Quest 3 Hands-on: Wall Town Wonders is a bag full of mixed reality surprises
Wall Town Wonders is filled with mixed reality ideas that left us pleasantly surprised. Read on for our hands-on impressions.
I was very excited to play Wall Town Wonders. Little people living in the walls of my apartment, building a fairy tale village with my help: Sign me up for that!
I played the mixed reality game released yesterday exclusively for Meta Quest 3S and 3 for just under two hours. That's not enough for a final verdict, but will give you a solid first impression of what to expect in the game.
Does Wall Town Wonders deliver on the promise of a magical mixed reality experience? And is it any good as a city builder? Find out below.
A beautiful miniature world
The adventure begins with an explosion in the living room wall. A finger-sized woman, who introduces herself as Laine the archaeologist, climbs out of a hole in the wall. She wants me to help her build a thriving town for her people all along my walls.
First, a mine is built to supply the settlement with stone, wood and metal. A warehouse, a town hall, a farm, a department store and other buildings are added in short intervals without me having to do much for it.
One of the game's strengths is evident right from the start: the art style is pleasing at first glance, and the attention to detail of the buildings and inhabitants invites you to take a closer look.
Unfortunately, the tiny human figures are not voiced and communicate solely through text. While occasional exclamations can be heard, they feel generic and don’t align with the lifelike design of the characters. It's a shame, as proper voice work could have greatly enhanced the immersion.
Lots of mixed reality, but not enough agency
The best thing about Wall Town Wonders is its willingness to experiment with mixed reality. The game constantly surprises with immersive interactions between the game and the player on the one hand, and the world on the other.
For example, when one of the tiny humans jumps on your hand or the controller and asks to be taken to a certain place in the room, or when you have to maneuver a hot air balloon across the room using a wind machine, or when you guide a lizard along the walls to discover new ore deposits. And these are by no means all the ideas in the game. If you are into mixed reality, you will indeed find many wonders here.
What left me a bit disappointed was the gameplay and the sense of agency, or lack thereof. In Wall Town Wonders, I feel more like a servant tending to the needs of the little humans than a city builder or creative force. There's little creative or strategic challenge, at least in the first two hours I played. It's as if the game is playing me, not me playing the game.
A city builder game for the leisurely
Many tasks consist of mini-games like fishing or killing crawling bugs. These are meant to liven up the game, but they quickly get repetitive.
In general, the game could have used a little more polish here and there. Some interactions are not well implemented, and occasionally, I didn't know what the game wanted me to do. But this is to be expected, as Wall Town Wonders tries to push the boundaries of mixed reality, which is still very limited at the moment. The developers deserve a lot of praise for their courage.
I probably went into Wall Town Wonders with the wrong expectations, but I didn't find anything close to a deep and challenging city builder. At least for the first two hours.
Wall Town Wonders has a leisurely pace and is more about completing tasks, watching the city grow, and exploring the possibilities of mixed reality. Gathering resources, planning cities, and optimizing efficient supply chains are not its focus. If this meets your expectations, you can go ahead and pick it up.
Wall Town Wonders can be purchased for $20 in the Horizon Store.
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