This year’s Boston Festival of Indie Games featured a stellar lineup of developers showcasing their hard work and dedication to making a game they can call their own. We got to sit down with Team Future, the group behind the very intriguing Black Hat Oculus, which is taking two-player cooperative gaming to a new level:
Note: Black Hat Oculus is NOW on Kickstarter! If you like what you see, you can contribute here and get yourself a copy!
Team Future is a 4-person developer squad that is behind Black Hat Oculus. The game features a two-person team, each having very different roles. One player is trapped trying to navigate through a maze filled with lasers, enemies, trap doors, and much more. To make the game feel most real, the Oculus Rift can be incorporated for this player, but is not necessary to play the game. Although this player is trapped in the maze, they physically can not see many of the traps. Your cooperative second player can see an aerial view of the entire maze on their screen, and it is there job to be your navigator. This player can type commands in real time to the maze runner, which become superimposed on the Oculus Rift or computer screen. Neither player can see what their partner is seeing, so it takes a lot of teamwork to conquer these challenges, making it all the more fun.
As said earlier, the game is currently available via Kickstarter, but a demo of the game is also available. You can own Black Hat Oculus by contributing $10 on Kickstarter, but for $15, you can get copies of the game for you and a friend.
Wondering where the game’s name comes from? A White Hat is internet slang for a computer engineer who patches problems. But, a Black Hat is a reference to a computer hacker. Black Hat Oculus really captures this idea by simulating its players hacking into a virtual world. The navigator’s screen has a layout resembling a hacker and the need for quick commands and communication will keep you on the edge of your seat. For now, there are 4 levels of varying difficulty, but Team Future has hopes for 5 more levels as a stretch goal. The game will be available on both PC and Mac and if green-lit, will also be on Steam.
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