The Oculus Rift is already pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the computer. Games genres we never knew existed are coming to the fore. Classroom Aquatic is the first example I know of a cheat ‘em up.
The set up is that your teacher is throwing a pop quiz and you’re not prepared. You’ll have to cheat your way through it. If you’ve got an Oculus Rift then you can look around the room and lean over to copy other students’ answers. Also, you’re class is underwater and your classmates are dolphins.
Because groups of dolphins are called schools. Right? I mean, yes, they swim in pods but they’re fish. They must be, they live in water.
I haven’t access to an Oculus Rift and had to make do with the game’s non-VR version. You look around with the mouse instead of your head but the principle of the game’s the same. I’m taken by how novel a setting for a game it is. I love it when designers find a way to make a mundane task into a game.
For instance, it’s not simply a matter of looking over your fellow dolphins’ shoulders(?) at their tests. You have to avoid the teacher dolphin’s gaze, otherwise you get a warning. Three warnings and you get a detention. You can distract the class by throwing a rubber at different items around the room – a globe, a skeleton, another dolphin.
(Thinking about it, worryingly, the skeleton looked half dolphin, half human. What is is this abomination of nature? Why are they studying it? And why are they studying human culture? I’m finding myself moving to pro tuna trawler.)
You can download one of the various Oculus or non-Oculus versions of the game over on Classroom Aquatic’s site.