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Wanderer

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Wanderer
Information
VR/AR Virtual Reality
Developer M Theory, Oddboy (now Mighty Eyes)
Publisher Mighty Eyes
Platform PlayStation VR, SteamVR, Oculus Rift
Device PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift
Type Game
Genre Adventure, Puzzle
Input Device Tracked motion controllers
Game Mode Single-player
Release Date January 27, 2022
Price US $39.99
App Store Steam, PlayStation Store, Rift Store
Website https://www.wanderervr.com/
See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Wanderer is a single-player time-travel puzzle adventure virtual reality game developed by the Auckland studios M Theory and Oddboy, which merged in 2022 to become Mighty Eyes. It was released on January 27, 2022 for PlayStation VR and for PC VR headsets through Steam and the Oculus Rift store.[1][2][3] The player is Asher Neumann, who finds a talking wristwatch that lets him move between historical periods, and the game mixes escape-room style puzzles spread across those periods with short action sequences.[4][5][6]

The original release was reviewed well on PC (a Metacritic score of 81) and won the Excellence in Visual Art award at New Zealand's Pavs game awards in 2022.[7][8] Mighty Eyes then rebuilt the game in Unreal Engine 5 as Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, a remake with new levels, a combat system and physics-based platforming. After repeated delays it shipped on April 3, 2025 for Meta Quest and PlayStation VR2, with Steam and Pico versions following on October 23, 2025.[9][10][11] In June 2026 the studio cancelled the planned sequel and ended ongoing support for the remake, saying that uptake on mobile headsets had fallen short of its expectations.[12]

Reviewed 20 September 2026. Release dates, platforms, prices, credits, review scores, awards, remake delay history, patch roadmap and the June 2026 cancellation, checked against every cited source. About review dates.

Gameplay

Wanderer is played in first person. The player starts in an alternate present in which civilization has collapsed and, while searching for a lost apartment that belonged to his grandfather, finds a wristwatch that can carry him to other points in history.[6][4] The watch, called Samuel (or Sam), is voiced, holds the inventory and gives hints; Road to VR compared its delivery to Matthew McConaughey.[5] The developers cited the television series Quantum Leap and Dark as inspirations.[6]

The structure is a chain of escape-room style puzzles whose parts are scattered across eras. Objects picked up in one period are carried to another, so a puzzle in the Mayan jungle may need an item from 1960s Woodstock, and the player travels back and forth to assemble solutions with little direct guidance.[5] UploadVR's review noted that inventory space is limited (a maximum of five slots), that items stay where they were left when the player changes timeline, and that there is no manual save.[13] Settings listed by the studio and reviewers include World War II, Nikola Tesla's laboratory, the 1969 Woodstock festival, the space race, a 16th-century kingdom under invasion and a future Boston in 2061.[4][2] Between puzzles there are short arcade-style action set pieces, and the time jump itself is a physical gesture with the watch that Road to VR described as tactile and novel.[5][3]

The developers estimated the campaign at around eight hours with replayable chapter selection; Road to VR and UploadVR each reported roughly ten hours.[2][5][13] Steam lists the game as single-player with tracked controller support, English full audio and French, Italian, German, Spanish and Simplified Chinese text; the additional languages arrived with a September 2022 update the studio called the "culture trip" update.[3][14]

Development

M Theory and Oddboy, both based in Auckland, New Zealand, received New Zealand Film Commission funding for the project in 2016 and by 2019 had entered a partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment.[15][16] Sam Ramlu, a co-founder of M Theory, was executive producer, and Benjamin Markby was co-creative director; the studios described the game at launch as the first of a planned three-part series.[17]

The game was announced in April 2021 for PSVR, SteamVR and Oculus PC headsets with a third-quarter 2021 window, and a version for the Oculus Quest was expected to run over Link.[6] In November 2021 the studios moved the date to January 27, 2022, attributing the slip to the effects of COVID-19, and confirmed a physical PSVR edition through the publisher Perp Games.[1] At that time the team said it was "working on options" for a native Quest version and that PSVR2 was "on [their] radar"; no native Quest release of the original ever shipped, and that role later passed to the remake.[2][9]

