Crystal Rush

Intense Action: Players use VR controllers to target and destroy crystals in a 360° arena.
Zero Friction: A minimal menu lets players start the action instantly with one trigger pull.
Replay Loop: The summary screen shows the final score, encouraging players to try again.

Inspiration We wanted to strip VR gaming down to its most addictive core: the "one more try" feeling. Many VR games require long tutorials or complex setups. With Crystal Rush, our goal was to create a "pick-up-and-play" experience that anyone could understand in seconds. We were inspired by classic arcade shooters where the only thing that matters is your reflexes and your high score. We focused on the Casual track to prove that a simple loop executed well can be just as engaging as a complex narrative.

What it does Crystal Rush is a high-intensity, 30-second VR arcade game.

The Loop: The player is dropped into a minimalist arena where crystals spawn around them.

The Goal: You have exactly 30 seconds to shoot or pop as many crystals as possible.

The Result: Once the timer hits zero, the game freezes and displays your score, inviting you to immediately "Play Again" to beat your personal best.

How we built it We built Crystal Rush using Unity (targeting Meta Horizon OS).

Core Systems: We implemented a modular Game Manager state machine that handles the flow between the Menu, Playing, and Game Over states.

Spawning Logic: We wrote a custom Spawner script that procedurally generates crystals within a comfortable radius of the player, ensuring they appear in front of the camera for accessible gameplay without requiring uncomfortable rotation.

Interaction: We focused on a lightweight ray-cast interaction system to ensure shooting felt snappy and responsive.

Challenges we ran into The biggest challenge was scope management. It is tempting to add power-ups, different enemies, and complex environments. We had to be disciplined to stick to our "max-output / min-effort" strategy, ensuring we shipped a bug-free, playable loop rather than a half-finished complex game.

Accomplishments that we're proud of We are proud that we achieved a fully functional game loop from the Start Menu to the Score Screen with zero friction. We managed to create a clean, readable UI that works well in VR and a spawning system that keeps the game engaging for the full 30-second round.

What's next for Crystal Rush We see this prototype as the foundation for a larger arcade suite. Our future roadmap includes:

Progression: Adding difficulty ramps where crystals spawn faster as the timer runs down.

Social: implementing online leaderboards and friend challenges.

Immersion: Adding Hand Tracking support for "popping" crystals physically, and a Passthrough (Mixed Reality) mode to bring the crystals into your real living room.