Virtual Virtual Reality
More actions
| Virtual Virtual Reality | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Tender Claws |
| Publisher | Tender Claws |
| Platform | Daydream, Oculus Rift (Platform), SteamVR, PlayStation VR, Meta Quest |
| Device | Daydream View, Lenovo Mirage Solo, Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR |
| Operating System | Android, Windows, PlayStation 4 |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Adventure, Comedy |
| Input Device | Daydream Controller, Tracked Motion Controllers, PlayStation Move, Gamepad |
| Game Mode | Single-player |
| Release Date | March 2017 (Daydream); May 2018 (Oculus Go, Gear VR); June 2018 (Oculus Rift); September 7, 2018 (Steam); May 21, 2019 (Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR) |
| Price | US$14.99 (Steam); US$19.99 (PlayStation Store) |
| App Store | Google Play, Oculus Store (now Meta Horizon Store), Steam, PlayStation Store |
| Website | https://tenderclaws.com/vvr |
Virtual Virtual Reality (often shortened to VVR) is a comedic narrative virtual reality adventure game developed and published by Tender Claws, the art and games studio led by Samantha Gorman and Danny Cannizzaro.[1][2] The player works for Activitude, a "Virtual Labor System" in which humans provide companionship and services to artificial intelligence clients, and moves between nested worlds by putting on VR headsets inside VR.[3][4]
The game launched in March 2017 for Google's Daydream mobile VR platform and won Best VR Experience at the 2017 Google Play Awards.[4][5][6] Tender Claws later brought it to Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive through Steam, Oculus Quest and PlayStation VR.[7][8][9] A sequel, Virtual Virtual Reality 2, was released in 2022.[10]
Gameplay
The game is set in a near future in which most jobs have been automated. Activitude's pitch to the player is that "your artisanal human companionship is still highly sought by our A.I. clients."[4] Vice described the setting as the year 2025.[2] Early in the game the player carries out jobs for eccentric clients and reports back to Chaz, a robotic manager.[5] UploadVR's review named some of the clients: a croaky-voiced pinwheel, a short-tempered slab of sentient butter and a rambling sailboat.[11]
The central mechanic is putting on and taking off virtual headsets to jump between nested virtual realities.[4][2] The player escapes "backstage" into Activitude's system through these headsets while Chaz tries to boot them out "PERMANENTLY", and along the way learns how Activitude grew from a VR start-up into a "human purpose aggregator".[3] The store description also mentions the "Activitude Brand Poly Cleanup Tool", which vacuums up the surrounding world.[12] In the second half, according to Vice, the player travels through parodies of VR start-ups that together form Activitude.[2]
Road to VR reported in 2017 that the game had more than 50 "virtual virtual realities" and, according to the developer, more than two hours of play.[4] The later Google Play listing advertised "50+ explorable virtual virtual realities" and "3+ hours of unique gameplay".[12] UploadVR's 2019 review estimated the length at roughly two hours.[11]
Controls
On Daydream the game uses the Daydream Controller for interaction and locomotion.[4] In a February 2018 Road to VR post for his Voices of VR podcast interview with Gorman and Cannizzaro, recorded at VRLA in April 2017, Kent Bye wrote that the studio made the most of the limited 3DoF Daydream controller by using "interactive leashes".[13] Road to VR later wrote that the interaction design worked on both 3DoF and 6DoF headsets.[14] The game's Google Play listing, last updated in May 2018, advertised new gameplay elements using Google's WorldSense tracking, optimized for the Lenovo Mirage Solo standalone headset.[12] On PC the Steam version supports tracked controllers and is VR-only.[15] The PlayStation VR version requires the PlayStation Camera and supports the DualShock 4 or up to two PlayStation Move controllers.[16]
Development
Tender Claws described itself in 2017 as "a collective/studio operating at the intersection of art, games and tech"; its earlier work was the iOS app Pry.[4] The studio said Virtual Virtual Reality "directly responds to contemporary issues and debates around how the advancement of A.I. and VR are shaping our society and the way we work: gig economy, virtual labor, outsourcing."[4]
