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video game reviews

Rooms of Realities is the best VR Puzzle games you need to play

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I was sent Rooms of Realities for free as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. If you’re looking for accessories for your VR headset, like magnetic prescription lenses or a high-quality charging cable, get it at ZyberVR. Use discount code CHURAPE for 15% off. You can also always buy me coffee. 

Rooms of Realities is the escape room VR game you need in your library if you like puzzle games. It is available now on Steam and Meta Quest. It looks great, runs amazingly, and the puzzles are challenging and fun. Rooms of Reality features nine levels of puzzles featuring three themes: a timeless pyramid, a forsaken asylum, and an underwater station. I am partial to the asylum levels because they had such a cool macabre aesthetic. All of the themes are well-designed, and the puzzles are creative. More levels are planned for the future release, and I am excited to see what they come up with. 

This game is one of the best-performing VR games I played in a while. I got a Steam copy and didn’t need a wire to play from my Meta Quest 2. This might change if you play online with other people, but the solo experience is phenomenal. 

The puzzles are designed with multiplayer in mind, so grab your friends for some wholesome puzzle-solving shenanigans. Don’t have friends? There are matchmaking functions, and you can always try looking for a group on Discord. I didn’t have much luck finding people, but I keep strange hours. While some puzzles are easier in groups, there is nothing wrong with playing solo. I never felt like I was at a disadvantage for not having friends to play with.  

I love puzzle games, and Rooms of Reality has become one of my favorites. The puzzles are challenging and well-designed, and I appreciate all the work that went into creating the themes. If you’re looking for a puzzle game in what I consider one of the best VR experiences out there, do yourself a favor and pick up Rooms of Reality. 

You can pick up Rooms of Reality on Steam or the Meta store for $17.99. You can also try the demo on Steam if you need more convincing. 

video game reviews

The Foglands Review: the VR Roguelike That Fails to Deliver

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I was sent The Foglands as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, make sure you leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. You can also always buy me coffee.

The Foglands is a western-themed action roguelike VR game out now for the Meta Quest and PlayStation, and will be coming to Steam next year. 

A toxic gas now ravages the world, forcing the few remaining survivors to live underground. A brave few must brave the foglands and its dangers to run supplies for these settlements. You must go out on one of these missions, but can you make it back before the fog swallows you whole? 

This game is awful, don’t waste your time or money on it. It’s been a while since I’ve given up on a game, but The Foglands managed to break me. This game looks and feels generic and unfinished. While the concept and pitch are interesting, the execution lacks everything that would make this game playable. Levels are poorly designed, combat is slow and dull, and the game is broken and unplayable. I got to a point in the game where the game broke, and the only way to fix it was to start over. I didn’t have it in me. 

As far as VR games go, The Foglands is ugly and rushed. I don’t expect high-quality 4K graphics from a VR game on the Meta Quest 2, but I’ve played enough good-looking VR games to know when I am being cheated. Some assets were broken or missing, or walls that didn’t properly connect. This game is unstable, and I find it ridiculous that they charge $25 for something that clearly isn’t finished. 

I am not a snob. I could have excused the bugs and the ugliness if the game was fun and playable, but it isn’t. Players crawl the dungeon and fight monsters with pistols and improvised weapons like rocks or bottles until they die and do it all again. As they progress, they can unlock upgrades to make the runs easier. The problem with this loop is that combat is clunky and boring. There really is no reason to pick up this game when there are other games in this genre that do it better. 

The Foglands is a waste of time and money. It is clearly unfinished, and no amount of updates or added features is going to make it any more playable. You can pick it up now for the Meta Quest for $24.99 and PlayStation for $34.99, or wait for its release on Steam, but I wouldn’t bother. 

video game reviews

The 7th Guest VR is the greatest puzzle game you aren’t playing

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I was sent The 7th Guest for the Meta Quest 2 as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be my honest review. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. If you need any accessories for your VR headset like a high quality charging cable or prescription lenses, get them over at ZyberVR. Use Discount code CHURAPE for 15% off your purchase.

