Upon launching the game from the Steam launcher, you will be asked to select from one of three options.
“Launch MAv1 in Oculus VR Mode” will launch the game directly to your Oculus VR headset. Use an Xbox compatible joypad or the Oculus Touch controllers to play the game.
“Play Oculus Arcade Mode” launches onto the headset as before, but with the game in Arcade Mode (see below).
“Play MAv1” is the option you use to play the game in non-VR mode. Selecting this mode will bring up a further dialogue. Here you will see a list of available screen resolutions and refresh rates – select the one you want to use. Then press “Start Normal” to begin the game. You may also choose to start in VR, just in case you changed your mind between this menu and the last.
You can choose to Configure Keyboard. Here you will see a diagram of a controller (to remind you what goes where) and a bunch of fields containing the keys bound to each of the controller functions. By default, the ones used in Minotaur Arcade are:
- Arrow keys for motion
- “A” for button A, used to jump in Goatup
-”B” for button B, used in the Game Select screen
- “Y” for button Y, used to toggle Pause Mode on and off, and to return to the Game Select screen from a game’s Attract Mode.
You can change these key assignments to whatever you like: select the field with the binding you wish to change. If a key is already bound, press that key to remove it from the binding. If you want to add a key to the binding, press the key to add it. You can bind multiple keys to a single control function if you so desire. When you’re done, press Accept and Exit to save your changed bindings, Cancel to leave without saving or changing the bindings, or Reset to Default if you’ve really buggered things up.
There are two keys with hardwired functions in the game: ESC quits to desktop, and F1 toggles between fullscreen and windowed modes. You shouldn’t use those for game function bindings. That’d be silly.
Arcade Mode
You may be wondering what Arcade Mode is, so I’ll explain. In non-arcade mode the game uses online leaderboards, and these behave as they generally do on consoles and in Steam; the name that is posted to the leaderboards is your logged-in Steam name. That’s fine.
However these are by their very nature arcade-style games; sometimes you might be in a situation where you have a bunch of players taking turns to play, and you don’t want to have to have everyone log in and out all the time to post their correct name on the online boards. Not everyone playing may even have a Steam account. For this situation there is Arcade Mode. This mode uses local score tables only, and at the end of a game, if a player gets onto the local score board they will be prompted to input their name, just like on an old arcade machine.
At the Game Select screen
Here you can launch either of the two games in Minotaur Arcade Volume 1. Press A to launch Gridrunner, or press B to launch Goatup.
Each game will launch into its Attract Mode. In the Attract Mode you can:
- Press A to begin playing
- Press Y to return to the Game Select phase
- Press Left or Right to page through the score tables. Note that online score tables may take a little while to propagate.
The games themselves are simple to learn. You will learn the subtleties of gameplay as you gain experience in each one. The basics are as follows:
Gridrunner
Move your ship with the directional controls. Firing is continuous and automatic; there is no need to press any fire button. Imposing game difficulty by requiring frantic button mashing may have been fine for bongoing away on arcade cab buttons but we’ll be having none of it at home.
Collect the big obvious poweruppy things. They do a variety of nice things that you will enjoy while they last. Do collect any minotaurs in nice stripy jumpers that you see.
Try not to run into any of the enemies or their bullets. If you do you’ll go bang.
Avoid the Bloody Laser Thing. Cultivate an awareness of its position and cadence.
When your ship is drawn as an outline, you are invincible. Use this time productively to smash enemies by collision like an angry bull, or to nip out of scrapes.
Gridrunner Game Modes
There are three selectable game modes in Gridrunner. These are:
- Pure Mode. In this mode you always begin at level 1 with 3 lives.
- Endurance Mode. In this mode you begin at level 1, but you never receive any extra lives.
- Casual Mode. In this mode, you can begin the game on any level that you have previously reached. As you play, each time you begin a new level, your current Lives and Score are compared with your previous best at that level, and saved if they are better. You can subsequently begin a game at that level, and with that saved Lives and Score – your Restart Best.
You may select between the game modes at the Level Select screen before gameplay begins. Note that levels may only be selected – by pressing Left and Right - if you are not in Endurance Mode. Pressing Down toggles Endurance Mode on and off.
Mouse Control
It is possible to use the mouse to control the ship in Gridrunner. This will only work in Non-VR, Full Screen mode.
Goatup
Climb as high as you can. Do not fall off the bottom of the tower.
Kiss any billy goats you see on the way.
Traverse platforms and collect objects to progress your pregnancy.
Try to raise as large a family as possible.
Some items grant special abilities for a period of time.
When your goat is drawn as an outline, you are invincible. Use this time productively to smash enemies by collision like an angry bull, or to nip out of scrapes.
If you enjoy Minotaur Arcade Vol. 1, leave us a like and a review, it all helps. I’m fed up of all the scrabbling for attention that one needs to do these days so I’m not going to endlessly go on about it in my social media or anything, but it’d help if you feel like doing it.
The game should work fine on most PC setups, but the PC world is bound within a fractal border of edge cases, and it is possible there may be problems with exotic setups. Try the game, and if it’s not working for you, take the Steam refund option and if you could let us know what went wrong and what kind of setup you have, we’ll aim to fix the issue with a future patch.