''Fantastic Contraption'' is a

room scale Room-scale (sometimes written without the dash) is a design paradigm for virtual reality (VR) experiences which allows users to freely walk around a play area, with their real-life motion reflected in the VR environment. Using 360 degree tracking eq ...

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

for the

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...

and

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...

in which players construct machines from building materials to meet challenges. It was released at the HTC Vive's launch on April 5, 2016 and was released for PlayStation VR in July 2017.

Gameplay

''Fantastic Contraption'' is a puzzle game in which players use the motion controls to construct machines from building materials in order to meet challenges. Using basic components such as beams and wheels, players can design a machine from scratch to suit the needs of the puzzle. Many puzzles require the machine to move across the environment; the player cannot steer the machine after they have completed it, so navigation needs must be built into the design of the machine.

Development

The game was co-developed by Radial Games and Northway Games. The developers helped lead a lot of the early thinking around UX and design in modern VR, including how to capture traditional UI elements, such as menus, saving and loading games, sharing content, et cetera, when a flat-screen menu is not an option. As an example, the team used a virtual helmet to help the player transition from the play space to the "menu world" in which the player could share creations and adjust in-game settings. Much of the team's work centred on how VR is unique when compared to flat games, including developing and sharing design and industry best practices for VR. The team is also well known for pioneering the first mixed-reality trailers to help portray the experience of VR without requiring one be in VR at the time. This approach was used extensively in th
Fantastic Contraption trailer
''Fantastic Contraption'' was released as a bundled launch title with the HTC Vive's launch on April 5, 2016 and is scheduled to release for

in 2017.Stephen Gray
VR Puzzle Game Fantastic Contraption Coming to PS4
playstation.com, December 15, 2016. ''Fantastic Contraption'' was originally released in 2008 as a 2D,

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

Flash game before it was rebuilt for virtual reality.

Reception

The ''Gizmodo'' Australia reviewer wrote that ''Fantastic Contraption'' was easily his favorite launch title, as he found none of the other titles interesting. ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' wrote that the development team's "mixed reality"

video stream Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

(which shows the player within the virtual reality environment) made the medium "social".

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Video games 2016 video games HTC Vive games Northway Games games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation VR games Puzzle video games Radial Games games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games