UNBINARY
UNBINARY is a VR puzzle adventure game, entirely hand-painted.
Meet Webby, an AI made of data collected from human behavior and candidate to rule planet Earth. Wear three masks with different characteristics and discover how the inhabitants of the environment simulated by the super (and also sarcastic) artificial intelligence will react. Your mission is to investigate: is she ready to fulfill her purpose?
MASKS CHANGE WHO YOU ARE
3 different masks that offer varied abilities, interactions in VR, and change the way the world reacts to you.
VARIED MECHANICS
Physical climbing, shooting lasers, moving boxes and hacking the system.
SOLVE PUZZLES
22 scenarios allow you to delve into Webby’s curious mind in search of problems with her integrity.
100% HAND-PAINTED IN VR
Comic-book inspired visual style 100% hand-painted in VR.
EXPLORE THE MIND OF A SARCASTIC AI
The impactful narrative develops as you venture deeper into the story of Webby, a sarcastic and smug Artificial Intelligence.”
Steam User 7
Unbinary is a VR puzzle game where you are guided through a series of test chambers by an advanced AI, akin to Portal.
In the game you are given access to 3 masks which when equipped change which objects you are able to interact with, as well as how NPCs will interact with you. I really enjoyed this mechanic and it allowed for some unique puzzles.
Speaking of puzzles, they were enjoyable throughout the entire game. The first half of the game was maybe a little too easy, I wouldn't have minded if the difficulty began to ramp up a little earlier. The latter half had puzzles with a more satisfying difficulty, where a couple of times I did have to stop and think before proceeding. The game was never frustratingly difficult at any point.
Unbinary also features a hand-painted art style that was just lovely to be immersed in. Objects and characters looked great in this style, and I even found myself saying hello back to every robot that greeted me. Some aspects of the environment such as walls could have used a touch more detail to give a bit more atmosphere, but overall the game looked great.
Story wise, there was enough to keep me entertained for my play through with decent voice acting, but this game is more so about the puzzles.
Unfortunately there were a few minor technical issues in the game. Playing on a Quest 2 with virtual desktop, I couldn't find the button to open the in game menu, even after trying every button on the controller. If I wanted to quit the game or restart a level I had to bring up the steamVR menu and exit the game there (UPDATE: This has now been fixed!). Luckily the game did save my progress. I also encountered one bug that prevented me from progressing without restarting. I had stacked two blocks on top of each other to reach higher ground (something I had done in a previous level and is intended) but the game only let me move onto the lower block and I couldn't separate the blocks to try again.
Overall though, really enjoyed the game and would say it's definitely a worthwhile experience, especially at the price. Great looking game with a fun puzzle mechanic and enjoyable puzzles.
Steam User 3
Unbinary is a neat VR puzzle game where you are a robot going through test rooms aided by a disembodied female voice. The narrative dressing feels like Portal but the game play is pretty different.
The main mechanic is switching your faceplate to acquire new abilities. The green face plate will let you access doors and devices locked behind scanner switches. The yellow face plate will let you grab items such as flip switches and even climb ladders and monkey bars. Each faceplate is used to solve puzzles in neat ways.
Since you are actively moving your arms, you do need some clearance for standing height and about one arms length in front of you. I was sitting too close to my desk and ending up brushing into it once or twice. Those sensitive to VR games should be a little cautious with this game since you do move around more and it can be disorienting at times.
The game is in early access so the levels are not complete. It should take roughly 30 mins - 1 hour to complete the available content on your first try depending on your skill level.
If you want more information you can check out my walkthrough video:
Steam User 2
<I wrote this incomplete review two months ago, intending to finish it by commenting on the allegory at the heart of this game. I didn't have time to do it, and now it has been too long since I played Unbinary and I don't remember the details to do it properly. The first part of the review about the gameplay is complete, so I will post the review as it was on March 2, 2022.>
Unbinary is a puzzle and narrative adventure game for virtual reality that distinguishes itself from the abundance of similar games with a unique art style and a theme that is entirely an allegory. I'll comment on Unibinary at the allegorical level later, but for now let's look at Unbinary as a VR game.
"Autonomous User" is your role as player character, and your job is to solve puzzles to advance through areas and collect the data cube at the end. "Webby" is the artificial intellegence the Autonomous User is operating within, and she is undergoing tests to ensure her perfection. Webby is there every step of the way, with continuous commentary and I enjoyed her companionship. The voice actress was very enthusiastic, and though she got screechy at times, it is clear from the start that the AI Webby is a non-robotic character with strong human-like emotions.
