Richie’s Plank Experience Review – Can you handle it?

Let’s get started on this Richie’s Plank Experience Review.

What is Richie’s Plank Experience?

Richies Plank Experience is not a game as much as an experience. You will ride an elevator up to the top floor of a skyscraper. The doors open, and you can see… the plank. Will you walk out?

There are a few other modes besides this experience as well that will we cover in this review. Richie’s Plank Experience was first launched in VR in 2016. How does the experience hold up?

Who Makes Richie’s Plank Experience?

Richie’s Plank Experience is developed by Toast. They are an Australian-based developer who is also a husband and wife team. Richie’s Plank Experience is their flagship product.

Which VR Headsets is Richie’s Plank Experience On?

You can play Richies Plank Experience on Steam VR, Viveport, PlayStationVR, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest 2. Yup, everything.

A Richie’s Plank Experience Gameplay Review

Again, Richie’s Plank Experience is not really a game but more of an experience. It is quite a simple one at that. That is by design. Someone who is brand new to VR can put the headset on, and instantly get everything that they need to do. There are no complicated controls. You push buttons with your hands, the rest is physical walking around movement – no joystick controls.

You start up the game at the bottom of a cartoonish, yet semi-realistic skyscraper. You turn around and enter the large elevator in front of you. You push the button, the elevator rises. When the doors open, you will see the plank, the sky, and the tops of buildings. Will you walk out?

If you are brand new to VR, this is going to be pretty intense. Most people are expecting some kind of video game. To suddenly have your heart sink to your stomach – a ‘real’ physical response to heights, is something MOST new players will NOT be expecting. It’s that ‘real’ response that makes this experience so great.

Even if you are not afraid of heights, most people are not ok with walking out a plank on the top of a tall skyscraper. Your brain and body know that’s a BAD idea and you will feel it in various physical responses. Shaky knees, sweaty palms, deep breathing. Each person’s experience will vary here.

This is why scary games can be seriously more intense in VR than watching a scary movie. Your brain KNOWS it is just a scary movie. You are safe. In VR, Your brain’s response to VR is…. real threat.

People who have played VR for a while, know what to expect with this VR response. Their response in this experience will likely be a bit easier…. But not always.

After you walk out on the plank, you are supposed to step off the end. That brings about another whole ‘oof’ of emotions and responses. Then it is the next person’s turn.

Richie’s Hero Academy – Superhero Mode

There are a few other floors you can experience in Richie’s Plank Experience. First, we will look at Richie’s Hero Academy.

Once you have mastered plank walking, now you can fly around the skyscrapers like you are Superman.

There are 3 different mini-games for you to explore in this section – Fire Fight, Missle Defense, and Rocket Race.

In Fire Fight, you have a jet pack arm in one hand and a fire extinguisher in the other. Various fires will start around the city and you will fly to them and put them out while being timed.

In Missle Defence, there are various missiles flying around the city, you need to superman fly directly into them to make them explode.

In Rocket Race,  you fly with your jet pack arms through the various race markers to the end.

All of these will be timed and tell you what you need to do to get more stars. Each experience took me about 3 minutes on my first play-through.

Sky Brush Mode

There is also another floor called Sky Brush Mode. In this, your jet pack arms also can turn into paint. Then as you fly around superhero style you can make a beautiful painting.  I found this my least favorite of all the modes as it was kind of clunky and difficult to use.

How Do I Unlock Santa Simulator in Richie’s Plank Experience?

When you are done being a superhero and walking off planks there is also a Santa Simulator built into Richie’s Plank Experience. To unlock this mode you simply need to ring the bell located in the elevator.

There seems to be a slight bug here getting it to show up. If you don’t see a bell in the elevator,  you open up options with the ‘B’ button, select “bonus options” and then uncheck and recheck the Santa Simulator option. After you do this the bell will appear in the elevator and you can start this fun Santa mode.

