hugtopiamods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hugtopiamods) wrote2019-10-01 07:54 pm
hugtopiamods) wrote2019-10-01 07:54 pm
Entry tags:
♥ Virtual Reality Cafes
Virtual Reality Cafes
The Entertainment District is where you'll see the highest concentration of native peoples. This district is large and well lit, providing distraction for the people from the disasters happening outside the city walls. Most notable in the entertainment districts are the existence and abundance of VR (Virtual Reality) cafes. The robotic denizens flock here to plug in (literally) and experience a more idyllic time or live out fantasies of bygone eras when they still had flesh bodies. Popular scenarios include eating dinner, holding hands, smelling flowers and petting animals. Many allow customizable scenarios for a little extra Doras. A few establishments still have antique helmets, remnants of the days when the citizens were still flesh-bodied, which characters can use. They aren't as sophisticated as the direct plug-in system, and the graphics are not as advanced, but they get the job done. With enough interest and investment, the denizens might even start upgrading and producing more of these helmets.
Here you will find a sampling of the types of games available for characters to play at the VR cafes, both always available and those seasonally available.
Always Available Games
These games are always available at the local VR cafes. Pay a small Dora fee, load up, and play with friends!
Petting Zoo
Pet imaginary giant rainbow-colored sheep or floating fluffy cotton candy looking jellyfish creatures with tentacles that give a pleasant buzz rather than a venomous sting. All the animals featured are differently sized than their earth counterparts and strangely colored to boot. Is that a toy poodle sized pink horse with wool instead of fine hair? What about that yellow and brown mouse that's almost 5 feet tall? It's a good thing it's all a simulation, because some of the animals look freaky - like the gaseous ball of soft blue light with the cutest eyes and really long fangs. Thankfully, the animals are all very peaceful and love attention. That freaky gas cloud? It smells like fresh baked cookies and nuzzles people like a cat. In fact, every animal here is sweet - unless you happen to pet the dog-sized chickens the wrong way. Anyone unlucky enough to make them mad will find themselves swarmed by dozens of fat fluffy multicolored birds.
Ski-venture
Ever wonder what it would be like to experience skiing on the wide blue ocean or down the side of the greatest peaks of Aellyn? The locals sure do since they haven't left the city walls in...ages! Well, wonder no more! By selecting either (Water) or (Snow), you can experience the thrilling joys of cutting up the Aellyn ocean surf or slicing through some sick sick powder down Mt. Chiliad. Need a crash course in how to look cool? No problem. Select (Training Wheels) and you'll be able to take a less thrilling, but still just as awesome ride across much more gentle waters and slopes. Want to experience it with a friend? Easy! Load in (2P Mode) and race each other or try to outdo one another with the sickest tricks.
Mountain Hiking: Nature Walk
Maybe going full tilt down a mountain isn't your style. In that case, enjoy the varying scenery of this lovely mountain hike. The difficulty ranges from (Leisure) - a pleasant walk through a forest, for those less inclined for exercise - to (Radical) - which can have you free-climbing up the side of a massive cliff-face with only your wits to help you find the best route forward! Naturally, if you fall, after a brief sense of vertigo, you find yourself back on the cliff-face again, because where's the fun in actually getting hurt, right?
Pattern Puzzle Crush
You or you and a partner (up to 4 people at a time! Exciting!) must work together to solve this colorful patterned puzzle extravaganza. The world is populated with giant soft square blocks, over 4 feet in each dimension, and it's your job to clear them by making matches of 3 or more of the same color or pattern. But be careful, you only have so many moves per level. Can you crush this exciting puzzle game? Let's find out!
Soar the Skies
That wide blue sky is so inviting, isn't it? Especially with all those fluffy white clouds and generic green forest scenery beneath it? Oh yeah, that's right, time to go wingsuiting. You and up to 4 partners can take a scenic dive through the clouds in colorful wingsuits, skirt the treetops, glide past and through mountain valleys, and enjoy the sensation of flight. Unlike regular wingsuiting though, the rush of the wind doesn't seem to impede conversation and as long as you like, you can just keep flying those beautiful blue skies.
Escape Room
You or you and some friends find yourself in a customized Escape Room and a timer. Figure out the clues, find the keys, and get out of the room before time runs out! Make it and you'll find that your entry fee to the VR cafe has been refunded. Don't make it? And you'll get a sadface emoji showing up on the screen before it asks if you'd like to try again with another selection.
Big Bass Fishing
This game features a beautiful lake with blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear- a tackle box and two poles ready for use. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. The time limit will vary depending on challenge level. It doesn't take long to catch a few regular-sized fish, nothing too exciting, but the longer you fish the more challenging the catches can become. This game is also known to occasionally glitch out and provide no time limit at all. When this occurs, there is a chance that you get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. Eventually the fish leaps into the air and you realize this is another glitch, because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake, and that's game over for you!
A Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal!
King's Knight: Scheme of the Wyrm Queen
Developed by Noctis and Pyra, in collaboration with the VR cafes, this game is designed to be like an MMO/mobile game, except in VR- every player gets an account, and to an extent their avatars are customizable. There are a set number of levels per playthrough, you can stop and pick up any time after a level ends, and you can re-arrange your party members at the start of each play session.
You can charge through levels just smashing away at enemies, but part of the game mechanic is that physical contact between characters in-game will provide stat boosts, enhancements, occasional heals or buffs, soft revives at 0HP, etc. The effect can vary depending on the nature of contact, but is also randomized to an extent, to allow for player freedom. Let's just say that intent plays a part... so touch someone and wish with your heart, and maybe something nice will happen. Or at least something kind of cheesy.
Monsters in-game vary between generic beasts of lore, parody versions of creatures found in Final Fantasy XV, and some monsters based on descriptions that Noctis or Pyra acquired from asking people. These are subject to change on request, as the game will be developing gradually to improve itself.
See the information page for full details on this game. Additionally, if you have suggestions or requests for monsters, treasures, or equipment, please leave a comment there.
Eos Camping Retreat
Developed by Pyraand secretly Tony this relaxed 'experience' is all about the joys of camping. There are elements taken from the current fishing and hiking game but have combined those with other camping activities. In turn, some of the 'game' aspects of the fishing game have been removed.
The scenery from the trees, the creek, the skies are all of Eos. It's not perfectly Eos, but it's 'A for effort' Eos, like someone created it using photos and other reference pictures as well as some stories they'd been told. There's a timer in the game that has the daytime switch to night and lets the stars come out. Fortunately, no daemons to worry about here! For those who might know and/or notice, particular constellations have even been included- again, not perfectly, but close. Either way, go fishing, hiking, swimming, lay in the grass and watch the clouds, take a nap in a sleeping bag, wrestle your favorite blonde in a tent, roast marshmallows over the campfire, and listen to the sound of bugs, birds, and wind in the trees.
Whatever you do, you might want to set an alarm to take break outside of the game as you aren't actually eating, sleeping, or moving like you think you are.
Seasonally Available Games
These games are seasonally available at the local VR cafes. When their seasons are over, they are no longer available until the next year so get in on them while you can!
Memories of the Sun
Available: January to February
This seasonal VR simulation is especially popular with the natives for the fact that it lets them see their world as it used to be. Load into the simulation "Memories of the Sun" and you'll be transported along with all others who are currently logged in to make a pilgrimage up Aellyn's most sacred mountain. Although its peak is rocky and somewhat barren, it has a serene beauty as it reaches up through the cloud layer and you climb upwards through the dark. The path is clearly lit by small lamps embedded into the ground, but you might find it easier to take the climb if you hang onto someone else. Once you reach the peak, whether you're alone or with someone else, you'll be treated to the sight of a gorgeous sunrise peeking over the thinning clouds. It's a sight to remember, and a sight that brings memories. As you watch you're overcome with a very real vision of your home, a place you remember, or people you know. This vision is typically of a better time in your life, something to bring you hope and peace as the new year dawns - but not always. Is this a vision of your past? Your future? Of your present? If you came here with someone else, they can also choose to share in your vision and you in theirs. Are you brave enough to face what the mountain has to show you?
I Can Show You the City
Available: May to July
This month they're offering a new experience that any and all may enjoy. The cafes' decor have been updated to be painted a light sky blue inside with soft diffuse light that resembles sunlight. On the ceilings and walls are holoprojections of very realistic clouds that slide along like they do outside. Hook up into the VR sets and join others in an extremely realistic and detailed flying tour of Havenwell.
