Booper, Get Home! is one of the best things I saw today at GDEX

I attended GDEX today for several hours, and playtested a lot of really cool and fun indie games. I came away greatly impressed by many things I saw (more on that coming soon), but maybe the best thing I saw today was an indie VR title called Booper, Get Home! by Fletcher Studios.

The single developer at Fletcher Studios is a stay-at-home dad. One of his young sons is on the autism spectrum. The young man does not speak much, but he loves to draw. Mr. Fletcher (I didn't catch his first name, unfortunately) has taken his son's artwork and meticulously scanned it, using the drawings as the art assets for a VR adventure/RPG game. The overall effect is charming beyond belief. 

Players take on the role of "Booper", a young autistic child that has become lost during a trip to the park. Booper needs to solve a variety of quests to make his way home, exploring the world and avoiding scary monsters (they can't really hurt him). I played about ten minutes of the game, and found it to be an especially engaging experience, unlike anything else I've played in VR.

The game is constructed with kids in mind, so adults won't find the quests particularly challenging, but even they will be entranced for a while by entering this world spawned from a real-life kid's imagination. The visuals are frankly stunning in their charm and simplicity, reminding me of a child's storybook come to life. The dad part of me absolutely fell for this experience, and it made me wish I had an Oculus at home to share it with my younger kids.

I would encourage anyone attending GDEX to swing by Fletcher's booth to check out Booper. The game can also be wishlisted on Steam, and more information can be found at Fletcher's blog here.