In August 2022 M Theory and Oddboy merged into a single studio, Mighty Eyes, with Eugene Eastlake, Ben Markby, Samantha Ramlu and Adrian Blok as directors. The merged company continued to develop Wanderer and is now listed as the game's developer and publisher on Steam.[16][3]

Release

Platform Release date Notes
PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4) January 27, 2022 Digital release; a physical edition was published by Perp Games[1]
PC VR via Steam (SteamVR) January 27, 2022 US $39.99 list price; single-player, tracked controller support[3]
PC VR via the Rift store January 27, 2022 Sold for Rift and Quest over Link at US $39.99[18]

The original game remains on sale on Steam, where the studio's own materials now refer to it as "Wanderer (Legacy)" to distinguish it from the remake.[3][4]

Reception

Outlet Platform Score
Metacritic (aggregate) PC 81 out of 100 (6 reviews)[7]
Metacritic (aggregate) PlayStation 4 (PSVR) 72 out of 100 (4 reviews)[19]
Road to VR Quest 2 via Link (PC) 7.9 out of 10[5]
UploadVR PC VR "Great"[13]

Road to VR gave Wanderer 7.9 out of 10, with sub-scores of 8.5 for gameplay, 6 for immersion and 9 for comfort. Reviewer Scott Hayden praised the voice acting, the set pieces and puzzles that demand thought without hand-holding, but criticized "clunky object interaction" that he compared to 2016-era VR, invisible walls and several bugs at launch that required chapter restarts.[5] UploadVR's Jamie Feltham called it "easily the best-looking VR game since Lone Echo 2" and praised the watch character and the puzzle variety, while faulting the item persistence system, hints that occasionally fell out of step with progress, some control problems and two crashes during his playthrough.[13] Metacritic lists a PC score of 81 from six critics and a PlayStation 4 score of 72 from four.[7][19]

Awards

Award Category Result
The Pavs 2022 (New Zealand Games Festival) Excellence in Visual Art Won[8]
VR Awards 2022 (AIXR) VR Game of the Year Finalist (won by Moss: Book II)[20]

UploadVR also named Wanderer among the notable PSVR releases of 2022 in its year-end awards, noting it was one of the few large releases that year to launch on PSVR alongside PC VR; the outlet's Favorite New PSVR Game award went to Zenith: The Last City.[21]

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate is a remake of the game by Mighty Eyes, announced in June 2023 for PC VR and PlayStation VR2 with a 2024 target; a Meta Quest 2 version was confirmed in a trailer shortly afterwards.[22] It was rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 rather than patched onto the original.[23]

Changes from the original

In a July 2023 PlayStation Blog post, executive producer Samantha Ramlu listed the main changes: a new lighting system and recreated non-player characters; full-body player avatars built on Epic's MetaHuman technology with eye tracking on PS VR2; physics-driven platforming in which the player can swim, jump, crouch, climb, zipline and swing; a physics system that gives held objects mass and velocity, paired with adaptive-trigger and head haptics on PS VR2; a new combat system with weapons, ammunition and enemies; larger areas; three new levels with persistence between levels; and a redesigned watch interface including an "Echo Diviner" tool for finding lost items.[23] The studio put the remake's length at "10-14 hours".[24]

MIXED compared the two launch versions in April 2025: the PS VR2 build runs at a stable 90 Hz with foveated rendering and includes real-time shadows, particle and post-processing effects and transparent water, while the Meta Quest 3 build renders at 45 frames per second with Asynchronous Spacewarp, a maximum of 2,200 by 2,200 pixels per eye and noticeable dynamic resolution scaling, and omits most of those effects.[9]

Delays and release

Platform Release date Notes
Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3S, Meta Quest Pro April 3, 2025 US $49.99; 20% upgrade discount for owners of the original; Quest purchase includes the Rift PC version[9][10][25]
PlayStation VR2 (PlayStation 5) April 3, 2025 US $49.99 standard, US $59.99 Deluxe Edition (music tracks and cosmetic skins); requires PS VR2 and Sense controllers[26]
PS5 physical "Nomad Edition" October 3, 2025 Published by Perp Games[27]
PC VR via Steam October 23, 2025 US $49.99; VR only; Vive wands not supported at launch[28][11]
Pico October 23, 2025 Per the studio's press kit[10]