Ever wonder what the city looked like from above? Well, wonder no longer! Once you're loaded up in the game, you'll find yourself floating gently in the sky high above the city. There are others here, too, holding hands or linking arms as they zip about, free as birds. You, however? Well...you can't do much more than float or sink closer to the ground! It seems you need to find a partner and keep in contact with them in order to control your flight, so you better hurry before you end up on the ground like some regular ol' walking Joe. Thankfully, everyone is being loaded into the same game experience, so it shouldn't be hard to find a partner!
If you want a little excitement in your game, feel free to load the "Balloon Challenge" mini-game and compete against other teams to catch the most balloons. Once the game starts, you have 2 minutes to maneuver with your partner to fly through virtual obstacles and collect brightly colored balloons. Catch them by the string and hold on because the more balloons you and your partner collect, the higher your score. If you're crowned that Balloon Challenge champion by beating out all the other teams, you can collect a little balloon of your own when you leave the VR cafe. The balloon floats happily along on a little string and never loses its air, no matter how long you keep it.
Friend Connection
Available: August to October
Rather than the usual plug in and sit configuration, the VR cafes are reorganized into 3 meter by 3 meter square pads with no chairs or furniture available. Players plug in or put their helmets on and they're instantly transported to a garish neon-lighted stage with multicolored spotlights that show a floating, legless robot with a rainbow bowtie and a magnificent mustache. The robot's LED face lights up into the approximation of the :D emote and then a disembodied voice comes from speakers overhead:
"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."
And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:
At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.
Robot Crossing
Available: September to November
The bright lights and cozy insides have been decorated with fake leaves and carved and painted plaster approximations of fruits and vegetables in odd colors. When an offworlder comes in, they explain that back when they were still in their flesh bodies, the month of Ohnir was one for harvest and celebrations of the summer bounties. Now, without any real farms or need to eat, they've translated the Harvest Festival into a game, so why not play?
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
Virtual Spa
Available: November to January
For those who don't feel like getting wet in the real public baths, try the VR version! There are several types to choose from and despite being digital, their calming and soothing effects on the body seem very real. Choose from:
Hot springs are great to experience with friends to deepen that feeling of skinship you have with each other, and several Havenwell natives are doing just that. But what about those who don't have a friend to log in with? Don't worry! The game will randomly select another player from this or another facility and match you together. Isn't that nice? We're sure it is! Who doesn't want to talk to someone else while naked, right?
Winter Wonderland
Available: November to February
There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.
There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.
Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!
Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.
For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.
Ski for Free(dom)
Available: December to January
In SkiFreezin', you and a friend can enjoy an excursion to a beautiful mountain covered with freshly-fallen snow for a fun ski trip!
But hopefully you're quick to clear the course; every so often innocent skiers looking for a fun time might find themselves in the sights of the mountain's inhabitant; a cranky creature giving chase with stick figure limbs and angry eyebrows. Better get to the finish line quick! If it catches up, you just might find yourself dumped into a pile of snow with a hat placed on your head at a jaunty angle befitting a snowman.
Here you will find a sampling of the types of games available for characters to play at the VR cafes, both always available and those seasonally available.
| Always Available | Seasonally Available |
| ♥ Petting Zoo ♥ Ski-venture ♥ Mountain Hiking ♥ Pattern Puzzle Crush ♥ Soar the Skies ♥ Escape Room ♥ Big Bass Fishing ♥ Familiar Experience ♥ King's Knight ♥ Eos Camping Retreat | ♥ Memories of the Sun ♥ I Can Show You the City ♥ Friend Connection ♥ Robot Crossing ♥ Virtual Spa ♥ Winter Wonderland ♥ Ski for Free(dom) |
Always Available Games
These games are always available at the local VR cafes. Pay a small Dora fee, load up, and play with friends!
Petting Zoo
Pet imaginary giant rainbow-colored sheep or floating fluffy cotton candy looking jellyfish creatures with tentacles that give a pleasant buzz rather than a venomous sting. All the animals featured are differently sized than their earth counterparts and strangely colored to boot. Is that a toy poodle sized pink horse with wool instead of fine hair? What about that yellow and brown mouse that's almost 5 feet tall? It's a good thing it's all a simulation, because some of the animals look freaky - like the gaseous ball of soft blue light with the cutest eyes and really long fangs. Thankfully, the animals are all very peaceful and love attention. That freaky gas cloud? It smells like fresh baked cookies and nuzzles people like a cat. In fact, every animal here is sweet - unless you happen to pet the dog-sized chickens the wrong way. Anyone unlucky enough to make them mad will find themselves swarmed by dozens of fat fluffy multicolored birds.
