Time Machine VR is an

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by Minority Media. It was released for Early Access on August 28, 2015, through

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. and the full game was released through Steam on May 19, 2016. It was released for

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...

on the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

on November 15, 2016, and in Australia and Europe, three days later.

Gameplay

The game is set in 2070 where

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

has released an ancient

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

from the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

Ice which is killing humanity to the point of

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. In an effort to save what remains of humanity, the player who is a

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

ling cadet, is sent back in time to the

Jurassic period The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the second and m ...

. The mission involves observing and scanning objects/creatures to collect data that can be used to combat the virus. In the story mode, the player starts inside a research hub in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

, Norway where they travel back in time using a

time machine A time machine is a fictional or hypothetical device that allows time travel. Concept A time machine is a device that makes time travel possible. The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' distinguishes between two different types of time ma ...

. The player travels through the Jurassic oceans encountering many different prehistoric animals including

mosasaur Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Ancient Greek, Greek ' meaning 'lizard') are an extinct group of large aquatic reptiles within the family Mosasauridae that lived during the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains wer ...

livyatan ''Livyatan'' is an extinct genus of macroraptorial Physeteroidea, sperm whale containing one known species: ''L. melvillei''. The genus name was inspired by the Bible, biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, th ...

s and

megalodon ''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...

s. Hi-tech probes, scanners and

tracking system A tracking system or locating system is used for Surveillance, tracking persons or objects that do not stay in a fixed location, and supplying a time-ordered sequence of positions (track). Applications A myriad of tracking systems exist. ...

s are used to extract the data that is needed to combat the virus. It is also possible freeze time and scan creatures using echography and perform behaviour scans. After each mission all the data found is uploaded to the "DinoDex" which unlocks additional data and new creatures. In exploration mode, previous levels can be revisited to unlock additional scientific data and can uncover clues to aid in humanities survival.

Development

Time Machine VR was developed, over a period of 3 years, by the Canadian games company Minority Media Inc. The developers worked with Dr. Hans Larsson, a research chair in

Vertebrate Paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct vertebrates (animals with vertebrae and their descendants). It also t ...

for the

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, to ensure the game was scientifically accurate. The game was first made available through Steam early access on 28 August 2015. On 10 October 2015, the first major update was made available. This update included keyboard support, new advanced graphics options and a redesigned mission hub. A second major update was published on 23 December 2015. This update included several new creatures, a new behaviour scan, an upgrade to the Oculus runtime version and performance improvements. The game was made available through Oculus Rift early access on 28 March 2016. On 6 April 2016, the game was made available for the

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets, virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality indust ...

and

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

through the Steam store. On the 19 May 2016, the full version of the game was released through Steam. Another major update was published on 23 December 2016, this made the

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

experience more comfortable after complaints about motion sickness, as well as improving the game controls and general performance. The arcade version of the game will be a shorter experience and will require the

D-Box D-BOX Technologies Inc. (informally known simply as DBOX) is a publicly traded haptic motion technology company based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company designs and manufactures motion and haptic systems for entertainment, simulation, and training ...

chair which debuted at the 2017

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

Adaption to Time Machine VR

An alternative version of the game called Time Machine VR: Monsters of the Sea was released on

Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on August 21, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts as ...

on January 16, 2017. Unilike Time Machine VR it is not free roam because of the performance limitations on

mobile device A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...

Reception

Time Machine VR had been recognized as one of Steam's top 30 grossing VR titles in their library of over 1,000 games. It was only 1 of 30 games that had that cleared $1 million in revenues, hauling in $1.2 million. Destructoid gave the game a 7 out of 10, GameRevolution gave the game a 2 out of 5. ''PlayStation Lifestyle'' gave the game a 5 out of 10.

References

External links