At long last, Build a Rocket Boy Games Studio’s debut game, MindsEye, is finally here. In this new GTA-like game, players will get to explore the streets and skies of the city of Redrock, navigating the dystopian sci-fi world MindsEye, where AI and other autonomous technology have become mainstream.
As players experience Jacob Diaz’s journey in MindsEye’s main missions, venture into community-made side missions, or free-roam throughout the game’s open world, there are a few particular unwritten rules that the game doesn’t explicitly explain. MindsEye players would be wise to learn these unwritten rules before starting their adventure in Redrock and ultimately learning them the hard way.
MindsEye Dev Gives Deep Dive on Protagonist Jacob Diaz
The Best War Games caught up with Build a Rocket Boy regarding the upcoming action-adventure game MindsEye and its protagonist, Jacob Diaz.
The Unwritten Rules of MindsEye
MindsEye Draws the Line at Auto Theft
Despite being frequently described as a ‘GTA clone,’ MindsEye is missing one key feature that prevents it from living up to this competition: stealing cars. Of all the crimes that players will commit throughout the missions and while free-roaming the city in MindsEye, for the most part, stealing pedestrians' vehicles is off-limits.
Traffic Laws Are Only for NPCs in MindsEye
While players won’t be able to run around hijacking most of the vehicles and drones in MindsEye, one staple of Grand Theft Auto still rings true: players don’t need to bother obeying the traffic laws. This is especially true when it comes to MindsEye, given the lack of a wanted system. There might still be the occasional hostile NPC who takes offense to players’ reckless driving, but most missions will need players to act with timeliness that can’t be achieved when stopping at every stop sign, or even sticking to public roads like the NPCs do.
However, even though traditional, real-world traffic laws are completely optional, players should still exercise caution when driving or flying around the city of Redrock in MindsEye for the sake of protecting their vehicle. Since not just any vehicle can be commandeered, players will want to prevent their own vehicle from being destroyed. Otherwise, traveling across the massive city on foot is much less convenient.
Open World Free-Roaming and Side Content in MindsEye Are a Separate Game Mode
After beginning Jacob Diaz’s journey in MindsEye and getting a taste of the city of Redrock, it’s only natural for players to want to explore the city and get a closer look at the game’s unique world. Unfortunately, though, there are often invisible boundaries or time limits within the main missions throughout MindsEye that will cause the player to instantly fail a mission and reset to the closest checkpoint when attempting to free-roam between missions. So, players might want to wait to give the city a proper tour until unlocking the designated free-roam mode.
Free-roam is unlocked by completing story missions, and it can be found in the ‘Play’ section, where players can find other side content, like the upcoming Hitman collaboration mission in MindsEye.
Another important distinction between the main story and side content, like free-roaming in MindsEye, is that progress doesn’t carry over between these two core game modes. In general, the side content is a self-contained experience where players can compete for high scores on a global leaderboard, but nothing unlocked for characters in side content can be carried over to Jacob Diaz in the main game, or vice versa.
Fallen Enemies Are an Easy Source of New Weapons in MindsEye
Throughout both the main story and side content, defeated enemies will be one of the best ways to obtain better weapons in MindsEye. So, players should be mindful to walk near fallen enemies to occasionally retrieve new weapons or otherwise stock up on ammo. This is especially convenient in free-roam, where players are supposed to obtain new weapons from raiding an enemy outpost, as this can be easily skipped by getting lucky and looting it from an enemy instead.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 33 /100 Critics Rec: 6%
- Released
- June 10, 2025
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Build A Rocket Boy
- Publisher(s)
- IO Interactive Partners A/S