Ski-venture
Ever wonder what it would be like to experience skiing on the wide blue ocean or down the side of the greatest peaks of Aellyn? The locals sure do since they haven't left the city walls in...ages! Well, wonder no more! By selecting either (Water) or (Snow), you can experience the thrilling joys of cutting up the Aellyn ocean surf or slicing through some sick sick powder down Mt. Chiliad. Need a crash course in how to look cool? No problem. Select (Training Wheels) and you'll be able to take a less thrilling, but still just as awesome ride across much more gentle waters and slopes. Want to experience it with a friend? Easy! Load in (2P Mode) and race each other or try to outdo one another with the sickest tricks.
Mountain Hiking: Nature Walk
Maybe going full tilt down a mountain isn't your style. In that case, enjoy the varying scenery of this lovely mountain hike. The difficulty ranges from (Leisure) - a pleasant walk through a forest, for those less inclined for exercise - to (Radical) - which can have you free-climbing up the side of a massive cliff-face with only your wits to help you find the best route forward! Naturally, if you fall, after a brief sense of vertigo, you find yourself back on the cliff-face again, because where's the fun in actually getting hurt, right?
Pattern Puzzle Crush
You or you and a partner (up to 4 people at a time! Exciting!) must work together to solve this colorful patterned puzzle extravaganza. The world is populated with giant soft square blocks, over 4 feet in each dimension, and it's your job to clear them by making matches of 3 or more of the same color or pattern. But be careful, you only have so many moves per level. Can you crush this exciting puzzle game? Let's find out!
Soar the Skies
That wide blue sky is so inviting, isn't it? Especially with all those fluffy white clouds and generic green forest scenery beneath it? Oh yeah, that's right, time to go wingsuiting. You and up to 4 partners can take a scenic dive through the clouds in colorful wingsuits, skirt the treetops, glide past and through mountain valleys, and enjoy the sensation of flight. Unlike regular wingsuiting though, the rush of the wind doesn't seem to impede conversation and as long as you like, you can just keep flying those beautiful blue skies.
Escape Room
You or you and some friends find yourself in a customized Escape Room and a timer. Figure out the clues, find the keys, and get out of the room before time runs out! Make it and you'll find that your entry fee to the VR cafe has been refunded. Don't make it? And you'll get a sadface emoji showing up on the screen before it asks if you'd like to try again with another selection.
Big Bass Fishing
This game features a beautiful lake with blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear- a tackle box and two poles ready for use. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. The time limit will vary depending on challenge level. It doesn't take long to catch a few regular-sized fish, nothing too exciting, but the longer you fish the more challenging the catches can become. This game is also known to occasionally glitch out and provide no time limit at all. When this occurs, there is a chance that you get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. Eventually the fish leaps into the air and you realize this is another glitch, because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake, and that's game over for you!
A Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal!
King's Knight: Scheme of the Wyrm Queen
Developed by Noctis and Pyra, in collaboration with the VR cafes, this game is designed to be like an MMO/mobile game, except in VR- every player gets an account, and to an extent their avatars are customizable. There are a set number of levels per playthrough, you can stop and pick up any time after a level ends, and you can re-arrange your party members at the start of each play session.
You can charge through levels just smashing away at enemies, but part of the game mechanic is that physical contact between characters in-game will provide stat boosts, enhancements, occasional heals or buffs, soft revives at 0HP, etc. The effect can vary depending on the nature of contact, but is also randomized to an extent, to allow for player freedom. Let's just say that intent plays a part... so touch someone and wish with your heart, and maybe something nice will happen. Or at least something kind of cheesy.
Monsters in-game vary between generic beasts of lore, parody versions of creatures found in Final Fantasy XV, and some monsters based on descriptions that Noctis or Pyra acquired from asking people. These are subject to change on request, as the game will be developing gradually to improve itself.
See the information page for full details on this game. Additionally, if you have suggestions or requests for monsters, treasures, or equipment, please leave a comment there.
