The game is designed for the Vive controllers. This is the reason the ingame advices and the ingame layout is designed for the Vive controllers only. Yet you can play the game with the Index controllers quite well.

The Valve Index controller layout made me furious at the beginning until I found out most of the buttons by myself. So I made this brief layout overview to make it easier for Valve Index controller owners to get into the game.

Update 2022: I added some general informations about graphics, ingame or VR issues as well.

If you have any feedback to this, please let me know.

Thank you.

This layout is for the PieChart movement. If you changed to Smooth turning in the gampelay setting, you can use the right analog stick to turn left and right.

Robinson tends to start with lowest graphic setting at the first time.

So make sure to go in the graphic options and raise the value for resolution scaling from 1.0x to 2.0x (max). The default settings are very blurry and really not fun to play. There are some other good options there to raise the graphic quality (eg shadow quality or antialiasing).

If the ingame resolution scaling isn't enough and you have a strong GPU, you can also activate the Supersampling via the config file:

SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Robinson The Journey\system.cfg

"r_SuperSampling = 2"

The default gameplay setting for turning is PieChart with which you can use the right sensor button (swipe left or right) to turn about 30 degrees in that direction.

Usually the Smooth mode is the better one but can cause motion sickness for many people. If activated, you can use the right controller analog stick left/right and the sensor pad to turn into the according direction.

Unfortunetally there is no option to alter angles or turning speeds like in many other VR titles. The default turning speed in Robinson is very slow - too slow indeed. For me, personally, this is causing a lot of motion sickness after a couple of seconds. So I have to stay with PieChart mode to feel more comfortable.

A general advice for games with more detailled VR options:
Consider to try out faster turning speeds for Continious / Smooth mode. In games like Half Life: Alyx or Phasmophobia, I set about double or triple the speed of the default value. This is not only eliminating the motion sickness for me completely, but also makes me act much much faster in action parts anyway. I really miss this kind of option in Robinson. There is also no way to alter settings files to achieve this.

The game tends to swap your controllers (left and right hand) when you start up the game. If you notice that you can select things in the menu with the left analog stick, you ran into this issue.

There is an easy fix. Shut off both controllers with the power-buttons (hold them). Then shut on only the left controller. Wait a few seconds, then shut on the right controller. Now Robinson should assign the controllers to the correct hand.

Pull yourself up to a platform

When you climb, you will come to the point where you have to get up to a platform at the top. The game wants you to grab and hold the platform with both hands. Means, you have to move both hands at the same time slow and steady downwards. Just copy the imaginary movement you would do to pull yourself up a platform. As soon the automated pull-up-animation begins, you can let go your grab, but not before.

Fall and hold

While climbing, it is possible to let you fall and grab an orange marked object below you while falling (if not too far below). Just let go your gab and immediately press and hold your climb buttons again. Although this is a good technique to get down a climbing path faster, there are situations in which you have to do this to proceed in the storyline later in the game.

Lift objects

Sometimes it can be a hassle to lift and hold objects. You have to aim carefully to be able to switch to the lift mode with your tool or the game does it on its own. Be aware that the game only lets you lift and hold certain objects, not everything that just looks like you could lift it. Also, liftable objects aren't highlighted properly sometimes.

Scarecrow bug and possible hack

There is a known bug with the scarecrow quest in your camp. You cannot take the shirt and the gloves in the PC version from the rock to add it to the scarecrow. So you cannot complete the challenge for it.

If you really want this to be concluded you need to hack it by altering the attributes.xml in the game folder with a simple text editor and add those particular items to the scarecrow anyway (just search for "scarecrow" and you'll find the appropriate lines). Make sure that Steam cloud saving isn't voiding your changes. Best is to alter the file midgame and ALT+F4 out of the game. Then restart the game and reload your save, this should work.