The 7th Guest is a mystery adventure game for the Quest 2, Steam VR, and PSVR2. Seven guests have been invited to a mysterious mansion to play a dangerous game run by a nefarious toy maker. Guests must spend the night exploring the creepy mansion, solving its puzzles, and unfolding its mysteries. But the games aren’t as innocent as they appear. There is a sinister secret lurking in the shadows. Can you figure out what it is?

If you enjoy puzzle games, The 7th Guest should be in your library. This game looks amazing! The sounds, the graphics, and the aesthetic all work perfectly together to create the appropriate ambiance for the mystery it houses. The cutscenes are beautifully implemented, with wonderful actors to bring the story to life. I would play this game just to watch the performances. I love the story and went out of my way to make sure I collected every piece of the mystery. You might be able to solve it pretty early on, but it won’t matter. 

The best part of this game is its puzzles. Each room in the mansion has a unique theme and set of puzzles. The themes are a lot of fun, and the puzzles get creative. Guests must clear the elaborate set of puzzles, and each solution uncovers uncomfortable secrets. There is a reason why the guests were gathered, and I had a lot of fun piecing together why. 

The gameplay loop feels a lot like the Saw movies, except without any of the gore. You play a special recording and make your way through puzzles. The puzzles are challenging but manageable. If you get stuck, the game lets you buy clues with the currency it hides around the house. I never ran out of coins for clues, but I never really felt the need to use them much. My only complaint is that some puzzles aren’t easy to find, at least not intuitively. There were a few puzzles I needed to buy a hint in order to find it. It isn’t a huge deal because you’ll finish the game with more currency than you need, but it is an issue worth mentioning.

I loved this game because I love puzzles. Each room I cleared left me feeling accomplished, and hungry for more. The game runs great, it looks amazing, and it has a fantastic story. If you like escape rooms, or are looking for a good puzzle game, The 7th Guest should be in your library. 

You can pick up The 7th Guest for the Quest 2, Steam VR, and PSVR2 for $29.99. It’s definitely worth it at that price. 

video game reviews

Dance Dash, a new unique VR rhythm game you play with your feet

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I was sent Dance Dash and the remote straps for the Meta Quest 2 to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review of the game. If you’ve been enjoying my reviews, make sure you like, comment, and share this with your friends. I’ve got a bunch of games lined up for future posts, so don’t forget to leave me a follow as well!

While you don’t necessarily need the straps to play Dance Dash, the experience is better with them. The straps are a solid build quality and are sturdy. They both held the Quest remotes snugly and securely to my feet without incident. It did take some time to become comfortable with having the controllers on my feet, but even at my wildest, there wasn’t much danger. That said, be careful when using these accessories and playing this game. I recommend you use shoes as instructed for added security. Playing barefoot didn’t allow enough clearance to between the sensors and the floor to play this game safely. 

The only real issue I had with the straps was when the game made me jump over obstacles. While the remotes were secured safely, there was always enough of a shift during the jumps to make me uncomfortable. Investing in dedicated feet trackers might be the optimal way to play this game, but I only recommend that route if this becomes the only game you daily drive. Otherwise, the straps (or something creative like it) will suffice. 

Dance Dash is a solidly built game. It runs fine for a rhythm game, but make sure you play in a well-lit room to ensure proper tracking. I also recommend turning off-hand tracking. I found that the game would often confuse the controls and stop tracking my feet. This would turn the game into a sort of drumming game which can also be fun with a bit of tweeking. The graphics are fun and good enough, the hands-free controls work well, and the mechanics left me breathing a little harder than Beat Saber. The music is fine, but you can always use the free Dance Dash Beatmap Editor to make and upload your own.

 

Dance Dash is fine if you are looking for a new rhythm game and don’t mind buying into the accessories. They aren’t required, but they make a difference. You can pick up Dance Dance for Steam VR for $19.99. You can also pick up the bundle with accessories for Meta Quest 2 ($29.99), Vive (49.99) and Valve Index ($29.99)

video game reviews

The Quirky Puzzle Game: A Knight in the Attic

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I was sent A Knight in the Attic as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be my honest review of the game.

A Knight in the Attic is a unique VR puzzle game designed for the Meta Quest. It is available on both the Meta Store and Steam VR. I played the Steam VR version.