The release date moved several times. In February 2024 Sony's blog gave June 27, 2024; the studio then listed September 12, 2024, and a July 2024 blog post gave October 31, 2024.[29][30][31] On October 10, 2024 Mighty Eyes delayed the game again without a new date, writing that "VR development is bloody tough" and joking that "a time travel game that can't ship on time" was ironic.[32] In February 2025 the studio announced March 27, 2025 for Quest and PS VR2, with Steam and Pico dates to follow; the game shipped on April 3, 2025.[24][9][10]

Post-launch support

The launch versions had performance and stability problems. A first hotfix on April 11, 2025 addressed collision pushback, hand spinning while holding items, Echo Diviner faults and missing level assets.[33] On April 22, 2025 Mighty Eyes published a roadmap that admitted "combat isn't quite hitting like it should" and scheduled Patch 1 for May 2025 (combat and NPC pathfinding, height and avatar calibration, performance) and Patch 2 for June or July 2025 (throwing and stabbing physics, stealth detection, a reworked NPC response system), with PS5 Pro support, a 60 Hz resolution mode for PS VR2, Quest 3 enhancements, DLC and a PC VR version planned afterward.[34][35] The Steam release on October 23, 2025 included the latest update, which UploadVR took to be the roadmap's Patch 2, and the studio described the PC VR edition as "the most polished version yet".[11]

On June 12, 2026 UploadVR reported that Mighty Eyes had cancelled Wanderer 2: The Seas of Fortune, a sequel first revealed in February 2024, and ended ongoing support for The Fragments of Fate, whose last update, Patch 1.5, had shipped about eight months earlier. The studio said "the game performed solidly on console but we just didn't see the mobile uptake we'd counted on" and that it was "still figuring out what's next".[12][14]

Reception

Outlet Platform Score
UploadVR Quest 3 3 out of 5[36]
COGconnected PS VR2 85 out of 100[37]
Meta Store user rating Quest 3.4 out of 5 (516 ratings, September 2026)[25]
PlayStation Store user rating PS VR2 3.95 out of 5 (800 ratings, September 2026)[26]
Steam user reviews PC VR Mixed, 61% positive of 150 (September 2026)[28]

