I Played CINESCAPE VR at Gamescom, and It's a Mind-Bending Puzzle Box I Can't Wait to Reopen
Every Gamescom, amidst the roar of the big AAA booths, you stumble upon something smaller, something tucked away that ends up being one of the most interesting things you play all week. This year, for me, that game was CINESCAPE VR. Developer SUPER AC is building a virtual reality escape game that feels like a genuine breath of fresh air for the genre, and after getting my hands on it, I can confirm it plays just as good as it sounds.
Reality is Just a Prop
The game drops you into the mysterious, abandoned film sets of the legendary Cinetech Studios. The core of the experience is a unique power called "Cinemorphosis," which lets you transform real-world objects into fake film props and vice versa. What was a solid, impassable wall might become a flimsy piece of styrofoam you can simply push over. A prop gun might suddenly become very, very real. The puzzles I solved in the demo were clever, forcing me to constantly rethink my environment while also not being dark souls worthy hard.
What really sold me on the experience was just how damn good it felt to play. The game supports full hand-tracking, meaning I was literally reaching out and manipulating the world with my own hands, no controllers necessary. The responsiveness was spot-on, making the act of solving these increasingly complex puzzles feel incredibly intuitive and tactile.
A Trusty, Potentially Evil, Robot Sidekick
There’s a surprisingly deep narrative bubbling under the surface. You play as the chosen heir to a mysterious artifact called the Codex, and you're following in the footsteps of the studio's enigmatic founder to uncover its secrets. Guiding you is a robotic assistant named P4-TRIC, who gives off some serious "helpful guide who is absolutely going to betray you" vibes. The story hints at a deeper truth about your own identity and the true intentions behind these elaborate cinematic trials.
CINESCAPE VR is shaping up to be a must-watch for puzzle and VR fans. It’s smart, it feels great to play, and its central mechanic is one of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time. The game is slated to launch for META QUEST 3/3S, PCVR, and PSVR2 on 30. September 2025, and it's a date I've already circled on my calendar.