Floor Plan 2

Audience

The intended users of the application are people with access to a virtual reality headset who enjoy escape rooms and solving puzzles to progress through a story. The game also appeals to people who like cartoonish games, as the game's humor comes from wacky situations and characters. There are not violent images or mature themes in the application, so both children and adults who can read and use virtual reality can enjoy the game. The game is accessible to people who are not experienced puzzle solvers because puzzle difficulty is not extreme and a hint system is available in the game.

Description

The story of the game is that the player character has been hired at Puzzl, which is a company that solves people's problems. At the beginning of the game, the player learns about Puzzl and the game's basic controls through training at Puzzl's building. Then, the player goes through their first shift at Puzzl, with clients entering the building and giving problems for the player to solve. These sections act as a short tutorial for the game, as players are introduced to the mechanics used to solve puzzles and the idea that puzzles need to be solved to progress through the game. After the tutorial, the player is called into the Puzzl CEO's office and learns that the company is having financial trouble. The player is then tasked with finding artifacts to help the company, and finding these artifacts takes up most of the game.

There are two towers in the office building with an artifact hidden inside. The player must find the artifact in the first tower before gaining access to the second one. Players traverse each tower using an elevator to get between floors. Each floor has its own world to explore, such as a museum, a swamp, a beehive, and a space station. Items or codes obtained on one floor may need to be used on another floor to solve a puzzle, and floors are interconnected in interesting ways, with actions on one floor sometimes affecting other floors. After the player obtains the artifacts, there is a final sequence of the game with its own puzzles.

Interactable objects are highlighted while the player's hand is touching them, and valid item placements are also highlighted. It is not possible to tell if an object is interactable without touching it, but it is generally clear what the player can interact with, such as loose objects, handles, levers, and buttons. Items picked up in the world can be used to solve puzzles in the game, such as a key item unlocking a locked cabinet. Players can store and pull out three items in their inventory, which is accessed through a pouch on their waist. Items can be dropped or used with characters and objects in the world. Players can also use items on themselves, such as for putting on a hat or sunglasses. Inventory items are teleported to the ground near the player when they leave the space near a teleport point to prevent the game becoming incompletable due to inaccessible items. Not all puzzles are solved using items. For example, some puzzles involve inputting codes hidden in the world or require the player to touch objects at a certain time.

Puzzles get more progressively more difficult, meaning their solutions become less obvious. There is a hint system in the game where players can press a call button in an elevator to get up to two hints about what to do next. Hints are only given for one puzzle at a time, and the same two hints are given until that puzzle is solved. Additionally, there are collectable animals called Red Harrys, which are hidden in the towers. As these are collected, they can be deposited into a daycare in the building to unlock new hand appearances, including robot hands and waffle hands. These creatures are revealed through interactions that do not help solve any puzzles.

Controls

Players can move their headset to change the position and orientation of their view in the game world. Controller position and rotation also affects the hands of the player character. The triggers on the controller are used to grab objects when the player character's hand is touching them. Movement involves teleportation to defined points, with objects that the user interacts with at each point. Locations that can be teleported to are highlighted when they are looked at. To teleport, the player must look at a location and press the A button. It is not possible to teleport except for between points, and there is no direct player control using a controller joystick.

Users can advance dialogue in the game by giving a thumbs up and answer "yes" or "no" to questions by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down respectively with either of their hands. (On Quest 2, this gesture is done by holding both triggers and removing the thumb from the controller.) Players can open their inventory by pulling the bag at their waist open with one hand and grabbing or inserting items into one of three slots with their other hand. There is an option available for turning left and right using a controller joystick, either by instantly turning or smoothly rotating the player's view. Using the joystick for view rotation means the player does not need to physically turn to adjust their view, which can be helpful for positioning interactable objects into the play area.

Why is it a good use of VR?

Floor Plan 2 is a good use of virtual reality because the player can explore and interact with a cartoon world to solve challenging puzzles using logic. Compared to an adventure game for a PC or console, there is a higher level of immersion and user interactivity with the world because the player interacts with objects by reaching out and grabbing them with their hands, as opposed to clicking or pressing a button with the object selected. Even simple actions, such as opening a window, are more engaging in virtual reality. Seeing characters in virtual reality also makes watching their movements and interacting with them more engaging.

Player character arms and hands are displayed, instead of just hands or the controllers, which makes players feel more immersed in the game's world because their view matches the view of a cartoon character in the game world. Also, the inventory uses a bag instead of a menu, which improves immersion because this direct inventory interaction makes sense in the game world. Gesturing (giving a thumbs up or thumbs down) to advance or respond to dialogue as opposed to just pressing a button allows the player to feel more connected to the characters. Some puzzles take advantage of the hand tracking used by virtual reality headsets, such as the player needing to copy a character's dance moves.

Pros

• The game looks visually appealing, with detailed environments and characters with lively animation. Frame rate is high at all locations (on Quest 2).

• Puzzle solutions can be logically obtained given the cartoonish rules of the world, and it is satisfying to work out the solution to a puzzle.

• Interactions are responsive and work consistently.

• Hints give players suggestions about where to go without giving away the solution to a puzzle.

• Progress is saved automatically.

• Multiple save files are available.

• Collectable Red Harrys provide a reason to return to the game after completing the main storyline.

Cons

• The game's ability to be replayed is limited because players are likely to remember the solutions to some puzzles they have already solved, and the experience of the main campaign will remain similar.

• The game is short, typically taking a few hours to complete, so some players may not feel that the game is worth its price.

• Directly moving the player character with a joystick is not possible, and only set locations can be teleported to. The player cannot make slight adjustments to their location by teleporting, and they may need reset their view if interactable objects are outside of their play area, which is annoying.

• Some puzzles may frustrate the player due to their difficulty because they cannot solve them.

• The hints do not tell the player exactly what to do, so it is possible for the user to get stuck even after receiving hints.

• Puzzles in the ending sequence of the game do not have any hints available, so the player is more likely to be unable to progress near the end of the game.

• When the player gets stuck, they may look up how to continue through the story online or stop playing the game, which takes them out of the experience.

References

Images and game information from Floor Plan 2 Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1534850/Floor_Plan_2/
Floor Plan 2 Oculus Store Page: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2401648309868679/
Floor Plan 2 Full Walkthrough by Vizm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUt-p0Lw6C0
Floor Plan 2 Red Harry Guide with Hand Rewards by Killer Snoofie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCJHnY2g6IQ