Metanaut, the developer behind early VR experience MSI Electric City (2016), is releasing its first bonafide game today in Early Access, the very Rube Goldberg-inspired gadget game Gadgeteer.
Gadgeteer is a physics-based VR puzzle game that tasks players with building massive (and silly) machines to solve complex puzzles with a wide variety of parts.
You’ll set up chain reactions using dominoes of different sizes, build tracks to guide marbles, and launch them with catapults to bridge the gaps around the very unassuming apartment space.
In story mode, which includes 60 physics puzzles, you build away in hopes of uncovering the mystery behind the disappearance of a brilliant mad scientist and her daughter. There’s also set to be a sandbox mode that will let you build your wild machines unrestricted using the game’s three toolheads, letting you create, edit, and destroy pieces easily. Of course, there’s also a handy ‘undo’ button too.
The game is said to officially support HTC Vive at its Early Access launch today, however the developers are eyeing more platforms including Rift, Index, and Quest in the future. Technically, the game can work with many PC VR headsets thanks to OpenVR’s broad support, however the developers say the controls were specifically designed for Vive controllers for now.
Metanaut says on the game’s Steam page they intend to release the full game in roughly eight months, or right around holiday season.
