Audioshield is the best virtual reality game I’ve played yet

I never owned a lot of music. As a kid, everyone around me would talk about their latest CD purchases, but I preferred engaging with the new tracks and classic hits when artists would combine them with other media like music videos, film, and — eventually — video games. The classic Nintendo rhythm game Elite Beat Agents is one of my all-time favorites because it enabled me to interact with music in a more direct way. Today, as virtual reality shifts from concept to consumer product, it’s another rhythm game that is the emerging tech’s first can’t-miss game.

Audioshield is a VR music game that comes out next month for the HTC Vive headset. Developer Dylan Fitterer built it for the headset-and-motion-controllers kit that HTC built in cooperation with Steam owner Valve because his rhythm game is a whole-body experience. Like Guitar Hero or AurdioSurf, notes come flying toward you, and you need to stay on beat with the music to successfully hit them. Unlike those games, the immersion of virtual reality makes it feel like the song is really overwhelming you physically. Tech adviser Digi-Capital is predicting that VR will generate $30 billion in spending by 2020, and it’s software like Audioshield — which I think everyone could pick up and enjoy — that could prove that estimate accurate.