There’s a new VR escape room experience on the horizon. Game development studio PlaySys is taking the lessons learned from developing puzzle game qb and walking simulator Abyssus into their third creation: Fade Out. It’s built for the HTC Vive and will challenge players to find all of the clues and solve the puzzles when it launches on May 21.
Fade Out is an experiment for PlaySys on multiple levels. It’s the studio’s first attempt at an escape room game and it is their first game for one of the more powerful VR HMDs. PlaySys launched their previous games on Gear VR, Pico Golbin, and Oculus Go, so they have leaped to a much higher tier of power and capability with the HTC Vive.
PlaySys has designed Fade Out for 3x3m rooms and it uses 6DoF movement so players can search spaces top to bottom for various objects and details. It’s a violence-free experience: No zombies, monsters, or blood of any kind. Thus, users seeking something calmer or more experienced VR players that are interested in games to ease new players into could find some value in Fade Out. The team states that the puzzles are designed for players of every age, as well.
Even without violence, you can see in the game’s trailer that there still seems to be some suspense. There are a lot of objects to interact with and there’s foreboding lighting as you attempt to solve all of Fade Out’s riddles. This will be an interesting test to see if PlaySys has what it takes to take the more advanced capabilities of the HTC Vive and develop a memorable experience.
The virtual reality escape room game Fade Out will be available on May 21 via Steam for HTC Vive and is playable in standing or room-scale. The team suggests that players who want to play in a seated position can do so using the game’s teleport function.
