Hands-On: Walk the Plank is Richie's Plank Experience with more realistic graphics
Walk the Plank is a clone of Richie's Plank Experience with more realistic graphics and a lower price. Is it worth buying?
If you've never heard about Richie's Plank Experience: In this iconic 2017 VR experience, you enter an elevator that, after a short ride, opens to reveal an unobstructed view of a city skyline-and a deep chasm below.
The challenge is to venture across the chasm on a virtual wooden plank. The test of courage becomes even more challenging when you place a real plank on the ground and feel the soft, yielding wood under your feet. The dimensions of the virtual plank can be adjusted to match the physical plank for maximum immersion.
The Quest version of Richie's Plank Experience received an update in 2023 that added mixed reality and improved graphics. I tested the update at the time and found that the VR app is no longer worth $15 by today's standards. It simply offers too little for that.
More realistic graphics - with plenty of room for improvement
With Walk the Plank, there is now a cheaper alternative for $5. The VR app was released at Christmas 2024 and developed by the same studio responsible for the mixed reality shocker Panic Room.
The most noticeable feature of Walk the Plank is the improved graphics. The VR experience has been developed exclusively for Meta Quest 3 and 3S, so it can take advantage of more processing power.
The difference is immediately noticeable: skyscrapers and buildings in the middle distance look more real thanks to sharper and more detailed textures, while clouds of fog, a passing helicopter, and realistically animated traffic add to the immersion. A real immersion killer, however, is the low-res 360-degree picture of the more distant city.
Graphically, Walk the Plank is a bit more realistic, but Richie's Plank Experience doesn't look bad either in direct comparison, especially when you increase the resolution via QGO. Walk the Plank also feels more jerky and could use some optimization.
I'm still waiting for the ultimate plank experience
In terms of features, Walk The Plank is behind Richie's Plank Experience. When you step off the plank, you don't fall down, you get stuck in the air, which is a big minus in terms of immersion. It is also not possible to fly through the city and explore it.
I can't recommend Richie's Plank Experience or Walk The Plank without reservation, at least not for the price. Walk The Plank currently feels like an attempt to make a quick buck with a clone without adding to the VR experience. However, if you don't want to spend more than $5, you now have a cheaper option.
You can purchase Walk the Plank and Richie's Plank Experience from the Horizon Store.
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