As VR technology grows in complexity, it allows us to do more complex things in games. Our virtual hands, once only capable of being able to open and close, have progressed to the point where we can, well, point. Make specific gestures. Type, press buttons with individual fingers, manipulate objects, and perform delicate tasks.
But the hell with all that. Forget carefully rendered hands in VR and think about this instead: What if you hands were baseball bats? Huh? What then, genius? Could you still fry an egg, brush your teeth, or pet your dog?
Of course you can, it's just trickier, and that's the point. What the Bat? is the next game from developer Triband, the creators of the incredibly funny and surprising not-golf game What the Golf?, and this time the slapstick comedy is taking place in VR. The premise is, your hands are bats, but you still need to complete a bunch of minigames which include:
- Hitting a baseball (so far, easy)
- Hitting a soccer ball thrown by an elephant
- Getting a hot dog from a vending machine
- Carrying an egg (now it's getting tricky)
- Controlling a shark with a joystick
- Carving a sculpture
- Brushing your teefs
- Petting a dog (it gives you gloves for this one)
- Ironing a sock
- Taking a bath
- Abducting sheep with a UFO
- Making satellites kiss in space (huh?)
- Having feet
- Making toast
- Fishing
- Hitting a trophy that came out of a toilet
Based on the variety of surprising moments in What the Golf? I suspect there's far, far more weird little games and twists in What the Bat? than shown in the announcement trailer. It looks extremely goofy and playful, and I'm now sitting here humming the theme song, which goes: "What the what the what the what the what the baaaaaaaaat."
To experience the frustration and comedy of having bats for hands, you will naturally need a VR headset. What the Bat? will be available sometime this year on Steam and for the Meta Quest 2. Here's the official site.
