I wasn't expecting to start my day using a bow and arrow to shoot ice cream cones at kids, or riding on the back of a pickup truck slinging newspapers in a suburban neighborhood. But thanks to #Archery, a virtual reality game from indie studio VRUnicorns, I was able to do just that through an HTC Vive headset. The title, which will hit Steam Early Access on March 30th for $10, features a handful of main levels and mini games within each one of those. My experience consisted of scenarios like what I mentioned above, where I took charge of a digital bow and arrow to fire different objects at characters around the environment.
You can control the weapon with the Vive's motion controllers, naturally, and the experience was so fun that the developers basically had to kick me out of their demo booth. After playing for around 20 minutes, my arms and shoulders actually felt sore from all the archery movements and gestures I was making, though that may be more telling of my out-of-shape body than anything related to the game itself. Still, it felt like a good, quick workout and I enjoyed every second of it, even if my bow and arrow shooting accuracy was nothing short of appalling.
While #Archery will only be available on the HTC Vive at first, the developers say the game could come to other VR platforms in the future. And let's hope so, because everyone deserves a chance to pretend like they're shooting ice cream cones at kids and turning them into unicorn creatures, which only happens if you hit them before they can destroy your creamery stand.