Gareth Griffiths – The XR School

Numbers and Letters: Music and Melody

Gareth Griffiths — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:13:43 +0000

Free • Quest and Steam Numbers and Letters • Indie Four music modes Quest 2, 3, 3S, Pro • PC VR

Quest 4 September 2026 • Steam 15 October 2026 • Ear training • Sheet music • Rhythm • Composition • PEGI 3

Music and Melody

A free music learning game set in a virtual concert hall, from the makers of Numbers & Letters. Pupils train their ear by naming notes, read and play notes on a giant stave, play along to a large song library with virtual mallets and write melodies of their own. It has just arrived on Steam after launching on Quest in September.

Developer: Numbers and Letters

Price: Free

Platform: Meta Quest • PC VR (Steam)

Subject: Music • Notation • Aural skills

7.0

/10

XR School Score

Worth a Try

Free • Covers notation, ear training and rhythm • Works offline • Runs on Quest 2 • Very new, almost no user reviews • Limited detail on depth

New release No Quest reviews yet • 1 Steam review
Based on published information, not hands-on play

Overview

Numbers and Letters: Music and Melody is a free VR music game from the team behind Numbers & Letters, the numeracy and literacy game we have reviewed before. It launched on Meta Quest on 4 September 2026 and arrived on Steam for PC VR on 15 October 2026. The Quest version runs on Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro, is rated PEGI 3, is rated Comfortable and does not need an internet connection, which is handy for school networks.

Everything takes place on the stage of a grand virtual concert hall, guided by the series’ animated letter characters. The store listings describe four ways to play, aimed at learning the basics of music theory, practising sheet music and simply having fun with rhythm.

This review is based on the store listings and the developer’s published description, not on hands-on play. The app is so new that there are no Quest reviews yet and only one on Steam, so we will update our score once more players have tried it.

The Key Idea Notation you can stand inside. Reading music is abstract on paper: dots on lines that only make sense once you hear them. Music and Melody puts a giant stave in front of the player and links each note on it to a sound they play themselves, so the symbol, the pitch and the action arrive together. That direct link between seeing, hearing and doing is exactly what VR is good at.

The Four Modes

👂

1. Ear Training

Notes are played and you identify them, helped by the animated letter characters on stage.

🎼

2. Master Sheet Music

Learn to read, recognise and play notes on a giant virtual stave, connecting sight reading with sound.

🥁

3. VR Rhythm Mode

Pick up virtual mallets and strike notes as they travel down a track, arcade style, or just jam freely.

🎹

4. Melody and Composition

Play along to a library of more than 250 songs, or write your own melodies and play them back.

For Parents: An Easy, Free First Step With a PEGI 3 rating, a Comfortable comfort rating and seated or standing play, this is about as gentle as VR gets. It costs nothing, works offline and is a small 1.1 GB download, so there is little risk in trying it. Meta’s own account rules still apply to younger children, and short sessions are best: see our guide Is VR bad for children? for practical advice.

What It Covers

Note namesReading the staveAural recognitionRhythm and timingComposing melodies250+ songs7 languages

The Quest listing says 250+ songs while the Steam page says 200+, so the exact library may differ between versions. The interface is available in English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Quest vs Steam

Feature

Meta Quest

Steam (PC VR)

Released

4 September 2026

15 October 2026

Price

Free

Headsets

Quest 2, 3, 3S, Pro

PC VR headsets (VR only)

Internet

Not required

Steam download

Best for

Schools and homes with Quest

Existing PC VR setups

Curriculum Value

Value for money

9.5

Link to music curriculum

7.8

Hardware accessibility

8.5

Depth of learning

6.0

Proven with players

4.0

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

Completely free on Quest and Steam
Covers notation, ear training, rhythm and composition
Large song library to play along with
Works offline on Quest
Runs on older Quest 2 headsets
PEGI 3 and rated Comfortable
Seated play option suits classrooms
Seven interface languages

Considerations

Almost no player reviews yet
Store pages give little detail on difficulty or progression
No teacher dashboard or progress tracking mentioned
Song counts differ between the two store pages
Single player only
Steam version needs a PC VR setup

For Teachers: Practice Station, Not a Scheme of Work The National Curriculum asks KS2 pupils to listen with attention to detail, recall sounds with increasing aural memory and use and understand staff notation. Music and Melody targets exactly those skills, so it fits well as a rotation station during music lessons or as a lunchtime club activity, with pupils taking turns on the ear training and sheet music modes. Because nothing in the listings mentions progress tracking, keep a simple paper record of which notes each pupil can name. Pair it with real instruments afterwards so the skills transfer. Younger KS1 children may enjoy the rhythm mode most.

Free

Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro • Also free on Steam for PC VR

Get on Meta Quest → Get on Steam → More free apps →

Quick Facts

Developer: Numbers and Letters
Released: Quest 4 September 2026 • Steam 15 October 2026
Price: Free
Platform: Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S, Pro • PC VR
Age rating: PEGI 3
Comfort: Comfortable • sitting, standing or roomscale
Internet: Not required (Quest)
Download size: About 1.1 GB (Quest)
Languages: English plus six more
Players: Single player

Verdict

Music and Melody covers an impressive spread of core music skills for a free app: naming notes by ear, reading the stave, keeping time and composing simple melodies. It runs on almost any Quest, needs no internet and is rated suitable for all ages, which makes it an easy addition to a school headset set. It is very new and largely untested by players, so our score is cautious, but at no cost it is well worth downloading to see how your pupils get on.

Sources: Meta Horizon Store listing and Steam store page, checked 24 October 2026. Want more? See our best education VR apps and the music app Virtuoso.

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D-Day VR Museum

Gareth Griffiths — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:13:41 +0000

£10.99 Quest • £12.79 Steam Lichtblau IT • Indie 400+ exhibits Quest 3 • PC VR • Desktop from 27 Oct

Virtual museum • Five landing beaches • 3D scanned equipment • 360° scenes of Normandy today • New desktop mode on Steam

D-Day VR Museum

A virtual museum of the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944, with a room for each of the five beaches, hundreds of photos, films and 3D models, and scanned replicas of real equipment you can pick up. From 27 October 2026 the Steam version also works on an ordinary monitor, which makes it far easier for schools to use.

Developer: Lichtblau IT

Price: £10.99 Quest • £12.79 Steam

Platform: Quest 3, 3S • PC VR • Windows desktop

Subject: History • Second World War

7.5

/10

XR School Score

Recommended

Huge archive of exhibits • Hold scanned replicas • Strong comfort options • Desktop mode helps classrooms • AI voiceover • Small user base so far

100% positive • Steam 17 user reviews • 5.0 on Quest (4 ratings)
Based on published information, not hands-on play

Overview

D-Day VR Museum is a virtual museum about the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. It comes from German developer Lichtblau IT and publisher Diverently GmbH. It entered Early Access on Steam in November 2024, reached its full release on 20 January 2026, and arrived on Meta Quest 3 and 3S on 13 May 2026. Meta files it under Learning, and it is rated PEGI 3 on the Quest store.

The reason it is on our radar this month is a significant update. The developer announced on 10 October that from 27 October the Steam version can be explored on a standard monitor, with no headset needed. The VR version stays exactly as it is. For schools, that matters: one teacher can now show the museum on a classroom screen while a few pupils explore it in a headset.

This review is based on the store listings, the developer’s announcements and published coverage, not on hands-on play.

