Owlchemy takes ‘Dimensional Double Shift’ to a new VR locale — Sporelando

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Virtual reality was once touted as the next big frontier for gaming, promising to bring players into immersive worlds. Meta, Sony and Valve have worked to establish the medium, but its adoption hasn’t taken off like console or mobile gaming has.

Nevertheless, developers are forging ahead, and one of the more successful VR studios is Owlchemy Labs. The team behind the superfun “Job Simulator” and “Vacation Simulator” has been working on a new project called “Dimensional Double Shift.” It’s a multiplayer game that pushes up to four people to work together to accomplish several tasks under an AI manager named ALICE.

The game is releasing in packs that take players to different dimensions, where they’ll use their skills in different scenarios. In Hexas, a lava-filled version of Texas, they’ll staff a diner. Setting up shop in Treattle, they’ll work at a Gas ‘N Grill, a gas station with a restaurant. Up in New Joysey, players will find themselves at a boardwalk.

In the latest pack, launching April 23, Owlchemy Labs takes players to Sporelando, which is parody of the Florida city Orlando. I had a chance to get an early look at the stage, which features a swampy area and residents who happen to be sentient mushrooms. I worked with four other players to fix up a golf cart using tools at the station.

“Dimensional Double Shift,” available on Meta Quest and Android XR, uses hand tracking instead of controllers, making it feel more natural to play. It works fairly well as long as players know the gestures for navigating menus and customizing their avatar.

Moving their hands around to grab tools or share needed pieces with another player is intuitive. They don’t have to worry about what button does what. They can act instinctively to accomplish the silly goals that ALICE asks them to do. Players will have to decipher a puzzle with clues from another player. They may have to use a hose next to them to help fix a broken piece of equipment.

The key to the interactions is that they require teamwork. They can’t be done solo. Owlchemy divides the tasks so that important bits of information are in another player’s station, and they’ll have to talk to each other to figure things out and get things done, but the fun is in the chaos. There’s so much going on that wires may be crossed or confusion may reign. The developer captured the magic of its “Job Simulator” game and distilled it into a fun multiplayer experience.

Despite some of the hurdles that VR faces, Owlchemy CEO Andrew Eiche says the industry “is doing all right.” He said the younger generation has embraced the medium and will continue to play VR. “What really has happened here is that VR had a lot of investment and a lot of help in terms of financial support into a space that we wanted, and now, what we’re seeing is a kind of pulling the training wheels off.”

He said his studio has to build a game for the people who are playing now, and with more than 1 million downloads, they have found success with “Dimensional Double Shift” and its dimensional packs, which sell for $4.99.