There’s nothing wrong with adding a virtual reality (VR) element to a videogame after the fact, just so long as it’s done well. It’s true that projects built from the ground up for VR tend to fair better and showcase the technology in a more positive light. So when videogames like ZED come along that look promising but ultimately flounder in VR, that you have to wonder why go through the process in the first place. Initially a successful Kickstarter project for Eagre Games back in 2016, with Chuck Carter – one of the creative talents behind Myst and the Command & Conquer series – at the helm, all appeared good, with an intriguing premise featuring a rich narrative and surreal imagery. VR was a stretch goal that was never met but the team decided to add it in any way. ZED is a gorgeous videogame to look at. From the initial menu hub with a desk littered with finely detailed items to the bizarre landscapes which appear every so often, with twisting geometry, rich colours and towering structures, the entire experience is a visual treat for the eyes. The artists at Eagre Games must have had a field day dreaming up some of the sequences that help to convey what is going on in the mind of an artist suffering dementia. The same goes for the audio and narrative itself. You really have to listen to the voice of Stephen Russell – a veteran videogame voice actor who has worked on Thief and the Fallout series. Russell does a tremendous job in the role of the ageing artist, as different scenes from the protagonists fragmented memories help him recall his past. Just like an audiobook, the story is engaging, dark and a sad reflection on a harrowing disease. If this was more of an interactive experience designed for VR, with Eagre Games going down the route of Vader Immortal: A Star Wars Story or even Bonfire by Boabab Studios then this could have been something special. Alas, this is a videogame with some fundamental flaws. Purely concentrating on the VR version for Oculus Rift – who plays on a flat screen any more! – ZED’s first glaring mistake is the lack of options. With any new VR compatible title, a quick look at the options menu for settings like VR comfort are a good indication of things to come (generally). ZED has options for audio level and subtitles. So you’d better be happy with teleportation because that’s all there is. Unfortunately, the teleportation is the single most annoying feature in ZED. It’s horrendous, one of the worst examples in modern VR gaming. The reason is the inconsistency, it feels like an actual chore trying to move around the world of ZED. All you need to do is push the joystick forward to create a reticule and then let go to move, simple. Yet it doesn’t always work, or the spot where you jump to disappears, slowly building the frustration levels. The knock on effect is that exploring the areas becomes tedious, rather than being able to admire them. After an hour of playing through the first three chapters out of six, the prospect of a further three chapters wasn’t exciting. And then there’s the gameplay. Almost everything you can see isn’t interactive in any way. Fragments of memory can be unlocked by finding certain objects which glow and generally can be clearly seen. They all need to be found in each area to open the next location, with a picture puzzle needing to be solved before stepping through. These puzzles don’t take long to solve, with the solutions drawn on the walls somewhere in each level in bright blue pigment. The two combined really detract from the experience as a whole, making ZED seem like it was developed by two different teams. One on the art/narrative side and then one on the actual interaction and gameplay. ZED was such a promising title, and with Cyan Ventures helping to back it for launch, all the ingredients were there for a unique experience. However, that’s not been the case. A pretty videogame does not necessarily make for one that excites and enthrals. There has been some great VR content arrive this year, ZED is not one of them. 40%