The Key Idea A museum visit you can take from the classroom. Rather than recreating combat, D-Day VR Museum lays the day out like a well stocked exhibition: maps and context in the entrance hall, then a room per beach full of photos, film and scanned objects. Pupils move at their own pace, pick things up and look closely, much as they would on a real school trip, and the 360° images show what the same places look like now.

How a Visit Works

🏛

1. Entrance Hall

An overview of the operation and the locations, with Second World War uniforms on display and the route into each part of the museum.

🏖

2. The Five Beaches

A dedicated room for Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, each filled with exhibits about what happened there.

🧰

3. Handle the Objects

More than 30 3D scans of original equipment. UploadVR’s review mentions holding replicas such as a Bombe machine and a “Rupert” dummy paratrooper.

🌍

4. Then and Now

360° scenes of key places today, including Pegasus Bridge, the beaches and the Normandy American Cemetery.

Across the museum there are more than 400 exhibits, mixing 3D models, photographs and short documentary films. UploadVR’s January review also describes narrated exhibits covering the background, leaders and wider political context, and a recording of President Roosevelt’s address on the evening of the invasion. The Steam listing adds a scene in which you jump from an aircraft over Sainte-Mère-Église with the paratroopers.

For Parents: Respectful, Not Graphic, but Still War The Quest edition carries a PEGI 3 rating, and the experience is built as a museum rather than a shooter. Steam still notes that it contains depictions of war, and the subject itself includes loss of life and military cemeteries, so younger children will benefit from an adult alongside. UploadVR reports comfort settings including snap or smooth turning, teleport movement, an adjustable vignette, subtitles on every film and an option to remove Nazi symbols. The parachute scene is the one most likely to unsettle anyone prone to motion sickness. Our guide Is VR bad for children? covers sensible session lengths.

What’s in the Museum

UtahOmahaGoldJunoSwordPegasus BridgeNormandy American Cemetery400+ exhibits30+ 3D scansDocumentary films

Full voiceover is in English and German, with menus and subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish. Steam’s AI disclosure states that the voiceovers are AI generated.

Steam vs Quest

Feature

Steam (PC)

Quest edition

Released

20 January 2026

13 May 2026

Price

£12.79

£10.99 (£8.99 in a current sale)

Headset

PC VR via OpenXR, or none from 27 Oct

Quest 3 or 3S

Hardware

RTX 3070 class PC, 18 GB

Standalone, 14.4 GB

Best for

Whole class screen plus headset station

Individual or small group visits

Curriculum Value

Historical content

8.4

Use of sources and objects

8.0

Classroom flexibility

7.6

Engagement for pupils

6.8

Polish and production

6.2

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

Over 400 exhibits across all five beaches
3D scanned replicas you can pick up and inspect
Then and now 360° views of real locations
Built as a museum, not a combat game
Generous comfort and accessibility settings
New desktop mode on Steam from 27 October
Seven interface languages
Every user review so far is positive

Considerations

Narration uses AI generated voices
Quest edition needs a Quest 3 or 3S
PC version needs a gaming class graphics card
Only a small number of user reviews so far
Quest edition needs an internet connection
Desktop mode controls not yet described
Paced like a museum, which some pupils may find slow

For Teachers: A Virtual Trip to Normandy The Second World War is a popular topic in upper KS2 and sits within the KS3 study of Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present. D-Day VR Museum works best as a structured visit: give pupils a beach each and a short source question (what does this object tell us, and what does this photograph leave out?), then compare findings back in class. The 360° scenes of the cemetery suit remembrance work. Narration is AI voiced and the store pages do not list any historical advisers, so check key facts against a source such as the Imperial War Museums or the D-Day Story in Portsmouth. With the desktop mode, one PC and projector can carry the whole class.

£10.99

Meta Quest 3 and 3S • £12.79 on Steam for PC VR and desktop • Check stores for current offers

Get on Meta Quest → Get on Steam → More history apps →

Quick Facts

Developer: Lichtblau IT • published by Diverently GmbH
Released: Steam 20 January 2026 • Quest 13 May 2026
Latest update: Desktop mode on Steam from 27 October 2026
Price: £10.99 Quest • £12.79 Steam
Platform: Meta Quest 3, 3S • PC VR (OpenXR) • Windows desktop
Age rating: PEGI 3 (Quest) • Steam: depictions of war
Comfort: Moderate • sitting, standing or roomscale
Voiceover: English and German (AI generated)
Text languages: 7, including French and Spanish
Minimum PC: Windows 10 • 8 GB RAM • RTX 3070 class
Players: Single player

Verdict

D-Day VR Museum takes a sensible, respectful approach to a difficult subject: it is a museum first, packed with photos, films and scanned objects, organised beach by beach. It lacks the polish of a big studio production and the AI narration will not suit everyone, but the depth of material is impressive for the price. The new desktop mode is the real news for schools, turning a single headset experience into something a whole class can share. A strong, affordable choice for Second World War topics from upper primary upwards.

Sources: Meta Horizon Store listing, Steam store page, UploadVR and Mixed News coverage of the desktop update. Prices checked 24 October 2026. Looking for more? See our best education VR apps.

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Meta Connect 2026: What It Means for Schools and Families

Gareth Griffiths — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:19:55 +0000

Meta held its yearly Connect event on 23 September 2026. Most of the headlines were about smart glasses, but there was one big VR announcement too. Here is what matters if you teach with VR, or are thinking about buying a headset for your child.

The big one: Meta VR Glasses

Meta revealed Meta VR Glasses, a very light VR headset that looks more like a pair of chunky glasses. The part you wear weighs about 100g, because the processor and battery sit in a separate puck connected by a cable. It has a 5K display and full colour passthrough, and it runs games and apps made for Quest.

Price: $1,299.99 in the US. UK pricing has not been confirmed yet.
Release: spring 2027.
Works with: Quest games and apps, plus a productivity mode that connects to Windows PCs and Macs.

It is an exciting piece of kit, but at that price it is aimed at enthusiasts, not classrooms.

No Quest 4 (yet)

There was no new Quest headset. Reports before the event suggested Meta restarted its Quest 4 work, and that a new mainstream headset is unlikely before the second half of 2027. For schools and parents, that means the Quest 3 and Quest 3S remain the headsets to buy, and there is no reason to wait for a replacement this Christmas.

New content worth knowing about

Beat Saber gets its biggest update next spring, adding hand tracking and a new single player mode. It is still one of the best ways to get pupils moving.
Two Point Hospital is coming to Quest 3 and 3S with hand tracking.
National Geographic: Beyond brings 180 degree 3D nature films to the headset, which could be great for geography and science lessons.
Supernatural, the fitness app, returns to the Meta Horizon Store this autumn under a new independent team.

Smart glasses: not for school, yet

Meta also launched new Ray-Ban Meta glasses, audio only glasses and its own Meta Glasses range. The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are now on sale in the UK at £749. These are camera and AI glasses for adults, and we would not recommend them for pupils.

Our take

Connect 2026 does not change our advice. A Quest 3S is still the best value way to bring VR into a classroom or a home, and the library of educational apps keeps growing. If you are buying this year, have a look at our best educational VR apps for schools and our Christmas gift guide to educational VR games. Parents may also find our guide Is VR bad for children? helpful.

Sources: Engadget, Inven Global, VR.org.

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Valve’s Steam Frame Is Here: Is It Right for Schools?

