Heists! Everybody loves them, but they have the pesky issue of being mostly illegal. So what if you could do them... virtually!
Too long has virtual reality been shackled to weird chat rooms or waggle games fit for the Wii. We have to use this technology for what it was intended for: robbery. And not just the prices on the devices themselves; amirite, folks at home?!
Each session is split across multiple players and even different times, depending on your role in the scenario.
Our setting:
A smallish suburban town. Nothing of particular interest or crazy geography.
It has some basic housing, suburbia streets, and a small shop area. Spread across this limited map are 3 convenience stores.
Player 1 Role: the Robber
Your mission is to rob one of the stores. And take whatever cash you can.
You have the freedom to choose whichever store you want and are in control of the “world’s” time of day, season, and weather for the start of the robbery.
You can go in unarmed, with a bat, or with a pistol.
You can go about your mission on-foot, in your car, or find a bike in the neighborhood section and use that instead.
You can check out the stores and plan as much as you want but you have to complete the mission within an hour of starting the session. Be warned, there are cameras in the stores so you might get caught on tape.
Once the robbery kicks off, you have to get the Clerk to give you money from the drawer. You can use your weapon or not. You can even sweet talk the Clerk into giving the money for the heck of it. The choice is yours.
Once you get the money, you have to return to the designated “home” randomly assigned to you in the suburban area within an hour.
If you die or get caught, you lose.
If you last until the end of the session without being caught, you win.
Winning awards you with a currency used to customize your character and unlock new items/tools you can use for future runs.
Player 2 Role: the Clerk (one for each store, or you duplicate the player into all three stores with similar layouts so the actions match and delete the others once the robbery starts)
You have tasks you have to do until the robbery (clean, put stuff away, help AI customers). The store is populated by NPC characters that enter and shop and your initial tasks are simple games around checking people out, helping them, and keeping the store clean and running.
Once the Robber kicks off the robbery, you can hand over the money, fight back yourself (unarmed or with something in the store), or some sessions will include a weapon under the counter.
Better stores will have an alarm- some are silent, some are audible.
After the robbery, you will play a role in the Cop’s session and have to give information on the robber.
Fail to complete your store tasks before the robbery starts, you lose
If you die, you lose
If the Cop is able to prove you helped the robber or you’re not cooperating with the investigation, you’re fired and you lose
If you performed everything well but the robber is not caught, it’s a light victory
If the money is returned (whether the robber is dead or not), it's a big win
Winning awards you with a currency used to customize your character, unlock weapons for your store, upgrades to the store that give you more minigames but result in different layouts for robbers that might hurt or hinder any players for future runs.
Player 3 Role: the Cop
You have tasks you have to do around the town until the robbery, like patrol, talk to people around town for things like noise complaints or parking.
Depending on how the robbery goes, you will be notified of the robbery. If the Clerk triggers the store’s alarm, you get the call shortly after the alarm is triggered. If the Robber is smooth, you don’t get the notice until 5 minutes after the Robber leaves the store.
At the store, you can interview the Clerk player and get information on what the Robber looks like, how the event went down (was it violent, was a weapon used, etc), and how the Robber came and left (vehicle used, what direction they went, etc).
If there's security footage, you can request it, but cameras may not always be on, on but not working, or be lower quality. You’re given all the footage from the whole session, so if the Robber went in and out multiple times, you can scrub through the footage to find them amid the NPCs that have been in and out. You can review the footage as much as you want but time is ticking. If the Clerk cooperates, they can give you times they noticed the Robber casing the joint and the time the robbery kicked off.
Depending on the violence between the Clerk and Robber, you have different resources. If they were nonviolent, it's just you and some basic support from an NPC at the station willing to run searches or look up plate numbers and the such. They’ll be slow but will eventually return you information you request.
The more violent the Robber was, the more resources you’ll have. If a gun was pulled or the Clerk was injured, you have full support from the station and multiple NPCs to help you and provide gear for you to pick up. If the clerk was shot or killed in any way, you have access to all of the support and resources.
The Cop’s game lasts a full day from when the robbery is called in. You have to use all the clues and tools you have and identify the Robber AND find their hideout.
The robber isn't identified or caught by the end of the session, you lose
If you identify the robber, it's a light victory
If you find their hideout and apprehend them to return the money, it's a big win
Winning awards you with a currency used to customize your character, unlock new events around town, and unlock new items/tools/people at the station you can use for future runs.
I think it’s a neat idea for a game because no one part is technically demanding or of such a big scale that current VR and games tech couldn’t handle it. While the session lasts a long time, each player has a limited time they need to actually be active. The Cop has the longest session, but there are lots of places to build in breaks, like how long it takes the station to return identification/vehicle information.
And once this proof of concept is proven, think of where this could expand to. Robbing corporations, billionaire estates, destroying golf courses... Let everybody live out their dreams with new expansions and tools added.