Despite the wide variety of virtual reality games available today, most games follow the same mechanics. Sometimes a study emerges that tries to offer a different approach. A good example is Realities.io Inc and its game Puzzling Places, which aims to combine zen calm with the well-known simplicity of puzzle-solving.
Puzzling Places has no narrative elements, the game starts bluntly from the menu. It is a simple list of three-dimensional puzzles. The list includes world-famous buildings and locations that you are free to choose from.
The game follows a simple idea. The building selected by the player falls apart and has to be rebuilt like a puzzle. Pieces can be rotated endlessly with virtual hands, and when two pieces match and snap together in the correct order, they lock. Next to the pieces are images of the building from different angles around the player. These images will help to better understand the target from any perspective and make the puzzle easier to solve.
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All puzzles are accompanied by adjacent environmental pieces that add a little extra challenge to assembling the puzzle. Some examples are cliffs, roads with cars, or other nearby buildings. Occasionally, the player must also build the interior of the building, which deepens puzzle-solving. You can make the game more challenging by increasing the number of building blocks. The minimum number of pieces for the puzzle is 25 and it takes about 10 minutes to solve, but the number of pieces can be up to a thousand. If you’re up for it, the game offers a real challenge.
The virtual hands controlled by the Sense Controllers in PS VR2 for PS5 follow commands precisely, making control a breeze. The game supports headset eye tracking, making it easier to pick the right puzzle piece, even from a distance.
Puzzling Places offers a relaxed atmosphere. The backgrounds are soft, but the light colors make the menu, building blocks, and area images stand out, but keep the atmosphere calm. The menu’s distinctive design looks a little shabby, but it does the job. PS VR2’s in-game refresh rate is very fast and consistent, so gamers won’t experience eye strain or motion sickness even during long gaming sessions.
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The game tries to convey meditative calm and manages to create a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere with subtle sounds. As the puzzle is assembled, the soft knocking sounds and vibrations perfectly round off the warm and soothing feel of the game. Background noise is also tuned to the calm target, sounds such as sea waves, quiet traffic noise or birdsong are added. The relaxing music consists of few notes and creates a relaxing feeling that perfectly complements the calm solving of puzzles.
Puzzling Places successfully implements his idea. The clean look and calm atmosphere make solving puzzles easy and controlling the elegant game pieces makes time pass easily. Once the 26 puzzles of the main game are completed, there are additional theme packs that can be easily purchased from the menu at great prices. The game is a good example of how virtual reality can be used to see a classic idea in a new light. I recommend you try it.