Reviewing the Quest 3 version, UploadVR's Pete Austin rated the remake 3 out of 5 and advised waiting for patches. He called the puzzle design "top tier", praised the story, voice acting and soundtrack, and put the length at 12 to 15 hours, but reported constant frame drops, physics glitches, more than six hard crashes and combat he called "woefully under-baked".[36] COGconnected's Lou Sytsma scored the PS VR2 version 85, praising the graphics, voice acting and score while calling combat the main weakness and noting invisible walls and stiff NPC behavior.[37] Metacritic had not compiled a score for the remake as of September 2026, listing only one critic review per platform.[38]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Scott Hayden (2021-11-05). "Time-traveling Adventure 'Wanderer' Releasing on PSVR & PC VR in January, Extended Gameplay Here". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/wanderer-release-psvr-pc-vr-quest/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Harry Baker (2021-11-05). "Wanderer Releases January 27 PSVR & PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-releases-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Wanderer". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599560/Wanderer/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Wanderer (Legacy) - Press Kit". Wanderer VR. Mighty Eyes. https://www.wanderervr.com/wanderer-legacy-press-kit. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Scott Hayden (2022-01-27). "'Wanderer' Review - A Time Traveling Delight That's Just Shy of Greatness". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/wanderer-review-steam-pc-vr-psvr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Scott Hayden (2021-04-16). "'Wanderer' is a Time-traveling VR Adventure Coming This Year, New Gameplay Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/wanderer-vr-steam-oculus-quest-psvr-release/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Wanderer critic reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/wanderer/critic-reviews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "2022 winners". New Zealand Games Festival. https://nzgamesfest.com/the-pavs/2022-winners/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Tomislav Bezmalinovic. "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate - Here's how the Quest 3 and PSVR 2 version compare". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-quest-3-psvr-2-comparison/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate Press Kit". Wanderer VR. Mighty Eyes. https://www.wanderervr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-press-kit. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Henry Stockdale (2025-10-23). "Wanderer: The Fragments Of Fate Is Out Now On PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-pc-vr-release/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mike Johnson (2026-06-12). "Mighty Eyes Cancels Wanderer 2 & Ends Fragments of Fate's Ongoing Support". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/mighty-eyes-cancels-wanderer-2-ends-fragments-of-fates-ongoing-support/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Jamie Feltham (2022-01-27). "Wanderer Review". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Latest News". Mighty Eyes. https://www.mightyeyes.games/latest-news. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  15. ↑ "Wanderer - VR time-travel adventure game launches worldwide". WIFT NZ. 2022-02-15. https://www.wiftnz.org.nz/news/news-archive/2022/feb/wanderer-vr-time-travel-adventure-game-launches-worldwide/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Oddboy + M-Theory merge to become Mighty Eyes". Mighty Eyes. 2022-08. https://www.mightyeyes.games/news-articles/oddboy-m-theory-merge-to-become-mighty-eyes. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  17. ↑ "M Theory and Oddboy release new virtual reality game 'Wanderer' to worldwide acclaim". Campaign Brief NZ. 2022-02-23. https://campaignbrief.co.nz/2022/02/23/m-theory-and-oddboy-release-new-virtual-reality-game-wanderer-to-worldwide-acclaim/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  18. ↑ "Wanderer on Oculus Rift". Meta Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/wanderer/1934218823305692/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Wanderer Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/wanderer. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  20. ↑ "Winners & Finalists 2022". XR Awards. AIXR. https://xrawards.aixr.org/winners-and-finalists-2022/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  21. ↑ "UploadVR's Best of VR 2022 - Game Of The Year & More". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/uploadvr-best-of-vr-2022/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  22. ↑ Henry Stockdale (2023-06-19). "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate Remake Rewrites History Next Year". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-remake-announcement/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Samantha Ramlu (2023-07-06). "8 ways Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate reimagines the time-traveling adventure for PS VR2". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2023/07/06/8-ways-wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-reimagines-the-time-traveling-adventure-for-ps-vr2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Henry Stockdale (2025-02-27). "Wanderer: The Fragments Of Fate Arrives This March On Quest & PlayStation VR2". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-quest-playstation-vr2-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate on Meta Quest". Meta Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate/5479628732140032/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10008095/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  27. ↑ "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate". Perp Games. https://perpgames.com/game/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2472940/Wanderer_The_Fragments_of_Fate/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  29. ↑ "Coming soon to PS VR2 - Zombie Army VR, Little Cities: Bigger!, Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, The Wizards - Dark Times: Brotherhood, and more". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. 2024-02-22. https://blog.playstation.com/2024/02/22/coming-soon-to-ps-vr2-zombie-army-vr-little-cities-bigger-wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-the-wizards-dark-times-brotherhood-and-more/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  30. ↑ Kevin Link (2025-03-02). "VR time travel adventure Wanderer sets March release for Quest and PSVR 2". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/wanderer-remake-to-be-released-in-march-for-quest-psvr-2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  31. ↑ "PS VR2: Frenzies revealed, new Metro Awakening gameplay details, Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate in-depth look". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. 2024-07-10. https://blog.playstation.com/2024/07/10/ps-vr2-frenzies-revealed-new-metro-awakening-gameplay-details-wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-in-depth-look/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  32. ↑ James Tocchio (2024-10-10). "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate Has Been Delayed Once More". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-has-been-delayed-once-more/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  33. ↑ Henry Stockdale (2025-04-11). "Wanderer: The Fragments Of Fate Gets First Hotfix On Quest & PlayStation VR2". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-gets-first-hotfix-on-quest-playstation-vr2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  34. ↑ Josef Erl (2025-04-22). "VR blockbuster Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate gets a major patch roadmap after rough launch". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/wanderer-receives-extensive-patch-roadmap-after-a-shaky-start/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  35. ↑ Sarah Thwaites (2025-04-22). "Wanderer: The Fragments Of Fate Roadmap Reveals Combat & Quest 3 Upgrades". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate-2025-roadmap/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Pete Austin (2025-04-06). "Wanderer: The Fragments Of Fate Review - An Ambitious Puzzle Adventure In Need Of More Time". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/wanderer-fragments-of-fate-review-quest/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Lou Sytsma (2025-04-15). "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate (PS VR2) Review - Brilliant, Bold, and Just a Bit Broken". COGconnected. https://cogconnected.com/review/wanderer-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  38. ↑ "Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/wanderer-the-fragments-of-fate/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
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