Gareth Griffiths — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:19:52 +0000

Valve, the company behind Steam and Half-Life, launched its new Steam Frame VR headset on 14 September 2026. It has been one of the most anticipated headsets for years, so we have looked at whether it makes sense for schools.

What is the Steam Frame?

The Steam Frame can work on its own, like a Quest, or stream games wirelessly from a gaming PC. Valve calls it streaming first. It comes with a wireless adapter for your PC, its own controllers and a copy of Half-Life: Alyx.

Price: $1,059 for the 256GB kit, or $1,299 for the 1TB kit.
Weight: about 435g, a little lighter than a Quest 3.
Screens: two 2160 by 2160 LCD panels with eye tracking.
Battery: reviewers measured roughly one to one and a half hours of use.
Availability: demand is high. Valve says people on the reservation list will get an order email by December or in 2027.

The good news for teachers

Some of the best educational VR apps only run on PC VR. Our 9/10 pick HistoryMaker VR, for example, needs a PC and a tethered headset. The Steam Frame streams PC VR wirelessly, which could make apps like this much easier to use in a classroom without trailing cables. Its standalone mode also runs over 100 games that Valve has tested and marked as Steam Frame Verified.

The not so good news

Cost: it costs around $460 more than a Quest 3, before you add a gaming PC.
Ease of use: Road to VR called it a power user’s playground and did not recommend it for people new to VR. The menus can be confusing and some features need tinkering.
Passthrough: you see the room around you in black and white unless you buy an extra colour camera, which matters when pupils need to stay aware of their surroundings.
Classroom management: Valve has not announced tools for managing a set of headsets across a school, as Meta and others offer for Quest.

Our verdict

The Steam Frame is impressive, but it is built for enthusiasts and PC gamers. For most schools and families, a Meta Quest 3 or 3S is still the better choice: cheaper, simpler and with a much bigger library of standalone educational apps. The Steam Frame is worth a look for a school that already has gaming PCs and wants to run PC VR apps such as HistoryMaker VR wirelessly.

Looking for apps to try? Start with our best educational VR apps for schools, or browse our free VR apps.

Sources: Road to VR review, VR.org.

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Using Quest Headsets in School? What Meta’s Management Changes Mean for You

Gareth Griffiths — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:19:49 +0000

If your school manages a set of Meta Quest headsets, you may have seen some confusing news about Meta’s management tools this year. Here is a plain English summary of what has changed and what you should do.

What has changed?

Meta Horizon Managed Services (HMS) is the system schools and businesses use to set up, update and lock down a set of Quest headsets. Meta announced on 15 January 2026 that, from 20 February 2026:

HMS is now free. Existing monthly subscriptions stopped billing, and new sign ups cost nothing.
Business versions of Quest are no longer sold. Schools can still buy ordinary consumer Quest headsets and enrol them in HMS.
HMS is in maintenance mode until 4 January 2030. Meta will fix bugs and provide support, but will not add new features.

Will our headsets stop working?

No. Headsets you already have keep working, and you can still enrol new ones. Tools such as ManageXR, which many schools use to run their headsets, say their service is not affected and still supports the Quest 2. Meta has not said what happens after January 2030, so it is worth keeping an eye on.

What should schools do?

Keep using what you have. If your headsets do what you need, there is nothing urgent to do.
Check your bills. If you were paying for HMS, make sure the charges have stopped. Contact Meta support if not.
Buy consumer headsets for new purchases. A Quest 3S is still the best value option, and it can be enrolled in HMS for free.
Plan ahead. If you are writing a long term technology plan, assume Meta’s current school tools are supported until 2030, and review your options before then. Other headset makers, such as PICO, also sell to schools.

The upside

Free management makes it cheaper than ever for a school to try VR. A small set of Quest 3S headsets and a few good apps can bring subjects like history, science and geography to life. If you are just starting, our best educational VR apps for schools is a good place to begin, and our guide Is VR bad for children? covers age guidance and safety.

Sources: ManageXR, Meta for Work Help Centre.

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Paleo Dive

Gareth Griffiths — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:19:40 +0000

£17.99 • One‑time purchase Astra Render • Indie 48 prehistoric species PC VR (OpenXR) • Desktop mode

Released 4 September 2026 • Steam • 87% positive user reviews • Five ocean eras • Photograph, sample DNA, build an aquarium

Paleo Dive

Strap on an oxygen tank and swim through oceans that vanished hundreds of millions of years ago. Paleo Dive takes you from a Cambrian lagoon to coral reefs, kelp forests and the pitch black deep sea, with a camera and a DNA scanner to document 48 prehistoric species. Part nature documentary, part survival dive, it is one of the most vivid ways yet to meet the animals behind the fossils.

Developer: Astra Render

Price: £17.99 on Steam

Platform: PC VR (OpenXR) • Windows desktop

Subject: Palaeontology • Evolution • Marine life

7.6

/10

XR School Score

Recommended

Breathtaking prehistoric oceans • Natural arm swimming • Photo and DNA research loop • Walk‑in aquarium • Easy mode for younger divers • Needs a powerful gaming PC • Light on scientific detail

87% positive • Steam 39 user reviews
Released September 2026

Overview

Paleo Dive is an underwater exploration game from independent developer Astra Render, released on Steam on 4 September 2026. It is designed around PC VR, where you swim by sweeping your arms through the water, and it can also be played on a normal monitor with a keyboard and mouse or a controller. The premise is simple and irresistible: dive into five handcrafted seas from different geological eras, spanning more than 500 million years of Earth’s history, and document the animals that lived there.

Each dive starts from a research base. You head out with a limited supply of oxygen, photograph creatures, collect DNA samples and gather fossil fragments, map pieces and coins, then return before your air runs out. Completed research unlocks new diving areas and upgrades to your swimming speed, oxygen capacity and equipment. Fully documented species can be released into a walk‑in aquarium back at base, where you can study them up close.

Fossils That Swim Most children meet prehistoric sea life as a fossil in a museum case or a picture in a textbook. Paleo Dive puts them face to face with living, moving versions at full scale: ammonites drifting past, trilobites on the sea floor and huge predators gliding out of the gloom. Early players describe exactly that reaction. One Steam reviewer wrote that they had “dreamed of diving with trilobites” since childhood. That sense of scale and presence is something no textbook diagram can deliver.

How the Research Works

📷

1. Photograph

Capture each species from three clearly different angles with the underwater camera. Your shots are saved in a personal photo gallery.

🧬

2. Sample DNA

Use the DNA scanner to gather research samples from the animals you have found, completing their scientific record.

📚

3. Study the Archive

Finished photo sets unlock a rotatable 3D specimen and information entry in the animal archive, ready to examine from every side.

🐟

4. Build the Aquarium

Species with both photo and DNA research complete can be released into a walk‑in aquarium at the research base.

A wrist display shows oxygen, depth, water pressure and remaining collectibles, while a holographic map and an unlockable “finder” help you navigate. You choose a loadout from the camera, DNA scanner, headlamp, finder and spare oxygen bottle, which adds a light layer of planning to each dive. Collecting rare Moon Rocks unlocks a night mode for every area, and reviewers single out the night dives as some of the most atmospheric moments in the game.

Easy Mode Makes It Suitable for Younger Divers On Normal difficulty, dangerous creatures can attack, and if a dive fails you lose the photos, collectibles and DNA progress from that expedition. One early reviewer described the deeper maps as genuinely frightening, almost a horror experience. Easy mode changes this completely: creatures do not attack and your progress is kept even if you run out of air. For primary age children, nervous players or classroom use, Easy mode is the right choice and turns the game into a calm, exploratory documentary.

