One of the very first virtual reality (VR) experiences that VRFocus ever reported on was Blocked In, the first entry in The Shoebox Diorama series from indie developer Daniël Ernst. The piece released all the way back in late 2013 and was compatible with the Oculus Rift head-mounted display’s (HMD’s) first development kit (DK1). You might have thought that this would be lost to VR history with the release of consumer VR HMDs, then, but you’d be wrong. Blocked In will be launching for the HTC Vive this week.
A Steam listing for the title confirms as much. The original Blocked In allowed users to sit in one of three locations in a small apartment as Tetris-style blocks continued to rain down outside the window, with that videogame’s iconic music playing away unassumingly on a radio in the background. This new version of the title will be supporting the HTC Vive’s Room Scale user-tracking, meaning players will be able to get up and walk around for themselves in the real world, with those movements being translated into the virtual one.
It’s not yet clear if the experience will be free, although the original release was. A new trailer for the project can be seen below, offering a fresh look at the project for the first time in a few years.
Check back with VRFocus for more from Daniël Ernst.
