Puzzling Places Can Now Be Played In AR On The Quest
One of the best VR puzzlers available on the Meta Quest just got even better.
The popular VR puzzle game Puzzling Places received a free update earlier today that allows you to solve virtual jigsaw puzzles in AR using the Meta Quest’s Passthrough technology. Previously you could only construct these hyper-realistic 3D models in a virtual space. With the introduction of Update V1.9, however, you can now build these same puzzles anywhere throughout your real-world environment.
The update also includes a new tool enabling you to adjust the brightness, contrast, and hue while in Passthrough mode, adding an additional layer of customization to the experience. To get started, head to your settings menu in the Puzzling Places app and scroll down until you see the option to enable Passthrough mode.
“While playtesting this feature in various environments, we noticed just how much Passthrough mode encouraged us to play Puzzling Places standing and in room-scale,” said the developer in an official release. “We also loved how “present” it made us feel with others in the room, being able to easily carry on conversations and even make eye contact (at least, from our perspective 😊).
Developer Realities.io launched a Puzzling Places prototype on SideQuest back in 2020 which featured a single 100-piece puzzle of the Tatev Monastery. The game was released in beta in February 2021 followed by an official launch on the Oculus Store in September 2021.
Since then the team has released a number of hyper-realistic puzzles based on a variety of real-world locations, each of which was brought to life in stunning detail using 3D volumetric capture. You can even lean into each puzzle and listen to audio recorded on-location.
The game comes with 16 original puzzles to complete, including Kushi Yaki Restaurant in Japan, the Khor Virap Monestary in Armenia, the Coast of Basquez in France, and a Union Pacific Railroad Car in the United States. Since its launch, the developer has also released a handful of paid DLC packs, each of which features a different theme, such as ‘Churches of Catalonia’ and ‘Mars Desert Research Station.’
Puzzling Places is available for $14.99 on Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2 headsets via the Quest Store. Passthrough mode is available as a free update for new and existing players. The game is also available on PlayStation VR headsets, though without support for Passthrough mode.
Image Credit: Realities.io
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