Wall Town Wonders, which launched initially as a Meta Quest Store exclusive, brought a delightful mixed reality experience to the popular virtual reality platform. Flash forward to the present, and Cyborn is back, bringing Wall Town Wonders to the realm of full virtual reality on both PSVR2 and PC via Steam.
For those new to Wall Town Wonders, the game—or rather, the experience—feels like stepping into the world of The Borrowers or Gulliver’s Travels, as it brings to life intricately detailed miniature set pieces and people, superimposed onto the environment or play area. Of course, platforms like the PSVR2 and PC don’t offer mixed reality or passthrough as an option, prompting Cyborn to update Wall Town Wonders for its full VR release with brand-new 3D environments and levels to explore.
Starting up Wall Town Wonders VR prompts players to choose from three distinct environments: Room, Villa and Loft. Each offers a cozy, yet distinct setting. For my playthrough, I opted for the Loft, which places players in a contemporary apartment complete with large windows, a kitchen island and, of course, plenty of walls for the tiny townsfolk to occupy.
“For those new to Wall Town Wonders, the game—or rather, the experience—feels like stepping into the world of The Borrowers or Gulliver’s Travels.”
From there, the game walks you through the first steps of setting up a dwelling for your new neighbours, eventually asking you to build a mine. Wall Town Wonders VR can be described as having very light real-time strategy elements, with mines acting as central production hubs for your town. After creating the mine, players are tasked with building a landing pad, restaurant and other amenities for their fledgling settlement.
Crafting different venues and homes for your residents starts to gradually take up space on the walls, with each node able to connect, organically filling out and filling your 3D space. Unlike the Quest version of Wall Town Wonders, Wall Town Wonders VR’s use of predefined walls can feel less exciting than the experience of mixed reality, but the added horsepower of a good gaming PC makes up the deficit by offering better performance under pressure in addition to a crystal clear presentation when peering your head close into the tiny, diorama-like settlements.
Conversely, getting up close and personal can reveal every minute detail of the even smaller denizens of the wall, which can unintentionally highlight some of the flatter or blockier assets present in the game. The transition to a traditional VR experience also introduces some finicky tracking and placement issues.
For example, when placing new facilities or expanding your town, the game would occasionally only allow buildings to be placed in certain spots on the wall, despite ample space being available. Additionally, despite the well-defined 3D environments—such as the kitchen island—I occasionally noticed characters clipping through assets or background elements. While not a deal-breaker, these moments certainly disrupted the otherwise serene level of immersion.
“Wall Town Wonders VR is best enjoyed in short bursts, where it’s more about admiring your little microcosm of a town.”
The basic gameplay loop in Wall Town Wonders VR boils down to making basic outposts or facilities for your town, which then require additional resources to upgrade and expand, which feed into the mini-games and time-sensitive events present in the game.
Mini-games include going spelunking in your mines, which shifts the players’ view into the mines, which feature their own unique layouts, turning the game into a point-and-click affair. Outside of the mine, the player can fly around in a little plane to collect points and even mount a lizard to explore the map for additional resources, go fishing, and occasionally squash bugs that populate your walls in a shoot-em-up sequence that can be pretty fun.
Wall Town Wonders VR is best enjoyed in short bursts, where it’s more about admiring your little microcosm of a town that, as it gradually grows, transforms your otherwise sterile environment into something more. Playing for more than a few hours at a time can make the game feel old, but popping in now and again, almost like treating your residents like a virtual pet, can be a very pleasent and relaxing experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
With its transition to non-mixed reality VR platforms, Wall Town Wonders VR ultimately loses some of the charm of its Quest counterpart but maintains its gameplay loop and mechanics intact, making it a perfectly suitable version of the game for new players to enjoy.