The scenario has an interesting setup, and the puzzle mechanics are introduced immediately. The challenge of the game is figuring out how to navigate areas by Assuming Control (does anyone still remember that meme, a dozen years later?) of two types of robot that have different capabilities. This is a light, casual puzzle game. There are never situations with a lot of possibilities to wreak havoc upon your brain. It's possible to smoothly flow through the game's areas without getting stuck, and I only stumbled a few times.
The smoothness of the puzzle design allowed me to stay focused on the narrative and the art. The visuals in Unbinary are astonishing. It's the "inside" of an AI system, but everything is organic and whimsical. I loved how the levels look "unfinished" up towards where the ceiling would be, as if the creators of this AI environment were being economical and only focusing on what matters (and that may be true for the game's artists!). There are so many widgets and gizmos and machines that are fascinating to look at, and I loved how many elements of the game appeared to animate at low frame rates like traditional cartoons. The hand-drawn visuals of Unbinary are one of my favorite things about it.
The first level had a strange texture glitch in the area above the level, but that was the only visual problem I encountered. The game rules at a billion frames per second because of how the graphics are constructed, so nobody should ever have performance issues with Unbinary.
Gameplay glitches did cause me problems, though. One the level where I first needed to pick up a battery, I found the battery but got stuck because I couldn't pick it up. I got stuck for a while, thinking there was something else I was supposed to do first. Eventually I suspected the game might be bugged, so I opened the menu to restart the game. I couldn't interact with the menu, either, confirming the game's state was broken. I forced the game to close and when I reloaded, I was able to pick up the battery and continue.
The second major glitch was at the end of the game. As I was trying to figure out what to do, I switched myself to the yellow robot identity near the final green robot. It knocked me up waaaaay up into the air and I landed in the final room. This triggered the ending sequence, but I was unable to insert the data cube, so I restarted. After going through it again, I realized I'd broken the sequence of the game, and this time I was able to complete the ending.
A patch was released during my playthrough that added smooth turning. I prefer smooth turn and I appreciated that, but there's no option for the rotation speed. The speed is too slow and made me sick, so I went back to snap rotation.
EDIT: It looks like this was addressed in an April update, but I haven't tested to see if the turn speed is fast enough for my taste.
I enjoyed Unbinary as a short, casual puzzle game. It's only about two hours long, but that's an excellent length for a game designed with simple puzzle mechanics. Those mechanics are developed and applied in clever ways as any competent puzzle game should, but does not over-extend or get too repetitive. There's a strong narrative sitting above all the gameplay, similar to what you'd find in environmental narrative adventure games (sometimes dismissively called "walking simulators"). That narrative and the gameplay combine to form an allegory, which I will share my thoughts on in the next section.
<I decided to post this review without finishing the section about the allegory. I'll just say that I had strong criticisms of it.>
Steam User 6
GET THIS GAME NOW!!
Unbinary is simply unlike any other VR puzzler out there. Through its 100% hand-painted graphics, intriguing story, and unique gameplay mechanics, the game pushes the boundaries for what a VR game can be. Like seriously, I went in with pretty low expectations, and then proceeded to have my mind blown 50 different times. Trust me, this is the culmination of a bunch of very passionate people pouring their hearts and souls into a project. Do yourself a favor, pick up this game... NOW!!
FULL REVIEW:
Steam User 1
For the price and time you put into this game it was worth the play through. The fact its all hand drawn is a first for me which goes to show you that you don't need fancy graphics to enjoy a game.
Steam User 1
the game looks super nice and a good story like portal, but i fear that that the full release will but too short and too easy.
Steam User 2
Let's start this review of 'Unbinary' by talking about the main selling point of it which is the handpainted environments. While still quite low-poly the game does indeed look great, it as if you are stepping into the pages of a graphical novel. Sadly not as much effort has gone into the gameplay and this is a fairly easy puzzle room style game in which you will be finding keys and switching things on and off. The puzzles do indeed get a little more complex as time goes on, but most escape room fans won't have much trouble here at all.
While I do appreciate how much effort has gone into making this game I would have liked it to be a bit cheaper than it currently is. If you rush through this game you will be done in less than an hour, but most people will take a little while longer first time trying. I do recommend it and I did enjoy it, but there isn't quite enough of it for my liking. But it is one of the best Oculus Rift only games on the Steam store so kudos for that.