King Arthur has gone missing, and it is up to Queen Guinevere to find him. Guide Guinevere through the many marble mazes and help her bring King Arthur back.

The game is cute, and the mechanics are creative. You can use the motion controls to move the board for a more immersive experience or use the sticks for a slightly easier one. I preferred the motion controls because it felt like a truer experience, but both are valid approaches with their own set of difficulties. If you do use the motion controls, make sure you are in a well-lit room otherwise the tracking will ruin your runs.

The Steam VR has a distinct bug that you should know about before purchasing. If you try to run A Knight in the Attic via the Virtual Desktop app on the Quest, the game won’t launch. You get a black screen and the game won’t load. You can only play this game through Quest Link. I also recommend you play with a wired connection. I have fast internet, but the wireless experience isn’t good enough for the type of puzzle game you are playing.

The most difficult part of this game is having the patience to move Guinevere through the maze. The puzzles aren’t necessarily hard, but it is easy to mess up, especially if you lose track. My ADHD made this game more difficult than it had to be.

This game isn’t bad. The art is cute, the mechanics are creative, and the music is fantastic. The problem with this game is that it fills a niche that won’t exist in most gamers. If you like relaxing puzzle games and have the patience for marble mazes, this game is fine. This is a great game for kids, especially young ones. It isn’t offensive, and the gameplay is engaging enough without being impossible. Starting this game isn’t very intuitive, so check the Steam comments if you get stuck. I don’t think it’s worth it because I couldn’t vibe with the gameplay, but $9.99 isn’t bad for something that will keep your kids busy for a couple of hours. 

You can buy this game directly on Meta or Steam. 

Images and gifs taken from the press kit

video game reviews

Pickleball One (Formerly Playin Pickleball), is one of the best VR sports game

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I was sent Playin Pickleball to review for my site. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be an honest review of the game. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. If you need any accessories for your VR headset like a high quality charging cable or prescription lenses, get them over at ZyberVR. Use Discount code CHURAPE for 15% off your purchase.

Playin Pickleball is a sports title you need to pick up if you like pickleball or are thinking about picking it up. This game is incredibly immersive. The 3D sound is realistic, and the physics are amazing. I did encounter a few visual bugs, but nothing that made the game unplayable. For the best experience, make sure you play in a well-lit room with lots of space.

While I spent most of my game time in single-player matches against bots, Playin Pickleball has online multiplayer. The bots in single-player are surprisingly competent. I suggest you play on the higher difficulties as soon as you learn the rules for the most realistic experience. While I was never able to beat the AI, I did see myself improving the more time I spent with the game. If you feel like you need practice, there are various practice modes to help you improve. You can also join the official Discord where the community holds beginner clinics for anyone who wants them. If you can’t make the clinic, it is easy to find someone willing to show you the ropes. 

If you are worried about this game’s skill ceiling, don’t be. I am not athletic, but I didn’t feel like I needed to be. Playing Pickleball has easy to adjust the settings so you can always play matches at your skill level. The game also does a fantastic job of showing you the fundamentals of the game. I have never played pickleball, but I felt like I picked up the rules quickly. There was enough freedom to learn at my own pace, and enough of a challenge to help me improve over time. I was never able to beat the AI, but I did get better. I almost feel confident enough to try my skills IRL.

The best part about this game is the official Discord. If you pick up this game, joining the Discord should be mandatory. The Discord is full of friendly people who love the game as much as you will. It is a great place to go if you want to find someone to play with. The online matchmaking is fine, but it is easier to find a match on Discord. I love that this game is community focused because a game needs a strong community. Playing against the AI is great, but the bots are soulless, and nothing beats playing against a friend, new or old. The discord is where you go to report bugs, make suggestions, make new friends, and join tournaments. There is always something going on, so make sure you give them a follow. Make sure you also follow the other socials:

If you are looking for a new game to add to your VR library, go pick up Playin Pickleball. The graphics are great, the experience is immersive, and there is a solid community waiting for you to join. This game is a lot of fun and well worth your investment. You can pick this up for the Meta Quest for $19.99. I know it says it is on Meta’s App Lab, but the game is done and polished. Pick up your copy today!

video game reviews

Game Review: Demeo

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If you have been enjoying my content and want to support what I do, please consider buying me a coffee

