### E3 2016: Tom Marks of PC Gamer Explores Innovative VR Games at IndieCade Booth
Tom Marks from *PC Gamer* visited the IndieCade booth at E3 2016 and had the opportunity to play a variety of exciting VR games. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the standout titles he experienced, offering insights into their gameplay mechanics, features, and impressions.
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#### **Raw Data: A Co-op Shooting Experience**
One of the first games Tom played was *Raw Data*, a co-op shooter that marked his first experience with a VR multiplayer game. The game involves players standing back-to-back, defending themselves from waves of robots. While Tom found the gameplay impressive, he did mention a minor issue with the Vive cord in a circular room, which led to some accidental wrapping around. Despite this, he praised the game’s mechanics, particularly the ability to deflect bullets using a sword, even going so far as to protect his teammate from incoming fire.
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#### **Floorplan: Puzzle-Adventure Game**
Next up was *Floorplan*, a puzzle-adventure game already available on the Oculus Store. The game tasks players with navigating between different floors via an elevator, where each floor presents unique challenges that interact with one another. Tom drew a comparison to Monkey Island-style puzzles, recalling how tools like shovels were essential for progressing through the game. While he found the concept intriguing, he acknowledged that the demo was somewhat sparse but still enjoyable.
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#### **Irrational Exuberance: A Strange Space Experience**
Tom also tried *Irrational Exuberance*, a mysterious VR experience set in space. Players find themselves amidst asteroids and must interact with their surroundings. The game starts within an asteroid, and while Tom wasn’t sure what the full version would entail, he was left impressed by the sheer scale and immersion of being in outer space. The developer mentioned that more content is in store for the demo, which adds to the excitement surrounding its potential.
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#### **Abduction: VR Puzzle Game from Cyan**
Another highlight was *Abduction*, a first-person puzzle game created by Cyan, the team behind *Myst*. Tom expressed his enthusiasm for the game’s classic node-to-node movement style, which he found to work exceptionally well in VR. The misty, ethereal visuals and gameplay mechanics reminded him of the iconic *Myst* series. He even shared that *PC Gamer* has a longer interview with Rand Miller, the creator of *Myst*, available on their YouTube channel and website.
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#### **Mayor: No-Button, Controller-Free Gameplay**
One of the most unique experiences Tom played was *Mayor*. This game puts players in control of a robotic eagle falcon without any buttons or controllers. Players navigate by simply looking at specific posts for an extended period, causing the character to fly there. The objective is to guide a little girl through a shadowy, maze-like environment reminiscent of *Shadow of the Colossus*. Tom appreciated the balance between puzzle-solving and scenic exploration, though he admitted that it left him eager for more.
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#### **IndieCade’s VR Showcase**
While Tom was impressed by many of the games, he noted that none of them quite reached the level where he felt ready to play a full release. However, he praised the IndieCade booth for showcasing a wide array of innovative VR experiences, far beyond just *Project Morpheus* at Sony’s booth or Oculus’ offerings in another hall.
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#### **Conclusion**
Tom Marks’ experience at the IndieCade booth highlights the diverse and creative ways VR is being utilized in gaming. From co-op shooters to puzzle-adventure games and unique controller-free experiences, E3 2016 demonstrated that VR has the potential to offer a wide variety of engaging and immersive gameplay. As *PC Gamer* continues to cover these emerging titles, fans can look forward to more in-depth reviews and interviews with developers like Rand Miller.
