Jordan’s VR Puzzler Project

Jordan Ward
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Part of my Udacity coursework was to complete multiple projects by designing, testing and iterating on Google’s Cardboard VR experience. This Cardboard app is called Puzzler. Players will enter a gloomy room with magical appearing orbs and must solve a puzzle similar to 3D Simon Says.

Focus

  • Portraying a dark and gloomy atmosphere by using objects, lighting and sound
  • Creating an intuitive experience

Puzzler

This project was successful because of the iteration process that was used to constantly improve the game. The majority of my playtesters were trying VR for the first time and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In the beginning, there were questions about functionality but those questions were answered intuitively over time which speaks to the iteration process.

Gameplay Video

The Process

Statement of Purpose: Puzzler is a mobile VR application for new VR users which takes a familiar puzzle setup and asks them to solve it in a new fashion

Persona

For this project I created a user persona called Joe. Joe is a 30 year old architect with minimal VR experience. Joe played games in the past but doesn’t play them often anymore. Joe thinks “games are childish but I do enjoy exploring new technology.”

Joe

Sketches

Original Sketch of Puzzler
Original Sketch of UI

User Testing

User Test 1

The first user test was for the overall mood of the scene based on the lighting, the orbs and the room.

Feedback:

  • It feels dark and magical but it needs sound. (Added sound later)
  • It feels gloomy and mysterious.
Mood with Orbs
Front Door

User Test 2

The second user test was for the start and end UI.

Feedback:

  • Where should I be looking? Oh! I get it. (This was from a user completely new to VR)
  • Can I click on this? (Changed the cursor to get bigger when they can click on an object)
Start UI
End UI
After Restarting the Puzzle

User Test 3

The third user test was for the movement when going from the start UI to the puzzle, the puzzle to the end UI and the end UI back to the start.

Feedback:

  • I feel sick! (Slowed down the speed of the movement)
  • It feels just right.

See Movement in This Video

User Test 4

The fourth and final user test was for the puzzle. Could users correctly identify what to do and could they solve it?

Feedback:

  • What do I do? (Added sound and color to the orbs to give the user positive feedback)
  • Why isn’t it working? I clicked them in the correct order. (Added sound for when you click on the orbs)
  • I did it!
Looking Away From Orbs
Looking at Orbs

Final Breakdown

Start

When the user enters into the scene, they will see a black screen on three sides with the start UI on the fourth side. Music that sounds similar to a pond atmosphere will be playing. Once they find the start UI, they will be appropriately orientated for the puzzle. The user clicks on the start button and they begin moving into the room.

Puzzle

Inside the room, the user will see five orbs. Users will also experience light and sound that adds to the dark and gloomy atmosphere. The orbs will flash in a random pattern that changes each time the puzzle is played. Users must memorize and repeat the 5 flashes in a row. After they choose the orbs correctly, the player will move out the exit door.

End

At the end of the scene, the user is faced with the end UI. The pond music is playing again because the user is outside the room. At this point, users can choose to play again by clicking on the button or to exit the app.

Conclusions

The creation of this app was my first experience setting the mood by using lighting, audio and movement. I am done testing this app and ready to create my next experience.

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