Here a small sleigh with 2 reindeer will start flying towards you after you ring the bell. Then you need to slide down the pole to the sleigh. Now the reindeer slowly take off, flying around the city and hovering over top Christmas-wrapped chimneys. They wait for you to throw present down them.

It’s a pretty magical little experience I have to say.

If you purchase the steam version Richie’s Plank Experience gives you are completely separate game called Santa Simulator for free.

This game is a standalone version of the same in-game experience, It’s just more detailed. This is pretty fun for younger folk to truly be Santa.

How Do I Unlock Nightmare Mode in Richie’s Plank Experience?

Nightmare mode is another free included experience. You unlock it by pushing the large “do not push” button in the elevator and then press ‘666’ in the elevator. Get ready. This is NOT for kids.

I won’t ruin the spooky experiences, but they get pretty intense and uncomfortable. I screamed out loud at one point. It was done in about 3 minutes.

Is Richie’s Plank Experience Scary?

This game can be VERY intense for people who are afraid of heights. Even if you are not, many users report feeling extremely uneasy while trying this experience out. That is what this experience was designed for.

According to the developer Richie’s Plank Experience purpose is “to invoke the most intense possible reaction in the shortest possible time”

Nightmare mode is definitely a scary experience that is quite intense.

Can I Use A Real Plank?

Yup. This is one of the neat parts of this experience to really bring it up a few notches. Set up a real plank of wood on the floor. Then use the in-game options to measure the plank.

YOUR plank will now be in the game. Some even raise it off the ground a bit with some blocks. Some add fans blowing on your to make it even MORE intense. Remember to always have spotters as the real plank can be very disorienting!

Who Will Enjoy Playing Richie’s Plank Experience?

Richie’s Plank Experience is rated T for Teen. There is mild violence. This is one of the best experiences that you can offer to a person new to VR. It really has been designed for a group of people to watch each person take a turn trying it out.

Young and old will enjoy seeing how their nerves hold up in the virtual world. Even people with no fear of heights will often give up. Those with fear of heights be warned as it is pretty intense. Anyone who has zero interest in gaming or VR will probably want to try it out as well as there are no complicated controls. Overall,  It’s a great introduction to VR.

What Games are similar to Richie’s Plank Experience?

Richie’s Plank Experience is a fear-inducing experience for people pretty new to VR. Similar perhaps more intense VR Games would be Face Your Fears, Face Your Fears 2, and Exorcist VR.

How long is Richie’s Plank Experience?

This is one of the downsides of this experience. It’s a great experience but it’s pretty short. Each of the modes I completed in about 3 minutes. So roughly 15 – 20 minutes of game playtime.

Once your walk out on the plank a few times, you won’t be booting it back up daily. The other modes allow you to explore a few other experiences, especially Santa Simulator and Nightmare Mode, but overall pretty low replayability.

Except when you have “Can I try your VR headset” friends over. That’s what this game is really designed for. Don’t buy this expecting a regular thing to play because that is NOT what it is.

Can you play Richie’s Plank Experience Sitting Down?

No. This is one of the few experiences in VR that require you to walk as the entire purpose is walking the plank. There is no joystick movement so you will need a long and thin playspace area at the minimum in order to move around the elevator and plank.

It could be argued you could try some of the other modes while sitting, but overall this is a standing experience.

Does Richie’s Plank Experience cause motion sickness?

Richie’s Plank Experience has no in-game movement in the basic plank game. You will be required to physically move around in your environment in order to move around. This should limit motion sickness experiences.

That being said, you are moving to the top of an extremely high skyscraper and looking down. It very likely will cause some disorienting feelings. Many people physically fall over in real life.

Richie’s Plank Experience may cause motion sickness resulting from heights, but not the in-game movement.

Final Thoughts On Richie’s Plank Experience Review. Is Richie’s Plank Experience Worth It?

If you are looking for “the best game to show people new to VR” this is definitely worth it. If you are looking for a game you play yourself, although you might find this intense for a few moments, you are probably going to want to pass here. It’s really designed as a group experience.