Review of ‘Wall Town Wonders’: Perhaps Too Laid-Back for Modern Mixed Reality

Imagine a world where wearing AR glasses all day is as common as checking your phone, and with them, you can build and oversee a town of tiny villagers that float around your room in hot air balloons. That’s exactly what Wall Town Wonders offers, except, as intriguing as it is visually, the gameplay doesn’t sink enough hooks to keep you playing for extended periods. This raises an interesting point about whether this type of game has appeared too soon for the current XR headset technology.

Game Details

• Publisher: Cyborn
• Platforms: Quest 3/3S
• Reviewed On: Quest 3
• Release Date: November 21, 2024
• Price: $20

Gameplay

Wall Town Wonders is as laid-back as casual games come. Don’t expect challenging gameplay because the game aims to create a mellow atmosphere. Initially, it’s amusing to watch villagers carry out their daily routines. You peek into buildings to spot a tiny chef whipping up a pizza or catch villagers zooming around on a bi-plane right in your living room.

After about an hour-long tutorial, you dive into unlocking new structures, and with that, various mini-games emerge. These might involve defending a farm with a mini-crossbow from pesky bugs, fishing in a pond, or guiding planes around with hand gestures.

You’ll spend a fair amount of time waiting for your villagers to produce resources like wood, money, and food. The game revolves around constructing and upgrading over a hundred buildings, allowing you to paint and reposition to your liking. As a result, your room transforms into an animated, bustling scene that feels quite magical.

While the villagers largely operate autonomously, completing their tasks without much input from you, you can interact through mini-games. However, I often found myself wishing I could just let the town function on its own and switch to something more engaging. These mini-games, meant to be entertaining during downtimes, felt more like mundane chores after a few hours of play.

Immersion

There’s something enchanting about virtual dioramas, as they make every detail seem more engaging due to their compact nature. The game paints quaint, cozy European-style villages on your walls, which are undeniably charming.

Despite advancements in XR technology, this review isn’t being penned while wearing the headset. Like most players, I mainly use my VR gear to unwind after a long day rather than during it, unless a review demands it.

One can dream of a not-so-distant future where high display resolutions and all-day XR comfort become reality, enabling these casual, quick-sessions games to truly shine. Unfortunately, Wall Town Wonders seems to overlook current hardware limitations, feeling a touch too relaxed for sustained play on the Quest.

For fans of similar titles like The Sims or Townscaper, my lukewarm reception might sound like a personal shortcoming against Wall Town Wonders’ undeniable charm. Fair point!

Still, the interaction mechanics lean too heavily on point-and-click laser pointers, with limited scope for depth. The game tries to encourage hand-tracking, but this involves repetitive interactions, making controllers the go-to choice for a seamless experience. This reliance on a laser pointer UI feels like a missed chance to devise more engaging tools than the existing single-use gadgets seen in its mini-games.

Comfort

Exploring the extensive array of buildings means moving around a lot, encouraging you to use your entire room’s walls. Playing seated is an option but standing gives a better experience.

Keeping buildings at eye level is advisable, though some activities require looking downward, which might strain your neck if you’re prone to discomfort. The innovative approach of placing villages on your walls rather than a flat surface is a welcome shift, relieving players from awkward angles or map manipulations—a beneficial direction for town sims in XR.

Wall Town Wonders Comfort Settings – As of November 21, 2024

• Turning
  • Artificial turning: No
• Movement
  • Artificial movement: No
• Posture
  • Standing mode: Yes
  • Seated mode: No
  • Real crouch: Yes
• Accessibility
  • Subtitles: Yes
  • Languages: Multiple including English, Spanish, and more
  • Dialogue audio: No
  • Adjustable difficulty: No
  • Two hands required: No
  • Real crouch required: No
  • Hearing required: No
  • Adjustable player height: No

In conclusion, Wall Town Wonders offers a charming yet limited experience in the realm of casual AR gaming, showing hints of potential that may be fully realized with the next wave of XR hardware.