You’ve probably heard of Moss by now. It is a beautifully designed and rendered action-adventure puzzle game in which you help an adorable little mouse named Quill to save her uncle from some evil magic. While at E3, we got to try out the VR fantasy game on Oculus plus Touch and jumped right into the world of Moss!

Polyarc’s team is made up of talented developers with deep experience working on well-known, AAA franchises such as Destiny, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Red Dead Redemption, and Guild Wars 2. With a roster like that, it’s no surprise that everything about Moss is AAA stuff. The story, the character and set design, the puzzle quality, the VR immersion brought about by the clear attention to detail.

We were lucky enough to get the demo with one of the art department’s stars who gave us a little insight into the world of Moss.
The first thing you notice about Moss is the idea of being in a fairytale world, as you’re prompted to open a book and change pages with your own hand, which then takes you to beautiful and detailed fantasy lands.
In this world, we meet the spunky and adorable Quill, who is so realistic, you’ll just want to pet her and pick her up. Which you can do! If you pet Quill, she’ll react like she’s enjoying it!, bringing us closer and closer to her.

As Quill’s guardian, we guide and aid her in her quest, which can translate into various things: Looking ahead or around a corner to make sure there’s no danger, activating some sort of magic, picking up Quill; sometimes, the puzzles will involve moving large objects that little Quill could never move on her own, or the two of you will need to team up to clear them.

Though she does need your help, Quill isn’t totally defenseless, as she has a tiny sword she can use to fend off enemies and slash through thorns, which is good because those hurt her too! And when the poor thing is hurt, her little mouse heart races! And when you reach out to hold her, you can feel every beat until she settles down. Quill can also jump over obstacles and shimmy past broken platforms and, thankfully, has no fall damage. (I was SO worried about that!)

We also learned the hard way that Quill can’t swim. She sinks like a rock. And it’s so sad! Within the first few minutes of looking out for and interacting with this cute little mouse in her world, I’d developed a sense of bonding with little Quill, making me twice as weary of trying new things, lest my new little friend end up hurt.

None of that is by mistake, as we were told by team Polyarc; Quill, the surroundings, and interactions are all meant to bring you closer to Quill, to make you feel like you must take care of her and help her out, truly investing a bit of your heart into her story.

The Oculus Rift with Touch allows for full immersion, making the player feel like the gorgeous scenery around them is the real thing. While you help and protect her through her journey, Quill is a wonderful character who you really grow to care for quickly thanks to the gameplay design.

Have you already played this amazing game yet? If not, what are you waiting for!? Share your experiences with Moss in the comments below!