Five Lost Oceans

Cambrian lagoonAncient coral reefsKelp forestsThe deep seaNight mode for every area48 species500+ million years

The five areas move through different geological eras, so a full playthrough becomes an informal journey through the history of life in the oceans, from the early animals of the Cambrian to much later giants. The store page does not list every species, and part of the appeal is discovering them yourself, but screenshots show ammonites, early arthropods, toothy predatory fish and huge sharks among the residents.

Paleo Dive vs theBlu

Feature

Paleo Dive

theBlu

Oceans

Prehistoric (five eras)

Modern day

Movement

Free arm swimming

Mostly stationary scenes

Activity

Photograph, sample DNA, collect, upgrade

Watch encounters unfold

Session length

Hours of progression

Short episodes

Hardware

Gaming PC (VR or desktop)

Standalone headset friendly

Best for

Independent exploration

Quick whole class wonder moments

If theBlu is the gentle introduction to the living ocean, Paleo Dive is the deeper, game driven follow up that takes the same sense of wonder back in time.

Curriculum Value

Immersion and wow factor

9.0

Engagement and progression

8.4

Link to fossils and evolution

7.2

Scientific depth

5.5

Hardware accessibility

4.0

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

Beautiful, atmospheric prehistoric environments
Natural arm swimming feels intuitive in VR
Clear research loop: photograph, sample, archive, aquarium
Rotatable 3D specimens to study in the archive
Five eras give a sense of deep time and change
Easy mode removes attacks and protects progress
Night mode adds replay value to every area
Also playable on a normal monitor
87% positive reviews from early players

Considerations

Needs a powerful gaming PC (RTX 3070 minimum)
No standalone Quest version: Quest needs a PC link
Deep sea areas can be frightening on Normal
Archive information is brief, not textbook depth
Most creatures follow set routes and ignore you
One reviewer found the in‑game camera fiddly
Developer discloses some AI generated 3D models

For Teachers: A Starting Point, Not a Lesson in Itself Paleo Dive is a game first, and its archive entries are short. It works best as a hook that sparks questions which you then answer in class: when did these animals live, how do we know what they looked like, what do their fossils tell us, and why did they disappear? It sits naturally alongside the Year 6 “Evolution and inheritance” topic, which covers fossils, and KS3 work on variation and adaptation. The developer notes that some 3D models were produced with AI help, and the game does not claim expert palaeontological review, so treat creature details as an artist’s reconstruction and check specific facts against a museum source. Because it needs a gaming PC, most schools will use it as a single station demo rather than a whole class activity.

£17.99

Steam • PC VR (OpenXR) or desktop • Check Steam for current offers

Get on Steam → More biology apps →

Quick Facts

Developer: Astra Render
Released: 4 September 2026
Price: £17.99 (Steam)
Platform: PC VR via OpenXR • Windows desktop mode
Content: 5 diving areas • 48 species
Difficulty: Easy (no attacks) • Normal
Steam reviews: 87% positive (39 reviews)
Interface languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Minimum PC: Windows 10 • 16 GB RAM • RTX 3070 or RX 6800
Storage: 8 GB
Players: Single player

Verdict

Paleo Dive delivers something many of us have wanted since childhood: the chance to swim alongside the animals we only know as fossils. Its photograph and DNA research loop gives exploration a purpose, the walk‑in aquarium is a lovely reward, and Easy mode makes it suitable for younger players. The scientific content is light and the hardware demands are high, so it is best used as an unforgettable hook for lessons on fossils and evolution rather than as a teaching resource in its own right. For families and schools with a capable PC VR setup, it is one of the most memorable science themed experiences of 2026.

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Spatial Lingo: Language Practice

Gareth Griffiths — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:03:05 +0000

Free • No ads Made by Meta • Open source Mixed reality • AI feedback Meta Quest 3 • Quest 3S

Meta • Built by Magnopus • Released December 2025 • English or Spanish • Passthrough camera + Llama AI

Spatial Lingo

Look at the mug on your desk and the word taza appears floating above it. Spatial Lingo uses your Quest’s cameras to recognise the real objects in your room, labels them in your target language, and asks you to say sentences out loud while a cheerful guide called Golly Gosh checks how you did. It is free, it is genuinely clever, and it is the clearest glimpse yet of where mixed reality language learning is heading.

Developer: Meta (Oculus DevTech Samples) • Magnopus

Price: Free

Platform: Meta Quest 3 • Quest 3S

Languages: Practise English or Spanish

6.4

/10

XR School Score

Worth Exploring

Free • Your own room becomes the lesson • AI checks your spoken sentences • Great for beginner vocabulary • Only two languages • Horizon Store listing is US only • Needs internet

Free • Open source Meta showcase app
Quest 3 and 3S only

Overview

Spatial Lingo: Language Practice is a free mixed reality app published by Meta and built for it by the immersive studio Magnopus. It arrived on the Meta Horizon Store on 17 December 2025, and in January 2026 Meta released its full source code on GitHub under the MIT licence. Meta describes it as a showcase app: a working example of what developers can build by combining the Quest’s passthrough cameras with on‑device object detection and a large language model. That dual purpose matters, because Spatial Lingo is both a learning app you can use today and a template other developers are already building on.

The idea is simple and instantly understandable. Instead of placing you inside a virtual restaurant or train carriage, as Mondly VR does, Spatial Lingo keeps you in your own room. The headset recognises everyday objects around you, such as a chair, a cup, a laptop or a plant, and floats translated labels above them. You then practise using those words in speech, and an AI evaluates whether you used them correctly.

Why Learning in Your Own Space Matters Linking new vocabulary to physical objects you can see and touch is a well established memory technique, the same principle behind teachers labelling classroom furniture in the target language. Spatial Lingo automates it. Because the words are attached to things you see every day, the vocabulary is immediately useful and easy to revisit. Reviewers who have tried it consistently pick out this “floating label” effect as the moment the concept clicks.

How a Session Works

🌳

1. Plant Your Language Tree

The app scans your room and anchors a persistent Language Tree in an open space. It grows as you complete lessons, giving a visible record of progress.

🔍

2. Spot Real Objects

The passthrough cameras and an on‑device detection model pick out common household objects in real time and pin them in space.

☁️

3. Explore the Word Cloud

For each object the AI generates a cloud of related nouns, adjectives and verbs in your target language, so “cup” can lead to “hot” and “to drink”.

🗣️

4. Speak and Get Feedback

You say a sentence using the words. Golly Gosh, the app’s purple guide, checks your usage and conjugation, gives encouragement, and you earn berries for the tree.

Golly Gosh speaks the target language aloud, so you hear correct pronunciation before you attempt it yourself. The evaluation goes beyond single word recognition: Meta says the AI checks whether the target words are used correctly, including verb conjugation and basic sentence structure. The default setup practises Spanish, and the app can also be used to practise English, which makes it relevant to learners of English as an additional language as well as Spanish students.

Best As a Beginner Vocabulary Builder Spatial Lingo is strongest at the very start of the learning journey: common nouns, simple adjectives and first verbs, practised out loud with forgiving, encouraging feedback. Reviewers are clear that it is not a route to fluency on its own. There are no extended conversations, no grammar progression and no cultural content. For a learner at A1 level, or a younger student meeting Spanish for the first time, that is fine. For anyone beyond the basics, Mondly VR or IMMERSE will offer more.