Review: ZED

(GeekWire Screenshot)
Cyan Worlds , the Spokane, Wash.-based studio that produced the best-selling Myst franchise, today debuted the first game out of its new Cyan Ventures division. Last year, as its prolific PC adventure game celebrated its 25th anniversary , Cyan revealed the Ventures division as a way to publish independently-produced virtual reality games and experiences. The first title is Eagre Games ’s Zed , a short, fast-moving VR title that might be best described as an interactive memoir. It’s an odd choice for an initial offering, though it’s really on-brand for Cyan: you spend much of Zed exploring bizarre architecture and surreal environments, as part of taking a dreamlike trip back through the defining moments of an old artist’s life. Rand Miller (left), CEO of Cyan Worlds, with Chuck Carter (right), CEO of Eagre Games, in 2019 at PAX East. (Cyan Worlds Photo)
Zed has been in development for the last four years, and was partially funded through a successful Kickstarter in 2016. Eagre’s co-founder and CEO, Chuck Carter , was one of the environmental designers on the original Myst, before going on to a career as a freelance digital artist, working on projects for NASA and National Geographic. Maine-based Eagre paired up last year with the New Hampshire-based Skymap Games in order to complete Zed and turn it into a full VR experience. In an interview with GeekWire, Carter cited Cyan’s game The Manhole ; 2012’s Dear Esther ; 2011’s The Stanley Parable ; and one of his own personal mentors as other influences to create Zed. “The real inspiration that got this whole thing going is that I found out about 15 years ago that one of my mentors was dying,” Carter explained. “I decided to go visit him, but I didn’t know that he had dementia. It was a really hard visit, because I remember this guy was always drawing, everywhere. He always had a sketchbook in his pocket. “When I met him, he didn’t really remember who I was. He was trying to draw, and couldn’t remember how to do it. That whole thing stuck with me through all these years, and I thought it might be an interesting idea to incorporate into a story. I laid it out for Joe Fielder and David Chen, our writers, who then ran with it and added a lot of their own insight.”
I went into Zed as cold as I possibly could’ve, and I’ll admit my first impression wasn’t great. You start the game in an empty house full of moving boxes, without much to see or do, with the vaguest of possible instructions regarding how to progress. Eventually, you find a simple puzzle, which when solved, allows you to move on. At first, I was close to writing Zed off as one of the “narrative experiences” I’ve seen a lot of lately, particularly on virtual reality platforms. Some can be fun in their own way, but they just don’t give you as a player that much to do, which seems like it defeats the purpose of being in an interactive medium at all. The running joke about them in the games community is that they’re “walking simulators,” as all they really ask of a player is that you move through them until they reach an ending. After the first couple of areas, however, Zed steadily pulled me in. You play from the perspective of an elderly cartoonist named Malone who’s suffering from dementia. His attempts to sort through his jumbled memories and regain some mental clarity are represented as a slow exploratory tour through important locations from Malone’s life, from his troubled childhood up to the present day. Much of Malone’s trip is heavily influenced by the creative project that’s defined Malone’s life: a series of stories about a talking stuffed animal named Zed, who’s lost in a colorful multiverse searching for a way home. Zed’s adventures are depicted in-game via a series of illustrations by Kent State art professor Doug Goldsmith , an old friend of Carter’s, which form the basis for many of the game’s puzzles. By turns, Zed can be funny, sad, genuinely creepy, nostalgic, or surreal. You move through Malone’s memories in rough order, going from childlike wonder to early disappointments to familial dysfunction. Sometimes, it’s simple relatable slice-of-life stuff, and other times, it’s got the peculiar magnetism of someone else’s personal disaster. You get through Zed by searching each successive environment for notable items from Malone’s past, each of which comes with an illustrative sketch in his journal that explains some of its significance to him. Once you’ve found them all, you activate a simple tile-matching puzzle, which you can solve to open the door to the next area. It’s not at all challenging, with no failure states, and it only took me a little under two hours to get to the end. On the other hand, it’s a genuinely touching experience. Zed is thoughtful, evocative, surreal, and particularly as you get further into Malone’s adult life, an emotional rollercoaster. Zed doesn’t have any adult content to speak of, in the way that people usually use that term — I’m not sure anyone even curses — but deals frankly and openly with infidelity, suicide, abuse, self-hatred, forgiveness, and mourning. A big part of what hooked me about the game, in fact, is that Zed is very good at environmental storytelling: it hints, teases, and shows, rather than outright telling the player what’s happening. Unlike a lot of VR games, Malone isn’t a silent protagonist. He’s a character in his own right, voiced by veteran actor Stephen Russell , and narrates much of his own story. Malone already knows what he’s looking at, so he offers just enough information in his mono- and dialogues that players can begin to put together the pieces by themselves. “The main character has no first name,” Carter said. “He can be anybody. I toyed with a couple of ideas, like using an actual friend of mine’s name, but this lets people interpret it however they want. Some of the responses we’ve gotten from people who’ve played it is that they know somebody who’s going through this. Leaving it a bit ambiguous allows people to personally fill in the blanks, which I think helps connect you to the story a little bit more.”
It’s effective. I have a few of my usual misgivings about Zed as I do with a lot of games like it: it’s short, and I can’t imagine going back through it. Zed is not something you’d ever replay for fun; in fact, this is probably the first VR product I’d ever recommend to somebody if you’re actually looking for a tearjerker. This is hard to recommend, but I’m going to make the effort anyway. There’s a lot to admire here, about Zed’s environment design, storytelling chops, and general artistic skill, even if it’s also a non-stop thrill ride through an old man’s regrets and accomplishments. It’s going to wreck your whole day if you aren’t careful, but Zed is a sobering, powerful experience. If you’re into VR, or just interested in the possibilities of interactive storytelling, you need to check it out. Thomas Wilde has been working as a journalist and editor in the gaming press since 2002, most notoriously as the editor for DoubleJump Books. He has personally won World War II 47 separate times. Follow him on Twitter @stolisomancer .

