We’ve seen plenty of VR escape rooms in the past few years. They usually offer mind-bending puzzles that take you hours to solve. The Goodbye Room, however, promises something a little different.
This new VR adventure from developer Fire Mammoth is an ‘escape room with feelings’. At least that’s the phrase the studio’s Max Ellinger uses to describe it. The Goodbye Room is all about processing a past relationship. The player is locked inside a room with their ex-boyfriend and must relive memories and experiences to help tackle their grief. Inspired by the likes of Life is Strange and Gone Home, Ellinger and co want to tackle a subject not often covered in gaming, let alone VR.
To do this, the game will use a mix of full VR content, volumetric capture and 3D, 360 video. You revisit key moments in the character’s relationship and try to un-do what’s already done. For Ellinger, it’s a deeply personal project that calls back to his own traumatic experiences. Playing Gone Home, a game which also features relationship struggles at its core, allowed him to properly process his grief. Now, Ellinger wants to make a game that might help others, too.
“It’s the tender and queer game I wish I had when I was younger,” Ellinger says in an introduction video.
To help bring the game to life, Ellinger is turning to Kickstarter. He wants to raise $13,500 by February 15th and is currently around the $2,000 mark.
Interested? You can pledge $15 to secure a digital copy of the game. Ellinger estimates a December 2019 release with optional support for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Backer rewards stretch all the way up to $5,000, which will net you an executive producer credit.