The Technology Inside

Passthrough Camera APIYOLO object detectionUnity Sentis (on‑device AI)Llama 4 MaverickMeta Voice SDKMixed Reality Utility KitInteraction SDKHands or controllersMIT licence

Object detection runs on the headset itself, using a YOLO model trained on a standard dataset of everyday object types. Cropped images of detected objects are then sent to Meta’s Llama API, which generates the vocabulary, translates it and judges your spoken answers. Speech is transcribed and Golly Gosh’s voice is synthesised with Meta’s Voice SDK. The practical consequence is that the app needs an internet connection throughout, and that it recognises common household items far more reliably than specialist or unusual objects.

Spatial Lingo vs Mondly VR

Feature

Spatial Lingo

Mondly VR

Cost

Free

One‑time purchase

Languages

2 (English, Spanish)

Setting

Your real room (mixed reality)

Virtual scenes (restaurant, train, hotel)

Speaking practice

AI judges your own sentences

Scripted dialogue with characters

Best level

A1 beginner vocabulary

A2 and above

Headsets

Quest 3 and 3S only

All Quest models and PSVR

Store availability

US users only

Worldwide

The two complement each other well. Spatial Lingo builds the first layer of everyday vocabulary in a setting the learner already knows; Mondly VR then puts that vocabulary to work in simulated real world situations.

Curriculum Value

Innovation and engagement

9.0

Beginner accessibility

8.0

Speaking and pronunciation

6.8

Depth of content

4.0

Language breadth (2 langs)

2.5

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

Completely free, with no ads or in‑app purchases
Labels real objects in your own room, a strong memory aid
AI checks full spoken sentences, not just single words
Golly Gosh models pronunciation and keeps feedback encouraging
Language Tree gives younger learners a visible reward
Works with hand tracking or controllers
Comfortable for all users: no artificial movement
Open source, so schools and developers can study or adapt it

Considerations

Only English and Spanish at present
Horizon Store listing is for US users only
Quest 3 and 3S only: no Quest 2 or Quest Pro support
Needs a constant internet connection
Beginner vocabulary only, no structured course
Single player, and needs some clear floor space
Very few store ratings so far (around 2.6/5 from 5)

For Schools: Check Availability and Data Use First Two practical points before planning lessons. First, Meta states that the Horizon Store version is available to US users only, so UK schools and families may not see it in the store at all. Technically confident schools can build the app themselves from the open source code, but that requires Unity and a Llama API key. Second, the app sends cropped camera images and voice recordings to Meta’s cloud AI to work. The open source version includes face blurring, but any school should run it through its usual data protection checks before using it with pupils, and should use it in a space without personal information on view.

Free

Meta Quest 3 and 3S • Horizon Store (US) • Source code free on GitHub

Get on Meta Quest → Open source code →

Quick Facts

Developer: Meta (Oculus DevTech Samples) • built by Magnopus
Released: 17 December 2025 • open sourced January 2026
Price: Free • no ads
Platform: Meta Quest 3 • Quest 3S
Practise: English or Spanish
Type: Mixed reality (passthrough) • single player
Input: Hands, controllers and voice
Comfort: Comfortable • room scale
Internet: Required
Download size: About 0.5 GB
Best level: A1 beginner vocabulary

Verdict

Spatial Lingo is one of the most imaginative language apps on Quest, and it costs nothing. Seeing Spanish words appear over the things in your own room is a genuinely memorable way to build first vocabulary, and having an AI check your spoken sentences adds real speaking practice. It is narrow, though: two languages, beginner content only, Quest 3 and 3S only, and a store listing limited to the US. Treat it as a brilliant free taster and a sign of where language learning in mixed reality is going, then move on to Mondly VR or IMMERSE for deeper practice.

The post Spatial Lingo: Language Practice appeared first on The XR School.

Echoes of Mora

Gareth Griffiths — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:44:00 +0000

Home › Puzzles › Experiences › Echoes of Mora

🌊

⏳

🌊 Mystery · Narrative · Underwater · Time Travel · PC VR · Steam

🚧 Full Release Q3 2026 — Free Demo Available Now

Echoes of Mora

Swim through a flooded, abandoned village at the bottom of a cursed violet lake. Solve environmental puzzles, collect hidden fragments and step through time portals to witness the world before the flood — uncovering the fate of a young girl's missing brother. "Subnautica meets Everybody's Gone to the Rapture." PC VR + flatscreen, seamlessly switchable.

Price TBC PC VR · Steam Flatscreen also supported Selkies Interactive · Berlin 🏆 London Games Festival 2026

Play Free Demo on Steam Wishlist on Steam

📅 Release Status — Updated April 2026

Echoes of Mora was originally due to launch on Steam on April 29, 2026. On April 9, Selkies Interactive updated the Steam page to Q3 2026, explaining they are in discussions with publishers and want extra time to polish the game if a publisher deal is confirmed.

The free demo remains available on Steam right now — covering the first 5 of 20 Echoes, in both VR and flatscreen modes. This review is based on hands-on impressions of the demo.

Demo Rating

4.3

Based on demo

Platform: PC VR · Steam (also flatscreen) · Full release: Q3 2026 · Developer: Selkies Interactive, Berlin · Demo: First 5 of 20 Echoes — free now on Steam

About the Game

What is Echoes of Mora?

Echoes of Mora is a narrative puzzle adventure for PC VR and flatscreen by Berlin-based indie studio Selkies Interactive — a six-person team founded in 2023 by game design students at HTW Berlin (Berlin University of Applied Sciences). It is their debut title. You swim through a flooded, abandoned village at the bottom of a cursed violet lake, collecting hidden fragments and stepping through time portals — called Echoes — to witness the village as it was before the flood.

The story centres on Mora, a young girl whose brother has disappeared near the cursed lake. As water levels rise and the village faces destruction, you act as an ethereal presence: exploring the sunken ruins, gathering clues, and stepping into Mora's memories through the Echoes to communicate with her, guide her decisions, and potentially alter the fate of the flood.

The elevator pitch: "Subnautica meets Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" — the atmospheric underwater exploration of Subnautica with the melancholic, story-first pacing of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. Add time travel and a mystery about a missing child, and the tone lands somewhere genuinely its own.

The game is a full crossplay experience — you can switch between VR and flatscreen at any point within the same session, with save data carrying over seamlessly. VR adds motion-tracked arm swimming; flatscreen uses keyboard/mouse or controller. A significant demo update in late 2025 overhauled the swimming system entirely, replacing gesture-recognition with velocity-and-direction tracking that feels considerably more natural.

Gameplay

How It Plays

🏊

Swimming & Exploration

In VR, move your arms to swim through the submerged village — direction and velocity tracked by the controllers. Rock faces can be grabbed and used to pull yourself with precision. Interactable objects glow neon purple, reducing frustration in the murkier depths. Not a seamless swimming simulator, but the world is interesting enough to carry it.

💜

Fragments & Echoes

Collect glowing purple Fragments scattered through the underwater village and place them into Echo portals. Each completed Echo opens a window to the past — you step through and experience the village before the flood, hear villagers' conversations, and interact directly with Mora to shape her path.

🧩

Environmental Puzzles

Puzzles are approachable rather than demanding — assembling a marble bust from scattered parts, spelling out a name with letter blocks, exploring a small house for clues. The reward is always narrative: solving a puzzle unlocks lore, not just progression. Those looking for head-scratching enigmas will want something more demanding.

