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Untitled_Artwork 118.jpg
Matte grey sphere

Game Concept

Speckled grey sphere

Level Design

Textured white sphere

3D Art

Marble-like white sphere

Final Game

Team Members

Joy Lim: Art Lead. Responsible for all 3D arts and visual design
Felix Choi: 2D Artist.

Ethan Zhu: Programmer

Jack Chou: Programmer

Jialan Dong: Sound designer

Game Design

"Hi! My Name Is..." is a two-week " is a two-week project designed for the Meta Quest 3, where we created a VR game specifically for new or naive users, with strict design constraints that challenge traditional game mechanics. Players receive no explicit instructions on how to navigate or interact with the environment—there are no prompts like "press B to pick up" or "use the joystick to move." Additionally, the game must operate within a restricted physical space of 3.5m x 3.5m (11.5ft x 11.5ft), limiting the player's movement range. To work within these constraints, we designed the game across multiple small virtual rooms, each roughly 2m x 2m (6.5ft x 6.5ft) to 3m x 3m (9.8ft x 9.8ft), ensuring players remain within the game’s boundaries while exploring and interacting.

The core of the game is a puzzle-based, humorous experience inspired by the relatable scenario of forgetting names at reunions or social gatherings. Players step into a quirky, mind-palace-like world where they must solve a playful mystery: matching heads to headless bodies. Each head is hidden in a room that reflects the owner’s personality, while the bodies are posed in casual, everyday positions that align with their hobbies or traits. This imaginative design fosters a whimsical and lighthearted atmosphere, keeping players engaged as they explore.

Gameplay unfolds in two stages: First, players explore the rooms, searching for heads hidden in unexpected places such as behind upside-down paintings or inside bowls of apples. In the second stage, players match the heads to the correct bodies, using visual and contextual clues. Quirky animations and humorous voiceovers enhance the experience, with correct matches earning praise and wrong ones resulting in lighthearted scolding. The game culminates in a comical celebration, where the characters break into an eccentric dance to celebrate the player's success, turning an awkward social experience into a fun, memorable adventure.

Target Audience 

The game is designed for a broad audience, particularly those who enjoy puzzles and humorous, real-life situations. It appeals to anyone who has ever struggled to remember names and faces, making it especially relatable to people attending reunions or parties with old acquaintances. The puzzles are easy to solve, ensuring that players of all skill levels can enjoy the game’s light-hearted humor and fun interactions. The quirky characters and engaging environment create an experience that’s both accessible and entertaining for all ages.

Game Flow

EKEA is designed to guide players through a structured progression of gameplay using two primary tools: a hammer and a saw. The game begins with a simple tutorial level, introducing players to the mechanics of sawing wood to the desired size and hammering pieces together. This initial stage ensures that players are comfortable with the controls before moving on to more complex tasks.

The gameplay progresses through four distinct levels, each focusing on a specific component of the chair-building process:

  1. Chair Leg Construction: Players start by crafting one of the chair legs, learning to measure and cut the wood accurately while hammering it into place.

  2. Second Chair Leg: After successfully completing the first leg, players move on to construct the second leg, reinforcing their skills and understanding of the tools.

  3. Spindle and Swivel Assembly: In this level, players learn to create the spindle and swivel mechanism, introducing new challenges and requiring a more nuanced approach to assembly.

  4. Seat Creation: The final level culminates in crafting the seat, where players must apply all the skills they’ve acquired throughout the previous levels.

This structured approach not only helps players build confidence in their abilities but also enhances the sense of accomplishment as they progress through each stage of chair assembly. By combining these mechanics with the rhythm-based gameplay, EKEA creates an engaging experience that challenges players while immersing them in the whimsical world of furniture crafting.

Level Design and Visual Design 

To create an immersive experience, it was crucial for the controller to function as realistically as possible, mimicking the motions of a saw and hammer. In our initial design, we utilized the two large buttons on the main Xbox Adaptive Controller as the hammer controls—one button for each player. I crafted two cardboard hammers to enhance the tactile sensation, simulating the act of hammering. For the saw, I designed a two-handled version where each player controlled one handle. The saw was balanced on cylindrical sticks attached to the sides, with a box below serving as a table to hide two smaller buttons. As the saw moved left or right, these sticks would hit the buttons, causing the saw on the screen to cut in the corresponding direction.

