Join the herd for a sip of soda on Soda Drinker Pro. / Provided
Have you ever imagined yourself walking on a rainbow drinking an ice-cold cola? How about floating in space sipping on a grape soda? Well, now that it’s on your mind, you should know that it is possible, kind of — and you don’t even have to leave the house.
Use Soda Drinker Pro to enter a virtual world where you get the satisfaction of pouring a cold soda down your throat, without actually consuming the sugar or calories (or actually quenching your thirst).
But if your concern is kicking the addictive, not-too-healthy habit of downing several Pepsis a day, a simulation might be sufficient to wean you off.
“It allows the user to experience soda on a deeper emotional level,” says Soda Drinker Pro creator Will Brierly.
Soda Drinker Pro uses virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, which you control through your computer. Or you can play it without the headset, says Brierly, but at that point your imagination had better be pretty strong.
Players move through different scenarios, from relaxing on the beach to riding a water slide, all with cola in hand. Finish the cup — as indicated by an on-screen meter — and magically move to the next level, where a new cup will appear filled to the brim with the soda of your choice. Brierly says the game uses a “special technology” that lets it “match exactly what the player is thinking about while drinking a soda.” If the graphics (above and below) are any indication, we’re not so confident in that special technology.
Soda Drinker Pro is available on PC, Mac, Linux, Android and, soon, Xbox One and Xbox Kinect, for $4.99. Compare that to your soda spending habits and it’s a steal.
Brierly is, of course, raising money to enhance the game through Kickstarter. Under “risks and challenges”— always the most interesting Kickstarter category — he lists: “It can be difficult to accurately simulate the act of drinking Soda.”
The Soda Drinker Pro Kickstarter fundraiser closes Aug. 7.
