Fans of Down the Rabbit Hole have had to wait four years for a sequel. On September 26th, Escaping Wonderland, a new VR tale in the Alice universe for Meta Quest and Pico, will finally be released. I was able to play the sweet diorama adventure at Gamescom and talk to the developers about their work.
Escaping Wonderland is not really a sequel to Down the Rabbit Hole. Instead, the developers want to tell a new story in the same universe. So if you haven’t played the 2020 adventure, you can easily dive into the new part. However, fans of the first part can look forward to small easter eggs.
By the way, there were no licensing issues. The Wonderland series of novels is in the public domain, which allows you to create your own interpretations of the story in the world created by Lewis Carroll. Only the characters created by Disney or other interpreters are protected.
The finished game will keep you entertained for about three to four hours. If you want to explore every nook and cranny and collect all the collectibles, you can play Escaping Wonderland for up to five hours. But there will be no alternate endings. “We have written a moving story that is very important to us and that we believe players will enjoy. That’s why we didn’t want to dilute it with alternate endings,” says Max Huusko Svederoth, concept artist and designer.
I wish more VR games would play with perspectives and visuals like this.