However, during playtesting, we encountered several issues. The saw only registered movement when the buttons were precisely hit, leading to missed inputs, especially when players tried to cut quickly but didn’t pull hard enough. Additionally, the hammer buttons were difficult to see and were placed too close together, resulting in frequent accidental presses.

To address these problems, I designed a second version for both the hammer and saw. For the hammer, I separated the buttons and placed them directly in front of the players, making them easier to see and reducing accidental presses. I also created a spring-like structure to hide the buttons underneath, giving the appearance of nails in wood to maintain the immersive feel. Without this, the large buttons in front of the players would have felt out of place and visually disruptive.

For the saw, I reinforced its structure with five layers of cardboard, making it more solid and durable. Instead of using simple buttons, I switched to variable triggers, which are pressure-sensitive and allow for more precise control. This adjustment enabled us to register different levels of input based on how much the trigger was pressed, reducing the likelihood of missed cuts. Additionally, I refined the saw’s design to ensure smoother left-to-right motion, minimizing frustration during gameplay and creating a more seamless experience for players.

Character Design and Riggs

Drawing inspiration from the classic nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty takes on the role of a whimsical yet fragile customer in our game. In this reimagined version, Mr. Humpty Dumpty has a distinct personality. He’s slightly cracked—both physically and metaphorically—after his latest fall from the wall, but he remains optimistic and determined to find a solution. His design reflects his famous egg-like appearance, but we added small, humorous details to make him more engaging, such as a patchwork bandage on his head, symbolizing his fragility. His formal yet patchy clothing suggests a character who tries to maintain dignity despite his notorious clumsiness.

In the game’s intro, Mr. Humpty Dumpty comes into the EKEA shop after narrowly escaping disaster, with only a small crack on his head. He requests a custom-designed chair to keep him securely in place the next time he’s on the wall. His expression and mannerisms reflect both his anxiety about falling again and his high hopes for the shop’s solution.

The story presents two possible endings, hinging on the player’s success in crafting the chair:

  • In the good ending, Mr. Humpty Dumpty receives his chair, which is carefully placed on the wall. As he cautiously sits down, the chair emits a faint squeak, but he remains secure. His face lights up with relief and joy, and he expresses deep satisfaction with the craftsmanship.

  • In the bad ending, everything starts the same, but after Mr. Humpty Dumpty sits down and the chair squeaks, it suddenly collapses under him. The unmistakable sound of an egg cracking fills the air as he falls, shattering completely, leaving a humorous yet tragic scene behind.

This dual-ending narrative, combined with Mr. Humpty Dumpty’s lighthearted yet fragile character design, adds depth and humor, keeping players emotionally invested in both the crafting process and its outcome.

Environment Design and Assets Design

In our initial design, we aimed for a minimalist aesthetic, focusing the players’ attention entirely on the work area. To achieve this, we placed a spotlight directly over the workbench and kept the rest of the background in shadow. The intention was to create a focused, immersive environment where the players could concentrate on the hammering and sawing. However, during the first round of playtesting, we received feedback that the dark background felt overly dim and even gave off a slightly eerie vibe. Additionally, the low visibility made it harder for players to hit the buttons on beat, diminishing the overall experience.

Based on this feedback, we shifted our approach to create a more inviting and functional environment. We designed a 3D workshop setting that grounded the players in a realistic, yet playful space. However, since the main gameplay revolves around the creation process—sawing, hammering, and assembling the chair—we didn’t want the background to distract from these core activities. To strike a balance, we opted for a low-poly design for the environment, using simple shapes and forms. The color palette was purposefully desaturated to avoid drawing attention away from the vibrant tools and the chair being built.

This new design creates a sense of place without overwhelming the player, ensuring that the focus remains on the task at hand while maintaining a lively, workshop atmosphere.

Model

Textured

In Unity with lighting

In Game

Final Game Play

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