🔀

VR ↔ Flatscreen Switching

Switch between VR and flatscreen at any moment within the same session — save data carries over seamlessly. This is a genuinely useful design decision for schools: students can start on flatscreen and move to VR, or swap when headsets are needed for other students.

20 Echoes in the full game: The demo covers the first 5 of 20 Echoes. The full release (Q3 2026) will contain the complete story across all 20 time portals — each a window into the village's past, adding up to a complete narrative about family, loss and the nature of time.

Developer

About Selkies Interactive

Selkies Interactive is an all-women studio founded in Berlin in 2023, growing from a group of game design students at HTW Berlin. They describe their focus as crafting emotionally resonant, story-driven worlds. Echoes of Mora is their debut title and has already drawn significant attention for a first project from such a young team.

Accolade

🏆 London Games Festival 2026 — Official Selection

Backing

🇩🇪 Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg · HTW Berlin Games Incubator

Demo shown at

Gamescom 2025 · UploadVR Winter Showcase · Convergence Showcase

"Echoes of Mora is a true passion project. It brings together all our creative ideas and the different perspectives within our team. We want to create a world that is not only visually stunning, but also emotionally engaging and fascinating." — Meike Strippel, Co-Founder and Lead Artist

Curriculum Fit

School & Education Value

KS3 (Y7–Y9)

82%

KS4 (Y10–Y11)

80%

English / Media

85%

Engagement

88%

Ease of use

82%

Echoes of Mora has strong cross-curricular potential for English/Media Studies through its narrative structure and storytelling techniques, Geography through its underwater and environmental themes, and general PSHE through its story about family, loss and resilience. The time-travel mechanic — moving between a drowned present and a vibrant past — is also a striking way to engage students with concepts of environmental change. Its calm pace and emotional tone make it suitable for mixed-ability groups. Note: currently PC VR (Steam) only, so requires a tethered headset; not available on standalone Meta Quest yet.

🌊

Free Demo on Steam

First 5 Echoes playable right now — in VR or flatscreen. Full game targeting Q3 2026.

Play Demo Free →

XR School Preview Verdict

Based on the Steam demo · Full review when game releases

World design9/10

Narrative9/10

VR immersion8/10

Puzzle depth6/10

School suitability8/10

Preview verdict: One of the most visually distinctive VR experiences on PC headsets — hauntingly beautiful, emotionally engaging and genuinely original. Puzzle depth is light, but the world and storytelling carry it. Worth wishlisting and trying the free demo. Full review coming at Q3 2026 launch.

⚠️ Release Date

Delayed from April 29 to Q3 2026 due to ongoing publisher discussions. If a deal is confirmed, the team intends to use the extra time to polish further. Demo still available and fully playable.

Pros & Cons (Demo)

✓ Hauntingly beautiful underwater world

✓ Genuinely emotional narrative

✓ Time-travel Echo mechanic is compelling

✓ Seamless VR ↔ flatscreen switching

✓ Free demo available now

✓ London Games Festival 2026 official selection

✓ Strong school cross-curricular potential

✗ PC VR only — not on standalone Quest

✗ Puzzles are light — narrative-first

✗ Full game delayed to Q3 2026

✗ Swimming takes adjustment to feel natural

Quick Info

Platform	PC VR · Steam (+ flatscreen)
Price	TBC (demo free)
Full release	Q3 2026
Developer	Selkies Interactive
Studio	Berlin · all-women team of 6
Genre	Narrative · Puzzle · Underwater
Total Echoes	20 (5 in demo)
VR swimming	Motion-tracked arm movement
Accolade	London Games Festival 2026
Described as	"Subnautica meets EGTTR"

🌊

Play Free Demo on Steam

First 5 Echoes · VR + flatscreen

⏳

Wishlist Full Game on Steam

Full release Q3 2026

Similar Games

The Amusement

Interlocked: Puzzle Islands

Puzzling Places

All Experiences →

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Infinity Disk

Gareth Griffiths — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:28:08 +0000

Home › Puzzles › Infinity Disk

💿

🌐

💿 Puzzle · Spatial Reasoning · Meta Quest

🆕 Quest Launch April 20, 2026

Infinity Disk

Throw a glowing disc, teleport to where it lands, catch your own throw. That single mechanic — deceptively simple, endlessly layered — forms the foundation of 12 increasingly mind-bending levels in an abstract Tron-inspired sci-fi world. Physics puzzles built entirely around spatial reasoning, trajectory and creative thinking.

~$7.99 All ages Meta Quest · Steam Solo developer Ralph Schaedler

Meta Store Steam (PC VR)

XR Rating

4.3

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Platform: Meta Quest · Steam (PC VR) · Price: ~$7.99 · Developer: Ralph Schaedler (solo) · Quest launch: 20 April 2026

About the App

What is Infinity Disk?

Infinity Disk is a single-player VR physics puzzle game built entirely around one brilliantly clever mechanic: throw a glowing frisbee disc, then teleport to where it lands to catch your own throw. You are, quite literally, playing frisbee with yourself — across an ever more elaborate gauntlet of obstacles, reflective surfaces, enemies and spatial challenges set in a sleek abstract world inspired by films like Tron.

Created by solo developer Ralph Schaedler in Stuttgart, Germany, the game first launched on PC VR in November 2018. On 20 April 2026 it arrived on Meta Quest with updated content for a new generation of standalone VR players. The core mechanic hasn't changed — it remains as clean and clever as it was at launch — but the Quest version brings the experience to a far wider audience.

For schools: Infinity Disk is a rare example of a game that builds genuine spatial reasoning skills through play. The core mechanic — predicting where the disc will travel, positioning yourself to receive it, planning multi-surface bounce routes — exercises exactly the kind of 3D spatial thinking that underpins geometry, physics, and engineering. It also models trajectory, angles and reflections in a way that maps directly to KS3 Physics and Maths content.

The game also features an Arcade mode alongside the main campaign — players can compete for high scores using bounce combos and speedruns, adding a replayability and competitive edge that makes it work well for classroom rotations. Frisbee physics settings are customisable, allowing teachers or students to adjust disc behaviour to explore different trajectory patterns.

Gameplay

The One Mechanic That Does Everything

The Core Loop

🥏

1. THROW

Hurl the glowing disc in any direction — angle, force and spin all matter

⚡

2. TELEPORT

Instantly teleport to the disc's destination before it arrives

🤲

3. CATCH

Position yourself to receive your own throw — and repeat

As the game progresses: obstacles block direct lines. Bounce surfaces deflect the disc at angles. Environmental hazards demand precise timing. Enemies intercept your path. Multi-bounce combos become necessary. The mechanic stays the same — the layers compound.

🗺️

Campaign Mode — 12 Levels

Twelve levels that grow progressively more abstract and demanding. Early stages establish the throw-teleport-catch loop. Mid-game introduces bounce combos, reflective panels and obstacles. Later levels become genuinely spatial logic challenges — working out not just where to throw, but where you need to be when the disc arrives. The Quest version includes updated content beyond the original PC release.

🏆

Arcade Mode — High Scores & Combos

Replay levels chasing high scores through bounce combos and speedruns. Online leaderboards add competitive replay value — ideal for classroom rotations where students can try to beat each other's scores. The combo system rewards planning ahead: setting up multi-surface bounce chains scores significantly higher than direct throws.