Vice quoted the pair describing the game as "a comedy satire about VR in VR that addresses AI and other assorted sci-fi fever dreams of the future." Gorman said: "We envisioned a future in which the only utility left for humans was emotional labor/entertainment for AI: fetishized artisanal human labor."[2] Vice reported that Gorman had worked in a VR lab from 2002 to 2010. It named Portal, The Stanley Parable, Charles Stross's Accelerando, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Being John Malkovich and 2001: A Space Odyssey among the game's influences. The same article said the game was picked up, developed and released by Google's Daydream platform.[2] Bye also wrote that Tender Claws used AI techniques for content generation within the experience.[13]
The creators later described Virtual Virtual Reality as the first of three VR and AR works about the medium itself. The second was the phone-based AR pet game Tendar and the third Virtual Virtual Reality 2.[17]
Release
Virtual Virtual Reality launched on Daydream in March 2017. Road to VR listed its price at the time as $9.[4][5] In May 2018 it came to Gear VR and to Oculus Go in time for that headset's launch.[7] In June 2018 an enhanced version arrived on the Rift for $20, while the mobile versions cost $10.[18] The Steam release, with HTC Vive support, followed on 7 September 2018.[15][8] The game was part of the Oculus Quest launch lineup on 21 May 2019, and the PlayStation VR version was released the same day.[19][9][16]
| Platform | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Daydream | March 2017 | Original release; later updated with WorldSense support for the Lenovo Mirage Solo[4][12] |
| Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR | May 2018 | Mobile versions priced at $10 in June 2018[7][18] |
| Oculus Rift | June 2018 | Enhanced version, $20 at launch[18] |
| Steam (HTC Vive and other PC VR headsets) | 7 September 2018 | US$14.99 on Steam as of October 2026[15] |
| Oculus Quest | 21 May 2019 | Quest launch title[19][9] |
| PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4) | 21 May 2019 | US$19.99; also playable on PlayStation 5[16][9] |
The Steam version supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Simplified and Traditional Chinese, with full audio in English.[15]
Reception
In April 2017 Road to VR reported that the game had a user rating of 4.8 out of 5 on the Play Store.[4] In May 2017 Google named it the winner of Best VR Experience at the 2017 Google Play Awards; Google described the category as "Highly engaging and immersive experience with optimal use of Daydream UI."[6] Tender Claws' Google Play listing also cites a Unity Awards finalist nomination for "Best VR Game", a Raindance award for "Best Mobile Interactive VR Experience" and an IMGA Awards "Best VR Game" award.[12]
UploadVR reviewed the game in May 2019, before its Quest launch, and rated it "Essential", calling it "an early VR gem". The review praised the characters and interactive environments, but found that progression could be obscure and that players could get stuck in loops after missing small details.[11] In 2018 Road to VR called it "a unique narrative adventure and easily one of the most immersive games available on mobile VR headsets."[8] By February 2022 the game had more than 1,400 reviews on the Oculus Quest store, according to UploadVR.[17] As of October 2026, Steam shows a "Very Positive" rating from 667 user reviews.[15]
Virtual Virtual Reality 2
Virtual Virtual Reality 2 (VVR2) is the sequel, also developed and published by Tender Claws.[20] The studio describes it as a "darkly funny dystopian mech platformer game" set a few years after the reset of Activitude at the end of the first game. The player arrives in Scottsdale, a "peaceful retirement metaverse" where humans and AIs have uploaded their consciousness. When Scottsdale's venture funding is pulled and its servers start shutting down, the player must escape the deletion and return to the physical world.[14] Most of the game takes place inside Chaz, now a mech that the player pilots from a cockpit. Later the player unlocks mech hands, which let them step out and explore in room-scale.[21] According to UploadVR, work on the sequel began when the original was finished, its script runs to more than 600 pages and a playthrough can last more than 10 hours.[17]
Meta opened pre-orders on 3 February 2022 at US$29.99, with release on Quest 2 and Rift set for 10 February 2022.[22][14] A SteamVR release was initially announced for 17 February 2022, but the game arrived on Steam on 25 October 2022.[14][20] Road to VR held back its launch review because of bugs such as stuck states, overlapping or missing dialogue, failed scripted events and crashes after suspending the headset, although it called the sequel "a one-of-a-kind VR game".[10] UploadVR's full review, published after a patch, praised its comfortable mech controls and large environments but reported lingering bugs, audio problems and confusing level design. It concluded that the game "can be beautifully idealistic and a crumbling mess."[21]
References
