions.
Vacation Simulator will support both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets, as well as Playstation VR, although given that you’re reading this here, you probably don’t have need that version. There’s no release date beyond ‘2018’ on this one, nor any price-point, although I hope that it’s closer to the $20 mark than the original was at launch. As more people pick up the VR mantle, prices on software will hopefully become aimed less at the hardcore enthusiast crowd.
So, for those of you that have picked up VR headsets this past year, what are your picks, both mainstream or indie? What’s made your heart sing and taken you to realms that you’d never thought to immerse yourself in?