Holiday update is the only draw to a game that has nothing to offer.

Sometimes releasing a game in early access pays off for developers.

If you’re working on a game and want to see whether your ideas are going to stick, why not allow players to give you their feedback before you go off in a direction that will end up falling flat. While this method has paid off greatly for hit games like Into the Radius, there are more and more bad games being released that seem to give players nothing for a lower entry cost.

Take the Attack on Titan game for instance. The game was released into early access early in 2024, but had mixed reviews due to the abhorrent graphics, lackluster gameplay, and need to purchase multiple parts in order to play the entire game. With the full release now behind us, the game seems to still have all the same issues, and now costs $26.99 as opposed to the $4.99 early access fee.

While it’s nice for developers to offer lower costs to buy in when the game is not completed, the fact is that some games will often have very little to offer the virtual reality (VR) enthusiast. Sky Runner by developer RudyAA, and published by Flat2VR Studios (Trombone Champ: Unflattened) is one of those games that just doesn’t include enough to entertain even the simplest of gamers.

The mixed reality (MR) game offers players the chance to pilot a drone in various scenarios including shooting down enemies, creating your own racetrack, and until Jan. 28, 2025 the gift drift mode.

if you enjoy flying drones and want the chance fly around your own course or take flight and fight off enemies – and even fires – then you may enjoy what Sky Runner has to offer. However, the game not only has very few modes available – there isn’t even a campaign or story mode currently, just race tracks and the other items mentioned – but the controls feel incomplete and there’s very little in terms of a tutorial or explanation of anything.

When you jump in and start up the game, you’re greeted by your colourful and graphically gorgeous drone – the graphics here are stellar, so at least this game has that going for it – with a few simple instructions on how to pilot it around.

Flying the drone here comes with two options: the first is to use the controller thumbsticks like you would a real drone, the second is to motion control it around. Neither option here is great with the motion controls feeling lacking, lagging, and imprecise, while the thumbstick option feels a little loose and janky more often than not. In fact, having two separate controllers instead of one makes it feel a little detached, and overall this needs to be ironed out.

What you’re not taught in the tutorial – and there is no added tutorial when you play each game mode – you have to figure out on your own. This includes figuring how to shoot, how to save citizens and everything else that comes in the game.

Overall, the game has a lot to work on in early access, but since publisher Flat2VR seems to care about the quality of what they put their names on, there’s every reason to believe this will get better.

Now, since it’s still technically the holiday season – and the gift drift mode is on until late January 2025 – let’s quickly talk about this mode, and how you can help raise funds for Toys for Tots. Gift drift is billed as “a heartwarming charity initiative, and a sleigh-full of new in-game features sure to keep drone pilots buzzing through the holidays.”

In this mode, you take control of a drone that looks just like Santa’s sleigh. Your goal is simple, there are gifts falling from the sky and you need to not only grab them all without letting them fall, you need to deliver those gifts to the right house. The sleigh can only hold so many gifts and you need to watch around your space as sky portals will spawn around you, as you work to deliver and grab those gifts, while avoiding falling coal in the process.

A minimum of 15 per cent of net sales from the game will be donated to Toys for Tots between now and Jan. 28, however, those take the time to play gift drift can help increase the contribution by unlocking the achievement ‘drop for a cause.’ When 5,000 achievements are reached, 50 per cent of the net sales will be donated; there are also lesser goals if 5,000 is not reached.

Playing this mode is entertaining and festive during the holidays, but like the rest of the game it doesn’t offer much. You pilot around the sleigh – which is still varying degrees of janky – and catch coloured presents as they fall. You need to deliver them to the right house quickly since presents are constantly falling and missing one means the loss of a life. In essence, it gets boring fast.

Now, the fundraising aspect does make this worthwhile. So if you have this game, like to fly drones, and need something to do, catch presents and help Toys for Tots. Of course, if you’re an uncaring and narcissistic person who has no empathy for others, then this will appeal to you even less because why would you want to raise funds for others.

Overall this game doesn’t have a lot going for it, but at least it looks pretty.

There’s so much that needs to be fixed before this game becomes viable and patches to achieve all this will be far down the road. While this game will definitely appeal to some, it still feels rather niche in nature. Not everyone sees the excitement behind flying drones, and while the VR and MR aspects allow you to fly safely around your home and do things most commercial drones cannot, the things you can do just don’t have the appeal to keep the average gamer coming back.

Sky Runner, was reviewed on the Quest 3 after receiving a key from PR team Impact Reality.