1502-SF31 whack a mole

1502-SF31 Whack-A-Mole (VR Can Knockdown Game)

Inspiration

We wanted to learn VR the fun way — not just by following tutorials, but by building a real game with physics, motion, and skill. Classic carnival games like tossing a ball to knock down cans are simple but surprisingly satisfying. So we thought: What if we take that idea into VR, where your aim and hand motion actually matter? By limiting players to only four shots, we could make every level feel exciting, challenging, and replayable.

What it does

Players stand in front of stacked cans and try to knock down all of them before running out of shots. If they succeed → new level with more cans and higher difficulty. Supports:

Meta Quest VR — aiming and throwing using motion-tracked controllers
Desktop mode — WASD movement + mouse aiming for easier development and testing Simple rules → addictive challenge.

How we built it

We built the game using:

Unity for building the world, physics, and level logic
Meta Quest SDK for VR controller + tracking support
Mouse/Keyboard controls so we could test basic mechanics inside the editor on macOS Core systems we implemented:
Projectile physics using rigidbodies
Level progression + scoring logic
Ammo limits (4 shots per level)
VR aiming/throwing mechanics
Head+hand transform alignment
PC fallback controls for debugging We made sure that all mechanics work on both platforms, just with different inputs.

Challenges we ran into

Testing VR on a Mac Unity’s VR play mode isn’t supported well on macOS, so every test meant a build → upload → run on the Quest. That slowed iteration a lot.
Fine-tuning physics A tiny tweak in angle or velocity could turn a level from too easy to nearly impossible. Even simple projectile motion matters.
Motion tracking stability Translating real throws to digital motion required smoothing to avoid jitter or unrealistic speed spikes.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

We created a fully working VR game from scratch.
We supported two different control styles (VR + desktop).
We built a game that’s simple, competitive, and genuinely fun.
We learned how physics, design, feedback, and difficulty all connect into game feel.

What we learned

How to set up VR gameplay and hand-aligned projectiles.
How to design around hardware limitations (like testing on Mac).
How much detail goes into “simple” gameplay — feedback, aim feel, collision, level balance.
Rapid prototyping is essential… but rapid isn’t easy in VR!