Back to virtual reality: A fantasy game built for the Samsung Gear VR

London – Land’s End, a surreal trip through an archipelago of forgotten worlds, is the latest gaming experience from digital production studio ustwo, built for the Samsung Gear VR.

The game is a stunningly rendered journey through an endless horizon populated by Middle Eastern temples, Kremlin-style towers and MC Escher-inspired geometric staircases.

Users navigate the world by looking where they want to go, gliding through the sky, under arches and through portals that transport them to new locations.

The game, which will be launched in December, has been designed specifically for the Samsung Gear VR, a virtual reality headset that works only with the company’s new Galaxy Note 4 phone and is based on Oculus’s virtual reality technology.

Like their highly acclaimed game Monument Valley, available on iOS and Android, the designers at ustwo say that their intention was to design a user experience more than a game. To connect with a wider variety of players, ustwo designed the game play to be as simple as possible, beautiful to look at and geometrically fascinating.

This is a good example of how innovations in technology, beginning with smartphones and tablets, have brought digital games into the adult mainstream, making the experiences more mature, contemplative and artistic. For more on how games are emerging as a high-brow form of entertainment, read our Game Imitates Art microtrend.