It’s my first time standing next to a sarcophagus. The ancient coffin is every bit as grand as you’d expect, only twice as spooky because of the dank room and the rainstorm pounding on the roof. I’m standing in the basement of the British Museum in London — my first experience inside the venerable institution — and I’ve just hoisted a stone slab off of the Egyptian relic by yanking on an old-fashioned pulley system. My time here has felt strikingly Indiana Jones-like, and just like the famed archaeologist himself, my curiosity gets the best of me as I work to crack open the old coffin and reveal its secrets.
I didn’t really sneak into the British Museum on a stormy night, but it certainly feels like it. I’m actually pacing around my living room wearing an Oculus Quest headset on a sunny afternoon in California. I’m playing a new VR game called The Room VR: A Dark Matter, a new adventure from developer Fireproof Games. Known for making byzantine puzzlers that are part H.P. Lovecraft and part Winchester Mystery House, the developer promises a new experience for VR fans, one full of creaking doors and menacing whispers.