The free-to-play VR/MR multiplayer sandbox Anarchitects has enjoyably chaotic potential. Now available on Quest App Lab in early access, read on for our full impressions.
Squido Studio made little secret of its sources of inspiration at the time Anarchitects announced last month. It's reminiscent of Roblox's approach to user-generated content (UGC) with the creative freedom of Garry's Mod, and it's not what I expected from the team after 2023's VR platformer. No more rainbows. Although that is certainly not a bad thing. After a half-hour demo, the comparisons are justified.
I tried a pre-release build Quest 3 during GDC 2024, where I was joined by two members of Squido Studio. Anarchitects uses mixed reality for building levels and presents this world as a customizable floating area in your living space. Using MR allowed me to focus more clearly on the map when adding new items. Pressing
Objects take a nice physics-based approach to weight, which further increases immersion, and the potential of UGC creates a recipe for chaos. You can drop any item from the menu into this fully immersive world, and I mean anything. You can drop cars on the highway of a ready-made town to go racing or scatter endless explosive barrels and murderous drones to liven up the scene.
Usable objects can be frozen in fixed positions without removing their functionality. By a completely spontaneous decision, Squido froze the weapons in mid-air, and I gradually used them to climb to a hot air balloon. I quickly realized that pressing the triggers on the Touch Controllers still activates them. Did I mention that nothing prevents weapons from hurting you just because you're wielding them? I discovered this the hard way.
I'm already looking at how I could create new game types within Anarchitects. When Squido told me that lightsabers can deflect rocket launchers and bullets, I immediately theorized a possible baseball-style game mode where you hit them away, although I didn't take a closer look at how to set rules for your own games during my demo. time.
Given their many interactive elements, sandbox games are inherently prone to clutter, and Anarchitects is no exception. Some shaky camera movements left me feeling slightly nauseous towards the end, even though I played with minimal comfort settings. I'm told the team is looking to implement more comfort options, although at launch you can expect artificial stick-based locomotion, dominant hand selection, sitting and standing modes, plus smooth and fast-rotating cameras.
Could Anarchitects appeal to a younger audience with its undeniably creative sandbox? With seasonal content updates planned post-launch, we'll see how it lands with buyers and follow up to see if it gains momentum.
Anarchitects is now available on Quest App Lab.
Note: This article was originally published on March 27, 2024. It was updated on April 23 when Anarchitects launched Quest.