Tournaments and events are a great way to connect members of the VR community and it’s always great to see those in lesser-publicized games because sometimes you discover a hidden gem like Make Real’s Loco Dojo.
Most people in the VR esports community are at least somewhat familiar with my writing and playstyle so when Wise Director, founder of VR Central, invited me to participate in the Loco VR Tournament, he appealed to my competitive and slightly violent nature.
What I didn’t realize was that Loco Dojo is designed sort of like a board game, where you take turns spinning the dice wheel to move your counter around the game board with these adorable little animated stations. Depending on where you land, you can receive a prize or be launched into one of 16 mini-games that requires you to milk pigs, move eggs safely from the henhouse to a cooking pan, grab fish with claw hands and put them in a boat, avoid ravenous sharks, and more.
Generally I’m pretty adept at VR games and I enjoy in-game rewards when I do well, but I definitely couldn’t seem to please the Sensei very often in Loco Dojo. In fact, he made a black cloud rain on my head and basically told me I was not good at the game. While it seems incredibly irritating, the bubbly host, voiced by cult hero Brian Blessed, was quick to give me another opportunity to earn achievements and do better in the next mini-game.
Loco VR Tournament
On Saturday, April 24, you’re invited to participate in or view some well-known personalities in VR gaming as we compete for glory and prizes. Competitors will include Skeeva, PeskyCashew, Alex_VR, Aspindarkfire, Lissa VR and many other crazy VR gamers who enjoy making fools of ourselves to provide entertainment while we help you learn about some of these lesser-known VR games!
Four competitors will be in each bracket and each bracket will have it’s own dojo. The top two competitors from each dojo will advance to the next bracket and this will go on until the finals. The winner will forever have bragging rights as the first Loco Dojo VR Tournament champion and they’ll also receive prizes from Oxygen Esports.
- T-shirt
- Mask
- Mug
Oxygen Esports is a desktop esports organization that is moving into virtual reality. This is a trend we’ve been noticing more often and it’s exciting to welcome these esports organizations to events in our immersive realms!
While the tournament isn’t being organized by the developers, the team at Make Real has been supportive of the Loco Dojo community and rumor has it that they’re hard at work on a Quest port. (If you check the Loco Dojo webpage, you’ll see signs of this such as an Oculus Quest Dev Team.) Since the main negative reviews on the Oculus Store involve the lack of opponents in multiplayer mode, a Quest port would most likely be a fantastic boost to the playerbase as it would help resolve that issue.
Meanwhile, the game can be played in solo mode, as I did today. Honestly the mini-games were a ton of fun without anyone else in the room so there’s definitely long-term playability whether or not there are other players online.
How to Participate
If you’re interested in participating in the tournament, you’ll need to download the game, join the VR Central Discord server, and let Wise Director or another admin know you’d like to register. Even if you can’t participate in this tournament, we encourage you to play this fun game, engage with the community, and keep an eye out for future events. With the Quest port, there are sure to be more competitions in the future.
Purchase Loco Dojo on:
Engage with other Loco Dojo fans on the VR Central Discord server.
Game setup is very easy. Once you purchase and install the game, you can choose to customize your avatar, but it’s simple to hop right into a match. If there are no other players available for multiplayer, just go to solo mode and it’s still a lot of fun.
If you’re a seated player, look below the table and there’s a little step-stool that you can pull out to boost yourself up to table level. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely functional and much better than games that offer no seated options.
When and Where to Watch
Tune in on Saturday as some of our content creators stream the experience live and meanwhile, place your (figurative) bets on which competitor is most likely to become the ultimate Loco VR Tournament champion.
- Date: Saturday, April 24
- Time: 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT / 7 pm BST
Content Creator Links
There will be plenty of content creators streaming the event so choose a couple and tune in. Not all are listed here, but you’ll find a variety of creator styles on the following channels.
- https://www.twitch.tv/vrcentral
- https://www.youtube.com/user/skeeva007
- https://www.twitch.tv/soulman195
- https://www.twitch.tv/hawkwolf1017
- https://www.twitch.tv/doodybeard
- https://www.twitch.tv/zstormgames
- https://www.twitch.tv/rayne_the_gamer
- https://www.twitch.tv/paincop
- https://www.twitch.tv/vampireflower1
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQ3SOUGz9OpKuC_DnZ6J-g
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuqFtsd3BNYfwum41tD4Z_A
About VR Central
In 2017, Wise Director created VR Central as a place where gamers could connect with each other to form friendships, participate in events, and help the industry overall by highlighting many of the smaller VR games on the market.
“We made our first tournament in a VR game called Dash Dash World and managed to have a snowball effect of sales,” he explains. “I’ve seen unique games and amazing ideas die over the years because so many people just do not know they exist. When we started to advertise a tournament for Dash Dash World, people were shocked and amazed that there was a VR racing game almost parallel to Mario Kart in VR.”
“Our tournament in Loco Dojo will hopefully stimulate all that old nostalgia of the fun and wacky Nintendo minigames that we all came to know and love as kids,” he continues. “So many games do not get the attention they deserve…..and that’s where we want to make a difference. I realize that we are not the biggest community out there, but if there is even the slightest chance that any impact that I make from this tournament can bring one of the participants a day of fun and laughter or give the developer enough sales to make his dream come true, then I am obligated in the position that I am in to at least try. I hope that this tournament can bring attention to one of the most fun games I have ever had the pleasure of playing.”
