The video games continued today with one of the best co-op games I've played, "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes". I first saw it in the IndieCade at PAX. One person puts on a VR helmet, where they can see and manipulate a bomb covered with puzzles. They have to describe the puzzles out loud while everyone else flips through manuals and figures out which buttons to press and wires to cut, communicating them back to the main player. The goal is to finish all the puzzles without messing up before the timer runs out. Otherwise, the bomb explodes in your face.
The game was awkward to play standing, since the desk was so far below. And this is what made us discover the wonder of THE CHAIR. I was the first to try. I stood as though I were going to sit in the virtual chair, then Ralph moved a real chair behind me. Sitting down on it blew my mind. Suddenly, the rest of the virtual world seemed so much more real, and I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn't rest the controllers on the desk. The only disorienting thing is that the chair in the game was round while the real chair was square.
After getting some work done, we ate pizza for dinner and played some Pictionary, boys vs girls. The girls handily beat the boys, 70 to 35. But the boys' rounds were much more fun to watch.
And then it was back to defusing bombs, so that everyone could experience THE CHAIR. There are a whole bunch of additional mod puzzles available in the game, so I can't see the game getting old anytime soon - and since the headset belongs to Ralph I'll get to continue playing these games even after the holidays! Yessss!
- Katie, @therovingreader