Alec Heyer

Puzzle Hamster VR was my Senior Project in college. I led a team of 5 other Seniors and Juniors in creating a Unity-based Virtual Reality puzzle/exploration game, with a unique movement mechanic that was both engaging and unique to the industry. This game was selected by faculty to be showcased at the college's booth at Pax East 2017, which I attended and led.

The player is a hamster in their hamster ball, and they must solve puzzles by interacting in a variety of ways with different elements in the level. Their hand movements must mimic that of an actual hamster in a hamster ball to move around.

This game has 2 levels, and a level select area. As the lead designer, it was my responsibility to delegate tasks with an appropriate workload, as well as fully design the player interactions and levels.

Working in a team of fellow students had its share of challenges, and some of these challenges bore the need for me to reassess expectations frequently. We discussed scope frequently, and slimmed down or cut many features initially proposed, but these decisions led to a far better game, in which we could further refine and polish the player-loved features.