Factsheet
Developer:
E McNeill
Based in San Diego, California
Release date:
December 2014 (Gear VR launch)
Platforms:
Steam (Vive and non-VR versions)
Gear VR
Oculus Rift
PlayStation VR
Website:
DarknetGame.com
Regular Price:
| USD | $10 (mobile), $15 (other) |
Description
Darknet is a strategy/puzzle game in which you play as an elite hacker in the Net. Plug into cyberspace, using viruses, worms, and exploits to steal the data before your signal gets traced!
History
Darknet began as the Grand Prize winner of the VR Jam in 2013, created in 3 weeks by a team of one person. That early win gave Darknet the momentum it needed to make its mark as a pioneering virtual reality game. Darknet went on to become a launch title on the Gear VR and Oculus Rift, to win a Proto Award and become and IndieCade Finalist, and to accumulate over 100,000 hours of play time.
Features
- DEEP GAMEPLAY: “Darknet is the closest thing to a killer app for the system... It seems simple at first, but Darknet quickly grows to require a lot of second- and third-order logical thinking, under what can be a strict time limit. More than anything else, Darknet was what I was excited to play every time.” - Ars Technica
- CYBERPUNK HACKING: “Darknet is the hacking VR game we’ve all been waiting for since our first viewing of HACKERS, Johnny Mnemonic, or Tron… Everything I wanted out of a hacking game since 1995. The future is finally here and I’m cracking nodes, dropping viruses, staying one-step ahead of security.” - BigSushi.fm
- GREAT FOR VR: “When I dove into the cyberspace simulation, I lost myself in the illusion. My relationship to meat space was momentarily forgotten. And that’s precisely what a virtual reality game ought to do for the player… It is the best Oculus Rift game I’ve ever played.” - DailyDot
Videos
Darknet Trailer YouTube
Darknet "Fair Use" Teaser YouTube
Images
Logo & Icon
Awards & Recognition
- "First Place" Oculus/IndieCade VR Jam, September 2013
- "Best Gameplay" The Proto Awards, September 2014
- "Golden Sushi" BigSushi.fm, PAX Prime 2014
- "Finalist" IndieCade 2015
Selected Articles
- "Darknet is one of the oldest VR games around, and still one of the best."
- Adi Robertson, The Verge - "And therein lies the beauty of Darknet. The game is simple on its surface, yet it's filled with challenges that keep you pressing on to beat the next one. I thought I was going to play Darknet for 20 minutes or so to get a feel for the game. Little did I know, three hours would pass before I gazed upon (actual) reality again."
- Kevin Carbotte, Tom's Hardware - "A strategy-puzzle game designed for Oculus Rift where players explore a virtual reality computer network and use viruses, worms, exploits and other hacker tools to capture sensitive data from what may or may not be a shady megacorporation. It's practically the definition of cyberpunk."
- Sam Prell, Joystiq - "Completely worth your time. An interesting puzzle game where you have to hack into different computer system using an array of tools, it also winkingly makes fun of the 90s-era version of VR. If you ever wanted to pretend you were a hacker from the 1995 film Hackers, this is a pretty good place to start."
- Ben Kuchera, Polygon
Additional Links
Darknet Subreddit: /r/darkcom
The official subreddit of Darknet. reddit.com.
Darknet Twitter
twitter.com.
Darknet Facebook
facebook.com.
About E McNeill
Boilerplate
E McNeill is a solo indie game designer working out of San Diego.
More information
More information on E McNeill, our logo & relevant media are available here.
Darknet Credits
E McNeill
Game Designer
Michael Heald
Concept Artist
Alfredo Barraza
Composer
Clemens Scott
Artist
Jordan Fehr
Sound Designer
Alex Kain
Writer
Jon St. John
Voice Actor
Dale Day
Technical Designer
presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks