No ESC — VR Game
No ESC is a short VR game about the stress we experience due to the hyper-connectivity of our devices. The game replicates the feeling of being constantly pressured to answer an email, pick up a call, or reply to a text message. The setting is nostalgic, filled with pop culture references from a simpler time before mobile internet, but these references also carry a dark undertone. For example, the player sees a Pulp Fiction poster on the wall and Final Destination playing on the TV, as if anticipating an ominous future. As the player explores the room, they hear pop songs on the radio, constantly switching stations and growing louder and more chaotic. After two minutes weapons fall from the sky and allow the player to destroy all of the technology. The game then shifts to a calming, natural environment free of devices. Feeling peaceful, the screen finally goes black, but the player is alarmed by one last text message… there really is no escape
This game was created using Unreal Engine 4 and was completed in 2018. The team that worked on the project are as follows: Nicole Ruggiero (3D Artist & Art Director), Jeremy McKeheen (3D Artist), Prashast Thapan (Developer), Michelle Cortese (Artist & Developer), and Calvin Pia (Sound Designer).
This experience has been shown at IAM Festival in Barcelona, Wavelength Exhibition in Beijing, Virtual Normality at the Museum der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig, Germany, and several events in NYC including with Alt ESC at Small Editions Gallery (Brooklyn), Felt Zine at Superchief Gallery (Brooklyn), and VR World (Manhattan).
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