Eos Camping Retreat
Developed by Pyra
The scenery from the trees, the creek, the skies are all of Eos. It's not perfectly Eos, but it's 'A for effort' Eos, like someone created it using photos and other reference pictures as well as some stories they'd been told. There's a timer in the game that has the daytime switch to night and lets the stars come out. Fortunately, no daemons to worry about here! For those who might know and/or notice, particular constellations have even been included- again, not perfectly, but close. Either way, go fishing, hiking, swimming, lay in the grass and watch the clouds, take a nap in a sleeping bag, wrestle your favorite blonde in a tent, roast marshmallows over the campfire, and listen to the sound of bugs, birds, and wind in the trees.
Whatever you do, you might want to set an alarm to take break outside of the game as you aren't actually eating, sleeping, or moving like you think you are.
Seasonally Available Games
These games are seasonally available at the local VR cafes. When their seasons are over, they are no longer available until the next year so get in on them while you can!
Memories of the Sun
Available: January to February
This seasonal VR simulation is especially popular with the natives for the fact that it lets them see their world as it used to be. Load into the simulation "Memories of the Sun" and you'll be transported along with all others who are currently logged in to make a pilgrimage up Aellyn's most sacred mountain. Although its peak is rocky and somewhat barren, it has a serene beauty as it reaches up through the cloud layer and you climb upwards through the dark. The path is clearly lit by small lamps embedded into the ground, but you might find it easier to take the climb if you hang onto someone else. Once you reach the peak, whether you're alone or with someone else, you'll be treated to the sight of a gorgeous sunrise peeking over the thinning clouds. It's a sight to remember, and a sight that brings memories. As you watch you're overcome with a very real vision of your home, a place you remember, or people you know. This vision is typically of a better time in your life, something to bring you hope and peace as the new year dawns - but not always. Is this a vision of your past? Your future? Of your present? If you came here with someone else, they can also choose to share in your vision and you in theirs. Are you brave enough to face what the mountain has to show you?
I Can Show You the City
Available: May to July
This month they're offering a new experience that any and all may enjoy. The cafes' decor have been updated to be painted a light sky blue inside with soft diffuse light that resembles sunlight. On the ceilings and walls are holoprojections of very realistic clouds that slide along like they do outside. Hook up into the VR sets and join others in an extremely realistic and detailed flying tour of Havenwell.
Ever wonder what the city looked like from above? Well, wonder no longer! Once you're loaded up in the game, you'll find yourself floating gently in the sky high above the city. There are others here, too, holding hands or linking arms as they zip about, free as birds. You, however? Well...you can't do much more than float or sink closer to the ground! It seems you need to find a partner and keep in contact with them in order to control your flight, so you better hurry before you end up on the ground like some regular ol' walking Joe. Thankfully, everyone is being loaded into the same game experience, so it shouldn't be hard to find a partner!
If you want a little excitement in your game, feel free to load the "Balloon Challenge" mini-game and compete against other teams to catch the most balloons. Once the game starts, you have 2 minutes to maneuver with your partner to fly through virtual obstacles and collect brightly colored balloons. Catch them by the string and hold on because the more balloons you and your partner collect, the higher your score. If you're crowned that Balloon Challenge champion by beating out all the other teams, you can collect a little balloon of your own when you leave the VR cafe. The balloon floats happily along on a little string and never loses its air, no matter how long you keep it.
Friend Connection
Available: August to October
Rather than the usual plug in and sit configuration, the VR cafes are reorganized into 3 meter by 3 meter square pads with no chairs or furniture available. Players plug in or put their helmets on and they're instantly transported to a garish neon-lighted stage with multicolored spotlights that show a floating, legless robot with a rainbow bowtie and a magnificent mustache. The robot's LED face lights up into the approximation of the :D emote and then a disembodied voice comes from speakers overhead:
"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."
And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:
- Play Twister until someone falls! The longer you go, the more points you win!
- Help each other do a handstand! The Wheelbarrow is acceptable too.
- Recreate your favorite scene from a romantic movie. Take, for example, That Scene from the hit movie, Skytanic! Or hum along to this song as you and your friend make some pottery together.
- Create a complicated Best Friend Handshake consisting of more than 5 moves and do it together 3 times without messing up!
- Answer trivia questions about each other and your worlds while holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. The more questions you can answer, the higher your points!
