Dad and Demeo: Memorable Adventures 1,500 Miles Apart

On Easter of this year, I excitedly moved out of my parents’ house for the first time—into my very first apartment in Omaha, Nebraska, with a friend I met in VR. I’ve been a firm believer for a long time that virtual reality can bring people together. It can bring together friends and family in a unique way. This was no different for me and my father.

I’m close to my family, specifically both my father and mother. My parents have always been supportive of my hobbies. At a young age, I gained a hobby that my father has been into since he was young too: role-playing games. Before I was born, my father, Dave, was playing Dungeons & Dragons since high school in the 1980s.

After I was born and before I was a teenager, I joined him periodically in his online adventures in games like EverQuest II and Guild Wars. This was my precursor to socializing using virtual reality. Oh, the nervousness I felt being nine or 10 years old in a Ventrilo call, with my father along with a group of vicenarian gamers far away, and various guildmasters in their 30s.

I wasn’t one to socialize much in person—I was a bit of a hermit throughout my high school and college years. We moved to Florida at the start of my high school senior year. Soon enough, as I got older, I found my own group of friends to play games with. I got into virtual reality when I was 19 years old. I bought my first VR headset, an Oculus Rift CV1, during Christmas of 2018. I really got into VRChat and still log in daily.

My mother and father were happy to see me thrive and find great company in the virtual worlds that I went to. After about five years of making connections in VR, while embracing my favorite cyberpunk and adjacent games and movies like TRON and Johnny Mnemonic, I willingly made a choice to do something that I have planned for years: be independent and move out. Of all things considered, I hadn’t thought of moving in with a friend I met from VR. This has since blessed me with positive results for my lifestyle. Our friend circles have intertwined.

As for my father in recent times, I’ve seen him rotate out both single-player and multiplayer games every so often. I enjoyed watching him play. Satisfactory, Sid Meier’s Civilization series, Valheim. Little did he know, things were about to change for him.

After I moved out, I bought the game Demeo for myself and my father to play together. It’s a cross-platform tabletop strategy game, where you traverse perilous dungeons in a party of four.

It was our first time playing, so we took it slow to learn the mechanics of the characters and how progressing through each of the levels worked. Our first game was a module called “The Black Sarcophagus.” It was a very cozy module for first-timers, and it occupied our night with fun. Over time, we found out which characters we enjoyed using. My favorite characters to play are Ailín, the Hunter (a ranger class), and Oana, the Warlock, with her conjured companion, Cána. My father is partial to Sigrun, the Guardian (a tank class), and supporting us with Molthas, the Bard.

We’ve been enjoying our time fighting the forces of evil and putting our minds together to conquer them. Even though we’re 1,500 miles apart, I’m glad that my father and I can spend time together virtually. Quite recently, Dad adopted his first VR headset—a Meta Quest 2—so he can get a grander experience and have a better father-son connection between us.

With having a Quest 2, it puts the game in a whole different perspective for him. We’re able to strategize better, make notes, and plan out our attacks by pointing and drawing lines before taking our turns.We’ve been making an effort to complete all of the in-game achievements for Demeo and perfect all of the modules.

After trying Demeo on Quest, my Dad is ready to try out some other VR games. He’s a drummer at heart, and I recommended Beat Saber. The workout is great for him. Slashing blocks to the rhythm was a great recommendation. I’m partial to Beat Saber myself. While I’ve been playing it on and off for the past five years, I show him tips using Beat Saber’s multiplayer mode and help him improve his game, so he can evolve to playing on the difficult Expert+ stages.

He got into a VR game that I didn’t think of trying out called Ragnarock. You take on the role of a Viking drummer, and you must get your crew to row a boat to the end of the waterway by hitting the notes in the right order and on time. I tried the demo and got hooked. It was another great way for us to connect in VR together.

Regardless of the circumstances with any family that you have, my message would be to share amazing VR experiences together. Go on exciting adventures whether it’s from the comfort of your own home or by going out and seeking the adventure outside.

My father and I would like to thank both Resolution Games and Meta for bringing us closer together while being geographically apart.