As a child, I would go to a place nearby and play console games. I was, in fact, so desperate to play these games that I would often barter with the the staff to get play time in exchange of bags of apples from the trees growing in my family’s garden. While I had a console at home and would, much to my mother’s chagrin, often spend late evenings playing with my stepfather, it wasn’t quite the same as playing with kids my age. There weren’t any arcades in my home country when I was growing up, but console gaming was a new and still rare technology that could allow any kid to share an experience with their friends. The back ally garage with big TVs pushed into the walls was where my friends and I would play to our heart’s delight, all for the cost of a bushel of apples.
It wasn’t until my several years later, on a trip to the seaside, where I entered my first arcade. As a tween, it was admittedly something amazing, playing games I had only heard of, but compared to my console days, the arcade was dead and I played alone.
The world has changed quite a bit in the nearly two decades since that arcade trip. The internet connects most of the world and we have a new technology that excites me just as much as the Nintendo and Sony consoles of my childhood did. It’s virtual reality, and I am fortunate to work at VRPlayin, a place that delivers the excitement of VR to people every day.
We here at VRPlayin like to call ourselves a “virtual reality experience center”. While we can debate terminology, we believe that using the word “arcade”, what we’d call those old, drab, quarter sucking rooms, is too narrow for what virtual reality and VRPlayin offers. And if you don’t believe me, let me dive deeper into our content and highlight just how we can awaken the child inside of you.
Right now, if you go on our games page, you will see we have quite a few multiplayer experiences. Like most things you do with others, these titles can help teams bond and friendships deepen, each in their own unique way, appealing to different tastes.
- Arizona Sunshine – With its 2 player story mode, it is excellent for building deep bonds. It takes hours to complete the story mode, but it also has a 4 player survival mode in 3 distinct environments, all with their own challenges for a team. Communication and Resource Management, both as an individual and as a group, are paramount to surviving the waves of the ravenous dead.
- Smashbox Arena – A simple Dodge-Ball inspired game, Smashbox is built around 3v3 competitive play with short, fast-paced rounds. It is excellent for first-time users and blends cooperation and competition well. The teams are selected by players at the start of each game and players “taken out” have a bird’s eye view that allows them to communicate the location of their opponents to their team.
- Run of Mydan – A personal favorite where you fly around the map, this title truly shines in Domination mode, where 2 teams of 5 players fight for control over 4 points scattered across the map. No team is capable of holding all 4 points indefinitely, so victory is achieved by the team with better communication as choosing targets and flexibility are important aspects of this experience.
- Rec Room – In a world of its own, the Wii Sports of VR, this title has everything from Paintball, to Dodgeball, to Charades, and the recently introduced Laser Tag. But “sports” are not where Rec Room truly shines. It shines through an extremely punishing and equally rewarding Quest “activity”. The quests are focused around 4 player co-op, where they progress through a series of levels in the hopes of achieving victory. No other experience in our catalog is as reliant on communication and collaboration as the quests in Rec Room.
- QuiVR – Is one of those experiences that is extremely easy to learn due to the natural feel behind it. The objective is simple, a team of 4 brave defenders stand on the cliffs and rain down arrows on the not-so-defenceless creatures coming to destroy your keep. An infinite game that starts slow and asks for better communication and collaboration with each level.
- Trickster – Allows you to form a party with 3 other adventures to help save a world broken by magic (literally). As you stand at the crossroads of several realms you must arm yourself with Sword and Shield to defend the squishy archers who in turn will provide long range support. Go forth into the 4 realms and defeat the orcish threat. Or, defend against their attack on your own floating island.
- MasterpieceVR – A creative tool designed for 3D model makers that is simple enough children have used it. Allowing up to 20 users to collaborate, this tool is excellent at driving communication (and assessing each other’s artistic skill). As our staff can help provide reference images, teams can work together to make amazing things. The work can be saved by creators, allowing 3D printing of their creations.
- Hover Junkers – Set in a bleak future, this title allows players to zoom across a variety of landscapes on hovercraft, hunting for each other in an 8 player deathmatch mode. It also permits two players to stand on a single craft, having to work together to ensure that they best the other teams. By assigning roles and forcing communication, Hoverjunkers is great at getting groups of 2 to work together while also being part of a larger team.
- Cowbots and Aliens – A fun experience that does not take itself too seriously, this title will take you to the wild west in an all out bar fight. Go at it as individuals and laugh as you flip tables on each other, or group up in teams of 4 and smuggle gold out of the other team’s reach, all the while protecting your own stash.
- Cloudlands Minigolf – Cloudlands takes you to a relaxing environment with 3 other friends to play minigolf with a twist. Set in a virtual world, the courses can have a mind of their own with obstacles impossible in the real world. There is ample time to socialize as each player takes their time with their shots, and everyone needs to wait for everyone else to finish before proceeding.
- Sprint Vector – An excellent way to release some steam at the end of a long day. Racing has been an avoided model in virtual reality, but due to the unique mechanics of Sprint Vector, the title manages to trick the brain into thinking it is actually running. This title is particularly fun with an audience around to cheer their friends or colleagues onwards to victory.
- ModBox – This title permits you to create worlds and play in them. It is among our most complex experiences when it comes to what you can make, but luckily you don’t have to make anything — the existing community keeps making new and interesting worlds for everyone to explore. A group of 5 people can make their own rules or play by someone else’s.
- Sairento – Most people wanted to be a ninja at some point in their life and this experience offers you just that. With an incredible variety of weapons and interactions, Sairento is an excellent example of what you can do with VR. It is a more intense title where teamwork ensures that no one gets overrun by enemies, while everyone is enjoying the challenge.
- Tales of Escape – This title sends up to 6 players in a variety of expansive environments, all with complex puzzles that must be solved before the time runs out. Teamwork and brainstorming are crucial as time goes by and challenges come in a variety of forms. Teamwork will also ensure that you never need to use any of the hints.
- Skyfront – A fun multiplayer shooter that many have compared the art style to that of Overwatch and the guns to the more classic Quake games. Skyfront puts you and your team in large open space worlds where you fly around in intense TvT combat, or a chaotic 10 player free for all mode, in a constant competition for the most kills/team or player.
If this excites you and you have some friends or colleagues that you think would be interested in this new, fun technology – come to VRPlayin for a free 30-min demo and tour where we can show you everything we have to offer to make your event a success!
In future posts we’ll go further in-depth on each title but for now I hope this overview gives you a better sense of what we at VRPlayin have in store for your next visit, whether that be your first time playing with us or you’ve visited us many times already. Also, check out our other blog post specified to the unique team building services VRPlayin has to offer for your next event here.
Thanks for reading and we hope to see you in the future!