I was given Demeo at GDC to review for my blog. I would like to take the time to thank the Devs for taking the time to talk to me and answer all my questions. I am very grateful for the opportunity to try this game more thoroughly. That said, this will be an honest review of the game.

screenshots and video taken from the pc version

Demeo is a co-op dungeon crawler tabletop game that you can play on PC and VR. You choose from seven classes and move them through different themed dungeons to clear their objectives. Demeo has a minor deck-building mechanic. You use abilities, items, and spells by casting them from cards you buy, find, or earn throughout the dungeon. On each turn, each character has two actions. A character can move, attack, or use an ability. The goal of this game isn’t to clear the dungeon of its monsters but to complete the dungeon’s objectives. It is easy to get caught up fighting monsters only to be overrun by them when you take too long to clear a floor. There is strategy to this game, but it is manageable if you are thinking about your turns carefully. 

I love this game because it gives me the perfect board game experience without having to spend time on setup and cleanup. I came into this game already infatuated by the limited experience I got at GDC, but I wasn’t prepared for how dangerous this game was for my time. One more turn easily turned into hours later, so I had to make sure I at least ran my sessions with a timer.

The game runs and looks great. I love the different aesthetics of the adventures, and you can earn cosmetics by playing the game. I did try both the PC and VR versions of the game and have no preference. I love how immersive the VR version of the game is, but the PC version is a great alternative when I don’t want to put on the headset. There is cross-play between the versions, so you don’t need to buy a VR headset if you don’t need one.

The game is meant to be played with other players. You can team up with your friends, or play online with strangers. I keep the strangest gaming hours, so I wasn’t able to play with others. If you are like me and don’t have friends, the solo experience is fantastic. You can run dungeons with a single hero, or you can run them with four. I liked that I was able to try different characters at once. Both experiences felt vastly different, and they kept the game fresh. The difficulty of the dungeon scales was based on the number of characters in the party, but I felt the scaling was fair.

Demeo is a ton of fun and a must-buy if you like playing board games. The game is available on Steam, PlayStation, Pico, Meta Quest, and Epic Games for $39.99.

Make sure you follow them on Twitter to stay up to date on all the news.

video game reviews

Game Review: Broken Spectre

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I was sent Broken Spectre as a review code. I am very grateful for the opportunity, but I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Broken Spectre is an unreleased horror narrative for VR that uses hand tracking instead of the remotes. You play as Casey as she goes into the mountains to search for her father who went missing 25 years ago. But the truths she uncovers are a lot more sinister than expected. 

Taken from the Press Kit

I don’t do well with horror games, so this title took me longer to complete than usual. That said, Broken Spectre is a great horror story. The music, the 3D sound, and hand tracking work together to create the game’s ominous atmosphere. The deeper I got into the story I got, the harder it was to convince myself to keep going.

It is hard to talk about the narrative because I don’t want to ruin the ending, but it is a well-crafted narrative. All the clues you find, the visuals you see, and the bits of dialogue you hear all build to the games satisfying conclusion. I found it a bit short, but enjoyable. 

The use of hand tracking was a nice touch because it made the game feel a lot more immersive. If you do use hand tracking, make sure the room is well-lit. I felt that the controls were buggy in dim or low light.

The game was released in June 2023, but it felt pretty finished to me. I did break the game a few times, but I was able to work around it. If you like horror and visual novels, you should look into getting this game. It is available on the App Lap if you don’t want to wait.

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Pixel Ripped 1978, Possibly Your Next VR Purchase

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I am attending GDC this week, so my posting schedule will be a bit sporadic and more focused on gaming. I am very excited about the opportunity and will share everything I can. If you’d like to aid me on my adventure, please consider buying me a coffee

The first game I got to try out at GDC was Pixel Ripped 1978, a VR game that lets gamers relieve their Atari nostalgia through a quirky meta experience. You play as Dot as she works alongside her human counterpart Bug, a programmer at Atari. Together you work to perfect a game, but the evil Cyblin Lord has gone back in time to make sure he is the hero of your game. Can you stop him before it is too late?

