Finally, a killer app for virtual reality

November 29, 2017 6:46 AM

The world’s slowest, most boring bus simulator finally has a VR version

Direct link to the free to play Steam store.

Previously and relatedly.

posted by peeedro (12 comments total)

The game is free to play, but users can buy bonus powerups for $1.99 that will teleport the bus five miles down the highway.
posted by Naberius at 6:54 AM on November 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

Has anyone gotten all the way to the destination? Tucson is a hell of a payoff on its own, but I’m wondering if the developers break character and give the player a treat. Maybe a virtual soda pop or something.

Probably they don’t and the bus turns around for the return trip.
posted by notyou at 6:57 AM on November 29, 2017

Has anyone gotten all the way to the destination?

Every year!
posted by backseatpilot at 7:02 AM on November 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Has anyone gotten all the way to the destination?

My understanding is you get one point, and then turn around and go back. You get another point if you get back to Vegas.

It is the best game.
posted by bondcliff at 7:06 AM on November 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

The game is free to play, but users can buy bonus powerups for $1.99 that will teleport the bus five miles down the highway.

They could add $5 loot boxes that allow you to customize the bus with, say, fancy whitewall tires that you never actually get to see because you're driving the bus.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:15 AM on November 29, 2017 [15 favorites]

I have a 45-minute daily commute on the shuttle van. This will be a great way for me to pass the time.
posted by klarck at 7:36 AM on November 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

I would be in favor of in-app purchases that make you go faster BUT also make the bus harder to control. Also, the purchases go to charity and it's the people watching that buy them, not the person playing.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:45 AM on November 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Faster and harder to control would both make it a better game and a less realistic one, thus defeating the point. :)
Purchases that go to charity would of course be right in line with Desert Bus for Hope.
posted by PennD at 9:31 AM on November 29, 2017

I genuinely want a parody-freemium version of Desert Bus where all the items are worthless, except the people who spend the most get to go on a public leaderboard. All the money goes to charity. Make this happen plz
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:50 AM on November 29, 2017

Ooh I hope there's a networked version where you can let your friends ride in the back while you drive.
posted by antinomia at 10:20 AM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

My favorite thing about Desert Bus VR is its newest feature: online game invasion. You can now pick the "ride bus" option to land in a random online player's bus, no matter how far along they are in their drive, and... just sit there. The driver can see your head and hands, but they can't hear you talk, and you can't actually move beyond the bounds of your assigned seat, so the harassment potential is minimal.

This does to fit in perfectly with the whole concept.
posted by cirhosis at 11:17 AM on November 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

> I would be in favor of in-app purchases that make you go faster BUT also make the bus harder to control.

No, no - any upgrades need to go towards making it even MORE boring and irritating, not in the opposite direction.

Like your $5 donation would slow the bus you're observing down by say 0.1%. That would add just less than a minute to the 8 hour one-way trip.

That way you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to make the trip even more boring and irritating, but also the irritation of knowing that change in boringness level is well below the level of ordinary perception.
posted by flug at 9:52 AM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]