Arcsmith, the new VR puzzler from Thomas Was Alone developer Bithell Games, is now available on Oculus Quest.
The game was announced a month ago, and will blend storytelling and puzzles together in a sci-fi setting. You’ll be solving engineering puzzles that involve assembling machines, like radio and drones, and connecting their circuitry.
To celebrate the release, the Oculus blog posted an interview with Game Director Nic Tringali talking about the development process and the goals the studio had in mind for the game. From the sound of it, the puzzles in Arcsmith won’t just have one solution. “Our starting point was wanting to do this kind of open-ended puzzle game, where the game gives you a goal but how you solve it is up to you.”
Tringali went on to cite Kerbal Space Program and Opus Magnum as big influences for the style of puzzles in Arcsmith, but said that “aesthetically it’s a blend of classic sci-fi films” and the cartoon-y look of the Disney cult classic animated film Treasure Planet.
In terms of storytelling, a lot of effort was put into the environments and animation as a form of immersive storytelling. “From the animation side as well, VR is much closer to sitting in a theater than watching something on a screen, so the animation had a lot of considerations around the player’s location and sight lines, which is a lot different from placing a camera in an environment.”
You can read the full interview with Tringali over on the Oculus blog. Arcsmith is available now for Oculus Quest for $24.99. We’ll have a full review of the game later today.