- Do a trust fall into your friend's arms. The higher or further you fall, the more points you'll earn.
- Play two truths and a lie with your friend. If you can guess correctly, you'll earn points for your team!
At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.
Robot Crossing
Available: September to November
The bright lights and cozy insides have been decorated with fake leaves and carved and painted plaster approximations of fruits and vegetables in odd colors. When an offworlder comes in, they explain that back when they were still in their flesh bodies, the month of Ohnir was one for harvest and celebrations of the summer bounties. Now, without any real farms or need to eat, they've translated the Harvest Festival into a game, so why not play?
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
- Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Oh well, at least you won't run out before the timer hits zero and with the sheer number of levels and combinations of trees and fields with obstacles in your way to make harvesting a little more challenging with each new level, you certainly won't be running out of things to do.
- With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points.
- You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, there are a lot of methods! You could gather up materials and work together to stick it to the pumpkin until it absorbs them and grows. You could do a song and dance routine together to encourage the pumpkin's soul to grow big and bright. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels encouraged enough to grow on its own. The possibilities are endless, so get to work making the best pumpkin that (digital) fair has ever seen!
Virtual Spa
Available: November to January
For those who don't feel like getting wet in the real public baths, try the VR version! There are several types to choose from and despite being digital, their calming and soothing effects on the body seem very real. Choose from:
- The Classic Outdoors: a rock-lined hot spring with natural rock floors and steamy mineral-infused waters nestled in the mountains. All around you is beautiful greenery like a sweeping pine and low fragrant bushes. The serene air and the calm forest is only occasionally broken by the sound of a wooden pipe thudding hollowly against a rock at a steady interval or the sound of birdsong off in the trees. The relaxing atmosphere is enough to set even the tightest wound nerves at ease.
- The Marbled Columns: white and painted marble columns lead to a series of different shaped baths with statues of the gods pouring water into them. Each bath has a different healing property, which is clearly marked with a plaque at the rim of each: good for your circulation, your bones, your aches and pains, even acne and metabolic rate. The columns support a beautiful open ceiling that shows the perfectly blue sky overhead dotted with the occasional cloud.
- The Steamy Sauna: though seemingly austere in their white tile and deep blue bath basins, the air here is thick and steamy and the baths are deep with hand-rails leading down steps to help you enter. All around the basins are stone or wooden benches with towels laid down for those who wish to simply sit and let the warm air open their lungs. If you get too hot? Grab a bucketful of cold water from one of the freestanding tubs and douse yourself to get a shock and cool off.
- The Milk-and-Honey: a beautifully tiled bath with a large shallow rectangular basin. The surrounding walls and ceilings have blue, white, and gold geometric designs laid out with loving care in pleasant designs that ease the mind. The bath water here is filled with a concoction of milk and honey to soothe and smooth the skin, filling the air with a pleasing sweet scent. The effects of these baths on a person's skin is said to make them glow from the inside out for at least a day after bathing.
- The Theme Park: the first thing to greet you is the comically oversized bottle of red wine tipped to pour a continuous stream of red liquid into the large crystalline bath basin. The smell of wine is heavy but pleasant in the air and the crystalline basin is round and shaped like a wine glass. Climb up the glass steps and give yourself a good old soak in the red water. You might even find that taking a dip here gives you a heady happiness that lasts all day. And if it feels like you're a little drunk while there? That has to be your imagination! ...Maybe.
Hot springs are great to experience with friends to deepen that feeling of skinship you have with each other, and several Havenwell natives are doing just that. But what about those who don't have a friend to log in with? Don't worry! The game will randomly select another player from this or another facility and match you together. Isn't that nice? We're sure it is! Who doesn't want to talk to someone else while naked, right?
Winter Wonderland
Available: November to February
There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.
There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.
Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!
Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.
For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.
Ski for Free(dom)
Available: December to January
In SkiFreezin', you and a friend can enjoy an excursion to a beautiful mountain covered with freshly-fallen snow for a fun ski trip!
But hopefully you're quick to clear the course; every so often innocent skiers looking for a fun time might find themselves in the sights of the mountain's inhabitant; a cranky creature giving chase with stick figure limbs and angry eyebrows. Better get to the finish line quick! If it catches up, you just might find yourself dumped into a pile of snow with a hat placed on your head at a jaunty angle befitting a snowman.