Suddenly the world turned red, an alarm sounded and I was faced with a choice – press the button again or flip the reset switch.

I was delayed briefly once again by my coworker’s warning but that didn’t stop me from flipping that switch with a smile on my face. Boy did it feel good, but all that happened was that a secret panel opened up revealing a switch. That’s as long as I could resist before I mashed the button with all of my might. This admonition held me back for all of 15 seconds. Is there anything more tempting than a giant red button? You’d push it without a thought but the last thing your coworker said to you before leaving the room was – you guessed it – “don’t touch anything.” PDTA give you no real instructions once your co worker leaves for a “bathroom break.” The monolithic grey console you’re seated before starts off with just a single red button, a “reset” lever, and a screen that appears to be depicting some sort of pixel art version of a major city’s skyline. But his workstation has the power to annihilate and enslave the human race. The entire adventure takes place in one small room and your only moment of outside interactions come from your never fully seen “coworker.” The most you’ll see of this man is his arm as he waves to you from the door, but your entire job during the game is to fill in for him at his workstation. Initially developed for PC by indie studio, Escalation Studios in partnership with Four Quarters, the new version on the Samsung Gear VR turns a somewhat interesting 2D puzzler into an atmospheric and affective immersive experience. PDTA might be the best example of a virtual reality port currently on the market.

What I learned from playing Please Don’t Touch Anythingis that even though I’m now an adult myself, that part of my mind is still very much alive. I knew touching it would be painful but some part of my lizard brain just had to try it. I particularly remember being lured in by the seductively glowing heat coil on our electric stove. There’s nothing more tempting for a child than when an adult tells them not to do something.

Touch the red button