⚙️

Customisable Physics Settings

The disc's physics behaviour — spin rate, arc, velocity, bounce coefficient — can be adjusted in settings. For schools, this is genuinely useful: changing a variable and observing what happens to the disc's trajectory is hands-on physics experimentation.

Learning Value

What Does It Actually Teach?

Infinity Disk doesn't wear its educational value on its sleeve — it's first and foremost a fun puzzle game. But the skills it builds are real, and they're skills that are genuinely hard to teach from a 2D textbook.

📐

Angles & Reflection

Every bounce off a surface demonstrates the angle of incidence equals angle of reflection — a core Physics principle made physically tangible.

🧭

Spatial Reasoning

Planning where to stand to receive a throw requires 3D mental rotation — one of the strongest predictors of STEM success and notoriously hard to develop without physical manipulation.

🎯

Trajectory & Projectile Motion

Every throw is an intuitive exploration of projectile physics — arc, spin, air resistance and velocity all affect where the disc lands.

🔁

Iterative Problem Solving

Failed throws provide instant feedback on what went wrong. Students adjust, retry and refine — the engineering design process in miniature, played out in seconds.

Solo dev story — worth mentioning: Infinity Disk was created entirely by one person — Ralph Schaedler, working independently from Stuttgart. For Computing and DT lessons exploring game design, app development or indie production, this is a genuine example of what a single determined developer can build. The game has been available since 2018 and is still actively maintained, now arriving on Quest eight years after its Steam launch.

Curriculum Fit

How Well Does It Fit?

KS2 (Y3–Y6)

75%

KS3 (Y7–Y9)

92%

KS4 (Y10–Y11)

78%

Engagement

90%

Ease of use

88%

Strongest fit is KS3 — the angles, reflection and spatial reasoning content maps most directly to Year 7–9 Maths (geometry, angles) and Physics (forces, motion, reflection). It works well from upper KS2 upward — the mechanic is immediately intuitive and accessible to younger students, with later levels providing genuine challenge for older ones. At KS4, the educational relevance remains but most students will have conceptually outpaced what the game explicitly teaches.

Similar Apps

How Does It Compare?

Infinity Disk ← this

~$7.99
One clever mechanic
Spatial reasoning
Physics angles
Arcade + campaign

Gadgeteer

~$15
Rube Goldberg
Chain reactions
Cause & effect
Much more content

Puzzling Places

$14.99
3D jigsaws
Relaxed pace
Real-world places
No physics

Squingle Arcade

Free (playtest)
Spatial MR puzzles
Relaxed/accessible
Science aesthetic
No scoring

XR School Verdict

Educational value8/10

Engagement9/10

Ease of use9/10

Puzzle depth8/10

Value for money10/10

Bottom line: A beautifully elegant single-mechanic puzzler that genuinely teaches spatial reasoning, angles and reflection through play. Superb value at ~$7.99, accessible to all ages, and the solo-dev story adds a real-world computing/DT angle too.

👨‍💻 Solo Developer

Infinity Disk was created entirely by one person — Ralph Schaedler, Stuttgart. Originally launched on PC VR in November 2018, still maintained and now arriving on Meta Quest in April 2026. A brilliant example for Computing and DT lessons on indie game development.

Pros & Cons

✓ Elegant single mechanic — instantly intuitive

✓ Teaches spatial reasoning, angles & reflection

✓ Arcade mode with high scores — great for class

✓ Customisable physics — adjust disc behaviour

✓ Updated Quest version with new content

✓ Solo dev story — great for Computing/DT

✓ ~$7.99 — outstanding value

✗ Only 12 levels — relatively short

✗ No teacher portal or lesson plans

✗ No multiplayer (solo only)

Quick Info

Platform	Meta Quest · Steam (PC VR)
Price	~$7.99
Quest release	20 April 2026
PC VR release	7 November 2018
Developer	Ralph Schaedler (solo)
Levels	12 + Arcade mode
Age range	All ages (KS2+)
Subject	Maths · Physics · Computing
Modes	Campaign · Arcade / Highscores
Players	Single player

💿

Get on Meta Store

~$7.99 · All Quest headsets

🌐

More Puzzle Apps

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The post Infinity Disk appeared first on The XR School.

The Amusement

Gareth Griffiths — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:11:59 +0000

Home › History › The Amusement

🎡

🎠

🎡 History / Drama / Experiences · Meta Quest & Steam

🆕 Released April 16, 2026

The Amusement

A haunting narrative VR adventure set in an abandoned 1920s fairground. You are Samantha Burkhart — sent to inspect your late father's amusement park, only to find that every rusting attraction holds a memory of a family fractured by the Great War.

$21.99 USK 12+ · Ages 12+ Meta Quest · Steam Curvature Games · ARTE France 15% intro discount until April 30

Meta Store Steam (free demo)

XR Rating

4.3

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Platform: Meta Quest · Steam · Price: $21.99 (15% off until Apr 30) · Developer: Curvature Games · Age: 12+ · Free demo: Steam

About the App

What is The Amusement?

The Amusement is a narrative VR adventure developed by Hamburg-based studio Curvature Games and published by ARTE France — the European cultural broadcaster responsible for some of the most artistically ambitious VR experiences ever made, including A Fisherman's Tale. Released on April 16, 2026, it is a story-driven puzzle experience set in Germany in the 1920s, in the aftermath of the First World War.

You play as Samantha Burkhart, a 19-year-old woman sent by her English mother to inspect the family's abandoned amusement park in Germany — a park owned by her father, who disappeared during the chaos of World War I. What begins as a practical inspection becomes a deeply personal excavation. Each fairground attraction — a twisting labyrinth, a flooded ruins-of-Atlantis ride, a roller coaster — gradually transforms into a fragment of Samantha's childhood memory, replaying the turbulent relationship between her parents Bridget and Hans.

ARTE France's VR pedigree: ARTE has co-produced some of the most celebrated narrative VR experiences in the medium's history — A Fisherman's Tale, Gloomy Eyes, Homo Machina. The Amusement continues that tradition of championing intimate, artistically-led interactive storytelling.

The game's defining feature is its redirected walking technology. Rather than using a joystick for locomotion, your actual physical steps are translated directly into the game world — the architecture is cleverly designed so that a 2×2 metre real-world space is enough to feel like you are genuinely wandering through the park. Narrow corridors, winding paths and compact chambers curve back on themselves so that players always stay within their physical play area without realising it. Teleport and smooth locomotion options are available for those who prefer seated play.

The story is told through a beautiful combination of hand-drawn stop-motion interludes between chapters, shadow-puppet animations cast against the park's walls, and voice-acted conversations. The aesthetic is deliberately cinematic — rooted in 1920s European visual language, with an art style inspired by the actual Luna Parks of the period.

Historical Context

The 1920s Post-War Setting

The Amusement is set in Weimar-era Germany, in the bruised, disoriented years after the end of the First World War. The game doesn't treat history as a backdrop — it is the emotional engine of the story. Samantha's father Hans, German, disappeared in the chaos of the war; her mother Bridget is English. Their relationship — a marriage across the lines of war — becomes the lens through which the game explores grief, memory, identity and the fracture lines that conflict draws through ordinary families.

The amusement park itself is historically grounded. Curvature Games drew inspiration from the real European Luna Parks of the early 20th century — a genuinely fascinating piece of cultural history. Luna Parks were a specific form of immersive entertainment that swept Europe and America between roughly 1900 and 1930, combining spectacular architecture, themed rides, illusions and theatrical performance into a single venue. The dilapidated, overgrown version Samantha walks through carries all the melancholy of a once-joyful place now hollowed out by loss.