Stay tuned for more updates from E3 as Tom Marks and the *PC Gamer* team bring you behind-the-scenes insights and coverage of all the latest gaming news!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody tom marks with PC gamer here at the IndieCade booth at e3 2016 I got a chance to play a ton of really cool VR games here and in DB our games are just they're really impressing me right now one of the first ones I saw was a game called raw data which was the first time I've actually done a a co-op shooter with envy are you kind of standing back-to-back with your your friend or whoever you're playing with shooting robots they're coming at you in waves it was it was pretty cool it was the first time I've had something like that a little bit of problems with a circular room and kind of wrapping myself up in the vive cord but otherwise it was cool because you could deflect bullets with a sword so I was actually blocking in front of somebody else with you know protecting them from bullets coming in another one I played which is actually already out on the oculus store is called floorplan it was sort of like a puzzle the adventure game where you're going between different floors on an elevator each floor is this different thing they affect each other it reminded me in a weird way of like Monkey Island style puzzles where you would get a shovel and then you'd have to find where you use that shovel elsewhere then the shovel would break and how do you use that next I I thought it was pretty neat one of the experiences that I played was a game called irrational exuberance it was very strange this kind of you're in space and there's asteroids around you can knock these things and you actually start in this asteroid thing it's I'm not sure what the full game is gonna be like but it was very very cool like just being in in space and having comments jet by you was very very interesting the developer tells me that there's more to that game that they're not putting in the demo which I am I would expect it was a little sparse what I played but you know we're on a show floor I also got a chance to play abduction in VR on the oculus rift and I was really excited about that that's the first person and puzzle game coming out from the creators of Myst being made by cyan it's gonna come out next month I believe we actually have a longer interview with Rand Miller the creator of Man at our YouTube channel that you can go check out or at PC gamer dot-com slash abduction I it really was amazing how well it worked in VR that kind of mist movement style the classic just node to node movement style works so so well in VR that I'm I want to play that game that way it's really exciting probably the coolest oculus rift game I played here was a game called mayor where you're this sort of robotic Eagle Falcon thing and you it's no buttons the game doesn't have a controller or anything and there are these different sort of posts and if you look at a post or long enough you fly to that post and you're you have to sort of lead this little girl through this kind of shadow of the colossus ii world it was really pretty it was a really really nice mix of puzzle game and pretty VR experience because you have lots of time to just sort of look around enjoy the scenery but then you were trying to get this girl essentially through a maze I'm really looking forward to playing that one more but it's one of those things where I I hope these games that I'm playing are big the experiences because I didn't play anything at the indie booth where it really felt like oh man this is a big bull game I'm ready to play so the indie booth hasn't been able to solve that problem for me with VR but it was a lot of really really cool stuff at RIT to see VR represented here at e3 and more than just project Morpheus at the Sony booth or the oculus booth in the other hall across the way so stay tuned a PC gamer come for more from e3hey everybody tom marks with PC gamer here at the IndieCade booth at e3 2016 I got a chance to play a ton of really cool VR games here and in DB our games are just they're really impressing me right now one of the first ones I saw was a game called raw data which was the first time I've actually done a a co-op shooter with envy are you kind of standing back-to-back with your your friend or whoever you're playing with shooting robots they're coming at you in waves it was it was pretty cool it was the first time I've had something like that a little bit of problems with a circular room and kind of wrapping myself up in the vive cord but otherwise it was cool because you could deflect bullets with a sword so I was actually blocking in front of somebody else with you know protecting them from bullets coming in another one I played which is actually already out on the oculus store is called floorplan it was sort of like a puzzle the adventure game where you're going between different floors on an elevator each floor is this different thing they affect each other it reminded me in a weird way of like Monkey Island style puzzles where you would get a shovel and then you'd have to find where you use that shovel elsewhere then the shovel would break and how do you use that next I I thought it was pretty neat one of the experiences that I played was a game called irrational exuberance it was very strange this kind of you're in space and there's asteroids around you can knock these things and you actually start in this asteroid thing it's I'm not sure what the full game is gonna be like but it was very very cool like just being in in space and having comments jet by you was very very interesting the developer tells me that there's more to that game that they're not putting in the demo which I am I would expect it was a little sparse what I played but you know we're on a show floor I also got a chance to play abduction in VR on the oculus rift and I was really excited about that that's the first person and puzzle game coming out from the creators of Myst being made by cyan it's gonna come out next month I believe we actually have a longer interview with Rand Miller the creator of Man at our YouTube channel that you can go check out or at PC gamer dot-com slash abduction I it really was amazing how well it worked in VR that kind of mist movement style the classic just node to node movement style works so so well in VR that I'm I want to play that game that way it's really exciting probably the coolest oculus rift game I played here was a game called mayor where you're this sort of robotic Eagle Falcon thing and you it's no buttons the game doesn't have a controller or anything and there are these different sort of posts and if you look at a post or long enough you fly to that post and you're you have to sort of lead this little girl through this kind of shadow of the colossus ii world it was really pretty it was a really really nice mix of puzzle game and pretty VR experience because you have lots of time to just sort of look around enjoy the scenery but then you were trying to get this girl essentially through a maze I'm really looking forward to playing that one more but it's one of those things where I I hope these games that I'm playing are big the experiences because I didn't play anything at the indie booth where it really felt like oh man this is a big bull game I'm ready to play so the indie booth hasn't been able to solve that problem for me with VR but it was a lot of really really cool stuff at RIT to see VR represented here at e3 and more than just project Morpheus at the Sony booth or the oculus booth in the other hall across the way so stay tuned a PC gamer come for more from e3\n"