Review: Myst creator Cyan Worlds breaks into indie publishing with ‘Zed,’ an interactive memoir in VR

Surreal adventure title ZED began life back in 2016 as a successful Kickstarter campaign for Eagre Games, with virtual reality (VR) support one of the stretch goals. Even though that particular goal wasn’t achieved ZED will be coming to HTC VIve and Oculus Rift. And this week, Cyan Ventures, the new publishing arm of Cyan, has confirmed that ZED will finally launch on Steam in less than two weeks. ZED is very much a weird and wonderful adventure set in a world of an artist suffering from dementia – desperately trying to reconnect fragmented memories. Developed in association with Skymap Games, you explore the dreams of the artist’s crumbling mind in hopes of helping him assemble enough meaningful images to leave behind a loving memento and final legacy for his granddaughter. The videogame will be the first published by Cyan Ventures, a new division which launched in November 2018. Cyan Inc. is best known for its puzzle adventures Myst and Riven, most recently releasing Obduction whilst completing its own Kickstarter campaign for  Firmament . “It’s exciting to release ZED as the first, in what we hope is, a series of artisan indie titles,” said Rand Miller, CEO of Cyan in a statement. “Cyan Ventures was created to connect our amazingly supportive Myst fan base to inspiring artists like Chuck at Eagre Games. We hope that ZED, with its graphically mesmerizing narrative, will resonate with our fans and audiences worldwide.”
“I am thrilled to be working with Cyan Ventures,” adds Chuck Carter, founder of Eagre Games. “It is awesome to be working with a publisher as vested in the visual fidelity and compelling story as us. They believed in our vision and helped us move ZED across the finish line, from its Kickstarter inception to a deeply moving story of an unexamined life.”
The vision of Carter, ZED was co-written by Joe Fielder (Bioshock Infinite, The Flame and the Flood) and David Chen (Metal Gear Solid series, Narcosis). ZED is due for release on 4th June 2019 and will be available on Steam , GOG, Oculus Store and VivePort. VRFocus will continue its coverage of both Eagre Games’ ZED and Cyan’s Firmament as more details are released. Share
Senior Staff Writer at VRFocus who enjoys bringing the latest news to our keen readers all over the world. Obsessive gamer since the days of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, when Peter does step outside he's off to practice Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, or see the latest local live bands. E-mail: pgraham@vrfocus.com

