Review of ‘Wall Town Wonders’ – Potentially Too Laid-Back for Modern Mixed Reality

Wall Town Wonders gives you a sneak peek into the future of casual gaming, where augmented reality glasses become a standard. Picture this: you’re managing a bustling little town filled with miniature, Sim-like characters who drift around your space in charming hot air balloons, all while you’re going about your day. Visually, it’s quite the treat, but the gameplay lacks substance, leaving me pondering if this type of game is arriving ahead of its time for today’s XR headsets.

Wall Town Wonders Details:

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

Gameplay

Jumping into Wall Town Wonders, the low difficulty level isn’t surprising, as it aims to create a relaxing atmosphere. The initial charm lies in observing the goings-on within the various buildings—like watching a diminutive chef concoct a pizza or following miniature villagers as they buzz around in a bi-plane across your living room.

After about an hour-long tutorial, you’ll notice that a lot of the gameplay hinges on mini-games, which unlock with new structures. These include tasks like protecting a vertical farm from pesky bugs using a mini-crossbow on your wrist, fishing in a pond on your floor, and guiding airplanes around the room with hand gestures.

Much of your time will be spent waiting for residents to produce resources like wood, money, and food automatically. The gameplay loop revolves around building and upgrading over 100 different structures. You have the creative liberty to repaint and reposition these buildings, crafting a setup that’s uniquely yours. It’s a spectacle to see your room transform into a lively and vibrant village teeming with activity.

Despite the immersive design, the villagers operate independently—much like fish in a tank or ants in an ant farm—offering you the choice to jump in when you like or simply observe. You can assist them in mining, farming, and exploring as you construct new structures, although these activities are usually framed as take-it-or-leave-it mini-games.

However, my interest began to wane rather quickly, longing to engage in something more thrilling while their world whirled around me. This made me reluctant to revisit the game beyond the three hours I spent in a few sessions. The mini-games aim to entertain during resource-gathering lulls, but they ended up feeling more like mundane chores to me.

Immersion

Virtual dioramas have always captivated me; their ability to condense detail makes them vivid and lively. Wall Town Wonders brings quaint European village vibes right onto your walls—a definite "awww" factor.

Despite technological advances in XR productivity environments, I’m writing this review outside a headset. Like most, my gaming window is squeezed into a few precious hours after work, not during unless a review compels me to dive in.

I envision a not-so-distant future where display resolutions are impeccable, allowing for seamless activities like typing, without even noticing the headset I’m wearing—a pivotal factor for casual ‘pick-up, put-down’ games.

Although I’d love the flexibility to dip in for brief sessions like on a smartphone, right now Wall Town Wonders seems to overlook certain XR hardware limitations. Its assortment of mini-games and idle viewer experience feels overly laid-back for committed play stints on the Quest.

Some gamers, especially fans of The Sims or Townscaper, might find my perspective misaligned with the charming allure of Wall Town Wonders—fair point!

However, objectively speaking, the game leans heavily on laser pointers for interaction, offering moments to occasionally pick up villagers for brief explorations or auto-spawn gadgets from your wrist for tasks like bug shooting or plant watering.

While it endeavors to prioritize hand-tracking initially, the precise interactions required nudged me back to traditional controllers. The laser pointer-centric UI makes distant interactions somewhat easier, yet it misses out on crafting more immersive tools beyond the one-off gadgets in the mini-games.

Comfort

The vast array of buildings naturally encourages movement, nudging you to explore all available wall spaces. While playing seated is an option, standing and moving around feels more natural.

Keeping most buildings at eye level adds comfort, though ground-activities may strain your neck, especially if you’re sensitive. The game’s standout feature is its arrangement of your village on wall space rather than beneath you, easing the strain of leaning over maps—a design approach I’d love to see more in future XR town sims.

‘Wall Town Wonders’ Comfort Settings – November 21st, 2024:

• Turning: Artificial turning ✖
• Movement: Artificial movement ✖
• Posture: Standing mode ✔, Seated mode ✖, Artificial crouch ✖, Real crouch ✔
• Accessibility: Subtitles ✔, Multiple languages available, Dialogue audio ✖
• Adjustable settings: Difficulty ✖, Two hands required ✖, Real crouch required ✖, Hearing required ✖, Adjustable player height ✖