Think about the times you have visited your grandparents. You had the good times of hearing the stories of how your parents were when they were your age or even what the times were like back then. The memories that you made can last a lifetime and we start to think about those times at different points in our lives. But what if you stumbled into the attic and found something magical? What would you do? Would you tell someone or keep it to yourself? Maybe you would see what this magic was all about. It’s always interesting to think about the what if, but it’s even more interesting when that what if becomes a reality. But does the developer, Mighty Yell Studios, show us the magic in the attic? Let’s find out with A Knight in the Attic for Quest 2.
A Knight in the Attic is a VR puzzle game where you will guide Guinevere on a quest to save the kingdom from darkness. Find mysterious objects in a living labyrinth board to solve unique puzzles and defeat the evil Mordred, all from the comfort of your grandmother’s attic. So before helping Guinevere save their kingdom, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, find your favorite place to sit. This is going to be a relaxing good time, so might as well be comfortable. Second, free your mind. There are puzzles that will need to be solved and thinking outside the box is advisable. Third, make sure those controllers and/or headset is fully charged. You don’t want to roll around a corner to make it to where you need to go only to have something die because you forgot to charge them. Fourth, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone. And finally, just have some fun. With that said, let’s continue…
When you first start the game, you might want to go to Options as you can adjust things such as Monoaural Sound, Scroll Captions, Board Friction (where you choose how much friction momentum Guinevere has when tilting the board), World Speed, and Grip Mode. Once everything is set to your liking, it’s time to start the adventure. You play the role of a child who finds an old scroll in their Grandmother’s attic which starts the tale of the kingdom of Camelot and how it has grown dark as it is without its king. But along with the scroll you have found, you have other items such as the figure of Guinevere, a jar, and a book that will provide hints on how to solve the puzzles within each level.
But you also have this chest, in which each drawer represents a level, and each level is required to collect a certain amount of bees, that will be calling the jar their new home, which will be needed to access different parts of the level as well as accessing the next level. But what becomes interesting is when you put the toy figure of Guinevere on the board and start to watch the story unfold as you will need to tilt the board to roll Guinevere around.
In each level, you are looking for the scrolls, which help tell the story, and bees. Through each level, you will be rolling, tilting, and turning your way through. If you see a blue lit-up circle, make sure to roll over it as that you will be your checkpoints in case you happen to roll off an area and have to start back at the last checkpoint. Yes, it is possible to have Guinevere haul downhill only to hit part of the ground that could be mistaken for a ramp, and well, for research purposes only, there were many times I had to pay my respects to Guinevere. So I am not saying to do that, but again, she can move with the right speed. As you progress, you start to add new tools to use to help you in your quest to help Guinevere find her missing husband.
With the puzzles, I found to be somewhat refreshing as trying to figure out how to solve them. The book that is placed on the chest that holds the scrolls, again, helps give you an idea of how to solve, but even then, you still might need to think outside the box in order to solve them.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Everything looked really good, but it’s an interesting view of how things are set up that kept me wanting to play. You are in VR looking at a board that you can rotate for a different angle, that then has this world with a story to tell. As I was playing, just the movements alone and how smooth everything kept me engaged throughout my time. With the sound, just hearing Guinevere roll over different points just had this distinct sound that is as simple as can be, and when you add the soundtrack by Neil Quillen, that compliments the gameplay and story, it really is quite pleasant to listen to.
There are a few things I would love to see. First, there were a few times when I would go to pick up an object and it would pick a different object next to it. I don’t know if maybe adding a way to make the table different sizes or spacing out the size of the chests so objects could be a little more spaced out would help. But this again, only happened a few times. Second, more figures to control. Maybe using a different character would then so the story through that character’s eyes. Third, online co-op. It would be fun with each person having to control their rolling character and then having to work together to solve additional puzzles. Fourth, is the option for table resizing. I like how you can rotate the table to get a different view, but having the choice to make it a little longer and/or wider, would be interesting to have. And finally, more stories using this tabletop experience.
A Knight in the Attic shows us how much fun casual can be. It is engaging as much as it is unique while still providing a tale of love with a different view on a story that many know. In life, people are judged before even being heard, but it’s when we take the time to hear the story that’s being told, that we realize that we should never judge a book by its cover.
A Knight in the Attic is out now for Quest/2/Pro on the Oculus Store and on Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Mighty Yell Studios, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
Also, check out the A Knight in the Attic interview.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I need to make sure I didn’t leave any scrolls behind.