- ↑ "About". Tender Claws. https://tenderclaws.com/about. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 J.H. Fearless (2017-04-05). "Distract Yourself in Virtual Reality with a Meta Virtual Reality Game About Virtual Reality". Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/meta-virtual-reality-game-about-virtual-reality/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Virtual Virtual Reality". Tender Claws. https://tenderclaws.com/vvr. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Ben Lang (2017-04-01). "'Virtual Virtual Reality' on Google Daydream Plays on Popular Anxieties of the Near Future". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-google-daydream-plays-popular-anxieties-near-future/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Luke Buckmaster (2025-02-27). "Virtual Virtual Reality review: spiraling madcap realities". The VR Critic. https://www.thevrcritic.com/reviews/virtual-virtual-reality/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Purnima Kochikar (2017-05-19). "The winners of the 2017 Google Play Awards are ...". The Keyword. Google. https://www.blog.google/products/google-play/winners-2017-google-play-awards-are/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Jamie Feltham (2018-06-06). "The Sublime Virtual Virtual Reality Finally Comes To Oculus Rift". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/the-sublime-virtual-virtual-reality-finally-comes-to-oculus-rift/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ben Lang (2018-08-20). "'Virtual Virtual Reality' Set to Launch on Vive via Steam Next Month". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-looks-set-to-launch-on-vive-via-steam-next-month/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Jamie Feltham (2019-05-20). "The Excellent Virtual Virtual Reality Launches On PSVR This Week". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-psvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ben Lang (2022-02-10). "'Virtual Virtual Reality 2' is a One-of-a-Kind VR Game That's Not Ready for Launch". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-2-review-tender-claws/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Jamie Feltham (2019-05-15). "Virtual Virtual Reality Review: Don't Miss This Surrealist Slice Of VR". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Virtual Virtual Reality - Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Google. https://web.archive.org/web/20230615045115/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TenderClaws.VVR. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Kent Bye (2018-02-12). "Balancing Player Control & Authorial Control with "Virtual Virtual Reality"". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/balancing-player-control-authorial-control-virtual-virtual-reality/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Scott Hayden (2022-02-03). "Google Daydream's Best Game is Getting a Sequel on Quest & PC VR Soon". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-2-release-trailer-quest-2-steam/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 "Virtual Virtual Reality on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/889480/Virtual_Virtual_Reality/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Virtual Virtual Reality". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/232943. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Ian Hamilton (2022-02-13). "Virtual Virtual Reality 2 Devs On Driving Yourself Like A Mech And Merging Consciousnesses". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-2-devs-on-driving-yourself-like-a-mech-and-merging-consciousnesses/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Ben Lang (2018-06-07). "One of Mobile VR's Best Games, 'Virtual Virtual Reality', Now Available on Rift". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-launches-on-oculus-rift/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Andrew Reiner (2019-04-30). "Here Is Oculus Quest's Launch Lineup". Game Informer. https://www.gameinformer.com/2019/04/30/here-is-oculus-quests-launch-lineup. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Virtual Virtual Reality 2 on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1870630/Virtual_Virtual_Reality_2/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Harry Baker (2022-03-14). "Virtual Virtual Reality 2 Review: An Innovative Yet Flawed Metaverse Adventure". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/virtual-virtual-reality-2-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Pre-Orders Now Live for Mind-Bending Mech Platformer Game 'Virtual Virtual Reality 2' for the Rift Platform and Quest 2". Meta Quest Blog. Meta Platforms. 2022-02-03. https://www.meta.com/blog/pre-orders-now-live-for-mind-bending-mech-platformer-game-virtual-virtual-reality-2-for-the-rift-platform-and-quest-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.