Dig VR is a game that is exactly what the title implies: It’s a virtual reality title in which you are driving a digger and digging things up. To drive the point home even further, it takes place in Diglington, Diglingshire (a cute pastiche of British towns) and the radio you listen to while working is called DIG FM. Seems like a fairly straightforward experience, right? I would have thought the same — but the game surprised me, both because it has such good humor and heart, and an emotional story behind its creation.
Dig VR is deceptively simple to control: You have two handles for moving the digger itself, and two for controlling the arm and bucket. It sounds like it should be easy to figure out — and it is, if you’re content to just scoop whatever and be messy. But if you care about precision and neatness, then the game gives you that as well, albeit with a bit more of a learning curve behind it. Still, the game doesn’t really judge you if you want to be messy — it’s more about the fun of learning to use the tools.
It occurred to me while I was playing the preview build for Dig VR that it was yet another game in the “working day sim” genre, which includes the likes of Powerwash Simulator and the hundreds of Farming Simulators. After a while, I got into a zen-like state where manipulating the controls became second nature, especially once I figured out how to play my own lo-fi tunes while doing my in-game work. It’s a charming and fun experience overall.
Speaking with Leo Zullo about Dig VR
After playing the preview build for a while, I got the chance to speak with Leo Zullo, the managing director at Wired Productions about Dig VR. We spoke at length about the game’s development, and how the controls of a digger translate to VR. He also informed me of the game’s importance to himself, as his first experience with a digger came while he was caring for his late father.
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As Zullo told me, the story behind the game began during COVID, when he was caring for his father in Tuscany. He rented a digger and began taking care of various projects around the family property and found the learning curve very similar to another experience. “I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Wow, this is like when you play a game!’ It’s kind of got that learning onboarding element to it. And I’m sitting there thinking, well I’ve got two controllers here. Imagine what this would be like in VR.”
He added that part of his experience with the digger was his father yelling corrections at him while he was learning how to use it. This sort of happens in the game as well, as the first digger you drive is a loaner from your character’s father. As he told me, “There’s a kind of element of wanting to please your parent and get it right and seek that approval. There’s a little bit of that thrown into the reasoning.”
Zullo added that he connected with someone at Just Add Water, a development studio that specializes in VR titles. “In March 2022, the project became real from just being an idea. It’s surprising how many people I’ve pitched to have had a digger experience. So there’s an instant connection … I wanted us to make a game that, at its core, it needs to make you feel like you’re in a digger. But we also had to temper it with not being a dull, dry sim. It needs to be a little bit fun … but I was surprised no one’s done it before, because I got off this thing thinking, ‘This is perfect. These controls were made for a VR game.’”