Hidden Path Entertainment, the studio behind Brass Tactics (2018) and Defense Grid 2: Enhanced VR Edition (2016), has released a new game for Rift and Quest that takes you to an adorable island filled with story quests and plenty of tasks that fans of Stardew Valley and the Animal Crossing franchise should recognize.
Called Raccoon Island, the multiplayer simulator/adventure tasks you with building a new home for a group of marooned sailors while setting out to “repair the island’s broken heart,” the studio says on the game’s official website.
The game is said to include eight different biomes filled with quests, as well as tasks such as fishing, cooking, farming, mining, painting, and themed decorations.
“We definitely drew a lot of inspiration from games that take time to smell the roses like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing,” lead game designer Steve Kramer says in an Oculus blog post. “One of our big goals was to make sure the game could be passed around to friends to show off how cool Oculus Quest is without having to worry about throwing them into some kind of virtual crisis situation. As Raccoon Lagoon began to take shape, we realized there was a big opportunity for [the studio] to step away from its comfort zone of intense moment-to-moment decision making and explore personal interaction and even nurturing in a VR environment.”
Hidden Path says it’s possible to speedrun the game in about six hours, although completionists could double that time as they explore the whole island.
The game, which costs $15 on Quest and Rift, also includes both cross-buy and cross-play, so you can play with friends on either platform.