Brooklyn Game Store

Players are missing core puzzle interactions, leading to frustration and preemptive world exits. This results in low player engagement and incomplete world experiences.

Project Goals:
The team and I agreed on the goals below. I utilized them as a guide for my work.
(1) Ensure players organically discover a hidden key which opens a puzzle experience; the main world event ‍
(2) Keep players in the world for at least 3 minutes, but ideally 5 minutes
(3) The world ‘feels’ like a 90’s era video game store (UX goal translation: research and create a color palette invoking the 90s NYC era)‍

My research indicated 3 strong themes adds to player engagement in a VR environment:
(1) Strongest engagement is built by inviting curiosity. Given the video game store setting, video game cartridges and an NPC-style store attendant were programed to provide clues → 90% of players found the hidden puzzle organically

(2) Play canbe envoked with nostalgia. As the experience was set in the 90's, nostalgic objects became interactive (TV, toys, a xylophone) to reward curiosity → Player time increased by 40%, from 2 to 5 minutes

(3) A strong sense of atmosphere draws player attention and provides opportunity to surprise and delight. I designed a 90s NYC color palette and ambient SFX → Qualitative feedback confirmed a strong 90'S NYC 'feel', opening players to delight and sense of play.

My process was built around one idea: user behavior is data. I began by framing the problem clearly with the team, then went directly to users to surface patterns and testing hypotheses through qualitative research. Those signals informed every design decision — tested, iterated, and validated before anything ships. The result was work I can measure, a story I can tell, and a clear path for what comes next.

The goal was simple. The problem wasn't. The client needed players to stay longer and discover a hidden puzzle — organically. With one month on the clock, I had to move fast and make every decision count. I started where the players were. Rather than waiting for users to come to me, I went to them — traveling to social Hub Worlds inside Horizon to interview players in their natural environment. I chose not to record sessions to earn faster trust and more candid responses. Ten interviews later, three clear patterns emerged:
(1) Interactivity drives engagement
(2) Delight comes from object interactio  
(3) Ambiguous tasks feel like bugs

‍Clarity unlocks discovery. Players weren't finding the hidden puzzle because nothing pointed them toward it. I introduced game cartridge clues and an NPC-style VR attendant to guide players forward — subtly, without breaking the experience. The result: 90% of players discovered the key organically.

‍Curiosity needs a reason to grow. Players who stayed longer were the ones who kept finding things to do. I seeded the world with nostalgic interactive elements — a working xylophone, TV demos, playable game cartridges — that rewarded exploration. Average session time grew from 2 to 5 minutes.

‍Atmosphere is a design decision. The world needed to feel like a 90s NYC game store, not just look like one. I researched the era, built a custom color palette, and integrated ambient sound and puzzle success cues. Player feedback confirmed the atmosphere landed exactly as intended. Every hypothesis was tested. Every result was earned. 40% increase in player time. 90% puzzle discovery rate. Aesthetic goals validated through qualitative feedback.

No prior VR experience → resolved with fast onboarding via Meta tutorials, key conversations with creators and user testing.
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Recruiting VR users → resolved by traveling to social 'Hub Worlds' and learning how users socialize.
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No recordings → A challenge I took on in order to opt for faster user trust/openness during interviews. I utilized live note synthesis and surveys.

This was my first project working in Horizon Worlds. I had a great time learning about the platform and utilizing my skills in a completely different space. I applied knowledge learned in other roles in tech paired with design thinking to helped me hit the ground running. My main takeaways were:
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❖ Always ask questions, and keep your own assumptions in check
❖ Every interaction is an opportunity to learn and get new ideas
❖ Always be open to iterate, and work through what that means to the project (communication and behavioral data are key)