Pixel Ripped 1978 is the third game of the series, but the developers assured me that 1978 will be a standalone story. There will be references to the previous games, but you won’t need to play them to understand what is going on. You should still go out and play them, and I am hoping to make some time to try them out before the game’s release this summer.

Images and gifs from press kit

Pixel Ripped attempts to capture the love of gaming by creating an homage to its different eras. With the Atari partnership, the developers were able to implement games from the Atari era without running into licensing issues. This love can be apparent when you look at the protagonist. Dot was inspired by the many heroes from the games the creator played growing up. Characteristics from characters like Princes Peach, Link, Samus, and Megan can be seen in Dot’s design. Ana Riberio, the creator, wanted to create a strong female character that was cool because there weren’t many back then. I think she was successful. Dot is a cool character with fun and interesting powers. You can shoot with your laser, hit things with randomly generated melee weapons, and build code that changes the game. Playing the demo left me wanting to see what else she has in store.  

Pixel Ripped 1978 is an interesting meta experience where you are playing a game about playing a game. In parts, you will pick up the controller and play a game on the classic Atari in a virtual world where deal with real-world distractions. While playing the Atari, people will come to ask you questions, try to talk to you, and just try to get your attention. There was a moment I had to move my head to see around the person blocking my TV. It was incredibly immersive, and I was easily distracted by the people walking around in the background. It creates this neat dynamic between an adventure puzzle game and a simulator.

The other feature of this game is that you get to go into the game world and play as Dot. You get to move through this beautifully stylized pixel world fighting enemies. The combat in this game was arcadey and fun. The world is vibrant and colorful, and enemies are beautifully nostalgic. It was very reminiscent of the Adventure Box event in Guild Wars 2, but here you get to be in it.

This game will release on the Oculus, Steam VR, and PSVR. I tried it on the PSVR, and it was spectacular. I almost want to buy a PS5 because I felt it to be a superior VR experience to my current Meta Quest 2. Everything looked great, there was a minimal light leak, and the tracking felt great. But this isn’t a review about that. 

Pixel Ripped 1978 is looking to be a fantastic dive into a nostalgic era that everyone can enjoy. The gameplay is fun, the tone is quirky, and it is a solid VR experience. Keep an eye out for news, or try out the previous two.

video game reviews

Spatial

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I am attending GDC this week, so my posting schedule will be a bit sporadic and more focused on gaming. I am very excited about the opportunity and will share everything I can. If you’d like to aid me on my adventure, please consider buying me a coffee

For you creatives out there that enjoy building virtual worlds in games like Minecraft, Spatial was just announced at GDC, and it might be worth looking into. Spatial gives you the tools to build virtual worlds and design games into them. If you don’t feel like building, you can treat it like any other avatar chat game.

Pictures taken from the press kit

I explored a few of the existing worlds on the official website through my web browser and was surprised at how smoothly everything ran. Although there aren’t many choices and the population is small, Spatial is looking like a solid project. The worlds looked great, loaded quickly, and ran smoothly. There is an in-game voice chat feature that sounds great, but there is text chat available if you prefer. I got to try a few of the player games as well. They were cute, but simple in design which is fine for what this is. I imagine that as this game gets bigger, features will become more complex. 

Anyone can create a world on Spatial as long as they have a creator kit (available on the official site) and some basic knowledge of Unity3D. Here is a basic tutorial to help you get started, but you can also find the link on the official Spatial website. If you like building worlds or need a new virtual space to hang out with your friends, you might want to try it out.

One thing to note is that this game seems to be trying to be like twitch. The game lets you go live with your world, and people can join and watch your world. There were a few worlds that were live and had viewers already, so there might be a market for the feature. What bothers me is that this game does have some monetization. I couldn’t find too much information on what this means, but there seem to be ways for players to earn money with their worlds. I can respect developers trying to make money, but I just hope it doesn’t mean having to watch ads in video games. While there is nothing that indicates that this company is shady, just be smart with what you click anywhere on the internet. 

Spatial is still a young and growing community. It is going to need a lot of players to take full advantage of everything it is trying to implement. If this is the type of game that appeals to you, go check this game out. Spatial is available on web browsers, the Meta Quest, Android, and IOS devices. It’s free to try, and you don’t even need an account. 

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