Kickstarter Backed ZED to be Released in June

Currently being developed by Eagre Games and Skymap Games is a new surreal adventure experience called ZED, which is being published by Oblivion creator Cyan Ventures. Supporting both standard PC monitors and virtual reality (VR) headsets,  ZED is due for release this Spring. With the launch not far away Cyan has just released an official trailer for the title. Very much a twisted puzzle adventure, the trailer gives a good demonstration of the weirdness that the development teams have been creating. A synopsis explains that: “ZED is the story of an artist suffering from dementia — desperately trying to reconnect fragmented memories. The player explores the dreams of the artist’s crumbling mind in hopes of helping him assemble enough meaningful images to leave behind a loving memento and final legacy for his granddaughter.”
“This game is very personal to me,” said Chuck Carter, founder of Eagre Games in a statement. “I had a dear friend and mentor pass a few years back. He suffered from dementia in those final years and my visits to him became the inspiration for ZED. This is not his story, but a broader cautionary tale of not waiting till the end to examine your life.”
“ZED is just the type of game Cyan Ventures wants to publish, said Rand Miller, CEO, Cyan. “We formed Cyan Ventures because we believe that now is the time to experiment and explore the new possibilities in VR storytelling. Chuck’s very emotional exploration of an artist’s struggle to examine the meaning of his life through the fog of dementia is a provocative approach to narrative gameplay. We’re very excited to have a part in bringing ZED’s moving and inventive narrative to VR and PC.”
Eagre Games has been working on ZED for a while now, having held a successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign in 2016. Managing to raise over $50,000 USD, backers will soon be able to enjoy the videogame they supported 3 years ago. Cyan plans on releasing ZED for PC as well as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in Spring 2019. When a more concrete release date has been announced VRFocus will let you know. Share
Senior Staff Writer at VRFocus who enjoys bringing the latest news to our keen readers all over the world. Obsessive gamer since the days of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, when Peter does step outside he's off to practice Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, or see the latest local live bands. E-mail: pgraham@vrfocus.com

Cyan’s Upcoming Surreal Adventure ZED Receives new Trailer Ahead of Spring Release

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Cyan , the studio behind iconic adventure games Myst (1993) and Riven (1997), are putting their stamp of approval on a newly announced VR game from  Eagre Games , a studio led by original Myst artist Chuck Carter. Dubbed ZED, the adventure game is currently under development by Eagre Games and New England-based  Skymap Games . Zed will be the first game published by Cyan Ventures, Cyan’s newly formed publishing arm. Outside of his work on Myst, Carter has worked on 25 other games including many in the Command & Conquer series, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and Pac-Man World Rally. Carter is also known for his work on a number of non-game projects such as art for TV series Babylon5, NASA, National Geographic, and Scientific American. To create Zed, the studios have also assembled a cast of industry talent including writers Joe Fielder (Bioshock Infinite, The Flame and the Flood) and David Chen (Metal Gear Solid series, Narcosis). Long-time games industry voice actor Stephen Russell (the Thief and Fallout series) will be lending his voice to the game. Image courtesy Cyan Ventures
Here’s Cyan’s description of what to expect from Zed:
ZED is the story of an aging artist, lost in regret, and the haze of dementia. Inside the dreamscape of this creative mind come undone, players reassemble the artist’s fragmented memories into a final, lasting legacy: a loving final gift to his unborn granddaughter. Making its debut with VR support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and non-VR support for PC, ZED is a surreal trip, with an unexpected narrative that unfolds across fanciful, fractured lands. Spanning regret, reconciliation and redemption, it’s a bittersweet story that’s both deeply personal, and undeniably universal. Zed is slated to release in Spring 2019, targeting Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and non-VR support for PC.

Cyan Announces New VR Adventure ‘ZED’, Development Led by ‘Myst’ Creator

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Eagre Games specializes in the creation of non-violent games within the entertainment industry. Their products are designed to provide gaming experiences for people of all ages. It is based in Orono, Maine.

Date	10/30/2015
Round	Unattributed
Amount	$0.02M
Investors	Undisclosed Investors
Valuation	$XXM
Revenue	0 FY undefined
Sources	2

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