Curriculum links: World War I and its aftermath · Weimar Republic · Inter-war Europe · Memory and testimony · Family, identity and loss · European cultural history of the 1920s · Narrative and storytelling (English/Drama)

Gameplay

How Does It Play?

🚶

Redirected Walking

The game's signature mechanic — your real footsteps move Samantha through the park. Curvature Games designed the architecture so that a 2×2m play area is enough. Corridors curve, paths loop, rooms compress — you walk freely and naturally, never hitting a real-world wall. This creates an immersion that joystick locomotion simply cannot match, and is especially effective for new VR players who struggle with motion sickness from controller movement.

🧩

Environmental Puzzles

Object-based puzzles are woven into each attraction — picking up, examining and using items found in the environment. The puzzle mechanics are accessible rather than demanding, emphasising exploration and discovery over frustration. You'll inspect, combine and interact with objects from Samantha's past as each memory reveals itself.

🧗

Climbing, Swinging & Riding

Beyond walking, the game includes a variety of physical locomotion — climbing to dizzying heights on fairground structures, swinging on ropes, and riding carts along roller-coaster tracks. These moments vary the pace and add physical drama. Note: the game does feature heights that may be uncomfortable for some players; a motion vignette is available.

🎭

Storytelling & Atmosphere

The narrative is delivered through hand-drawn stop-motion animations, shadow puppetry cast on the park's walls, and voiced conversations with characters from Samantha's memory. The writing is authored by the game director of cult VR classic Elevator… to the Moon!, bringing genuine literary weight to the script. The atmosphere is melancholic, beautiful and purposefully slow.

🎡 The Park's Attractions

🌀 The Magnificent Maze 🏛️ Ruins of Atlantis 🎢 Roller Coaster 🎠 Abandoned rides & memories

Space Requirements

What Space Do You Need?

🚶 Redirected Walking

Best experience. Requires a clear 2×2m floor space. Your real steps walk you through the virtual park. No motion sickness risk from controller locomotion.

🔵 Teleport

Works in any space including seated. Loses some of the game's immersive charm but fully supported. Good accessibility option.

🕹️ Smooth Locomotion

Joystick movement added in the final release. Allows seated play. Reviewers note it reduces the game's atmosphere but works well for experienced VR users.

ℹ️ Heise (Germany) confirmed that a 2×2m play area is genuinely sufficient for the redirected walking mode — the level architecture keeps you safely within your space throughout. For school use with limited room space, the teleport option works fully.

Curriculum Fit

How Well Does It Fit?

KS3 (Y7–Y9)

70%

KS4 (Y10–Y11)

90%

KS5 / A-Level

85%

Engagement

88%

Ease of use

85%

Strongest curriculum fit is KS4 History (WWI, inter-war Europe, Weimar Germany), GCSE English Literature (narrative perspective, memory and trauma as themes), and Drama/Media Studies (mise-en-scène, storytelling technique, atmosphere). The experience is also valuable for PSHE discussions around grief, family relationships, and the human cost of conflict. The USK 12+ rating (equivalent to PEGI 12) makes it suitable for secondary school use from Year 8 upwards.

Reviews

What Are People Saying?

UploadVR

uploadvr.com · Full review · April 2026

★★★★☆

"The Amusement's affecting story about a broken family is some of the finest storytelling I've experienced in a VR game. The redirected roomscale movement, once properly understood and embraced, adds a sense of immersion and presence few other games can match. It still remains an excellent entry into any VR puzzle lover's library."

Source: UploadVR full review — April 2026

Heise Online (Germany)

heise.de · Independent review · April 2026

★★★★☆

"Narratively and atmospherically strong. The largely successful free-roam technology makes it ideal for beginners as well as for people who have problems with artificial locomotion in VR. Curvature Games shows that it doesn't always take gigantic worlds to create a convincing and immersive VR experience."

Source: Heise Online — April 2026

Sortiraparis

sortiraparis.com · Cultural review

★★★★☆

"The Amusement explores themes of loss, memory, and transmission. The game transforms entertainment into a space for contemplation, where each ride becomes a metaphor for memory. Players who have enjoyed works such as Moss, Lone Echo, or The Under Presents will naturally be seduced by this offering."

Source: Sortiraparis cultural review

ℹ️ The game is newly released (April 16, 2026) and reviews are still coming in. Critics consistently praise the storytelling and the redirected walking mechanic while noting the puzzle mechanics are secondary to the narrative. A free playable demo is available on Steam to try before purchasing.

The XR School Take

Is It Worth It for Schools?

The Amusement occupies a distinct space in the educational VR landscape — it is not a structured lesson with learning outcomes and exam modes. It is an experience, in the truest sense. What it offers is the feeling of being present in post-WWI Germany, inside a family story told with genuine emotional intelligence, in a medium that makes it feel personal in a way no film or textbook can.

For a History teacher covering the aftermath of the First World War, or an English teacher working on themes of memory, loss and unreliable narrative, The Amusement offers something rare: a primary-feeling encounter with the emotional texture of an era. Students who experience it will have something concrete and visceral to write about — the specific feeling of walking through a ruined maze and hearing a child's memory of a father who never came home.

The short runtime (2–3 hours) is actually an advantage in a classroom context — it can be experienced in a structured session or across two lessons. The teleport option means it works in any space, and the 12+ age rating makes it appropriate for secondary school from Year 8.

Classroom suggestion: Use The Amusement as a stimulus for extended writing — ask students to write Samantha's diary entry after her first day in the park, or to write from Hans's perspective before the war. The atmospheric detail the game provides gives students extraordinarily rich material to work with.

XR School Verdict

Narrative quality10/10

Immersion9/10

Educational value9/10

Puzzle depth6/10

Value for money8/10

Bottom line: The finest VR narrative experience set in WWI-era history. Storytelling-first, puzzles-second — and that's exactly right for classroom use. A landmark piece of immersive storytelling from ARTE France that earns its place alongside A Fisherman's Tale in the canon of artistic VR.

⏰ Intro Offer Ends April 30

15% off until April 30, 2026 — bringing the price down to $18.69 on Steam. A free demo is also available on Steam to try before buying.

Try Free Demo on Steam

Pros & Cons

✓ Exceptional narrative — finest in VR (UploadVR)

✓ WWI / Weimar Germany setting — rare in VR

✓ Redirected walking — no motion sickness risk

✓ ARTE France pedigree (A Fisherman's Tale)

✓ Beautiful hand-drawn / stop-motion art style

✓ Teleport option for smaller spaces / seated

✓ Free demo on Steam to preview

✓ USK 12+ — appropriate for secondary school

✗ Puzzle mechanics are thin — story leads

✗ Short runtime (2–3 hours)

✗ Redirected walking needs 2×2m clear space

✗ Some height-based sections may unsettle players

Quick Info

Released	April 16, 2026
Platform	Meta Quest · Steam
Price	$21.99 (15% off to Apr 30)
Developer	Curvature Games
Publisher	ARTE France
Setting	1920s Germany, post-WWI
Age rating	USK 12+ / Ages 12+
Runtime	~2–3 hours
Space needed	2×2m (or teleport/smooth)
Language	English VO · German text
Free demo	✓ Steam

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Get on Meta Store

$21.99 · Meta Quest

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Try Free Demo on Steam

Free demo · $18.69 intro price

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